I began the first novel in this series early in the 1980s. It went absolutely nowhere for twenty years. Then I dug the ms out and began writing in earnest. I hit a wall in THE RIVER TWICE about two thirds of the way in, and was in trouble. Fortunately that was the year that PSFS, the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, invited me in to speak. I carried the partial ms with me, and instead of talking about anything interesting, went through the entire plot in some detail at the meeting. Then I asked the membership: what happens next? A large number of suggestions were made, most of them entirely out of left field. But just hearing them kicked something loose, like endlessly swiping left on Tindr. Suddenly I knew how to make it go, and I was able to not only finish RIVER, but to zoom on to its two sequels.
Calla Ang expects to be the next president of her Southeast Asian country, until a charming time traveler from Victorian England sweeps her into a dangerous tangle of overlapping realities.
The only certainty Jack and Calla have as the universes change is each other. But if she can't learn to handle power wisely, then even love will not be enough to save Calla, Jack, or her country.
Colonel Ben Ming can defend his nation Jalanesia and his wife, the President, from all the usual foes. But not from time traveler Jack Wragsland.
It wouldn't be fair to simply shoot Jack, when Jack's enemies attack him through Calla. But boy, is it a temptation. If Ben is going to save Calla he's going to have to save Jack as well, even if it makes him crazy.
Somewhere, somewhen, time traveler Jack Wragsland has an enemy, an implacable and pitiless foe. It will cost Jack more than his life to defeat him.
Jack Wragsland invented the Edge to Center technology, and he's done it all. He has slain millions, nuked nations, betrayed lovers, and committed suicide. And still somehow he's hung onto his decency and his soul. But now he's going to find out how much it really cost him.
