Today we welcome author Ian Roberts with his guest post Outside of Time. He also share with us his new book ‘Holly Nightingale, Outside of Time‘ which was released on 20th November 2024 – This post contains affiliate links.

Time has a strangely amorphous, almost liquid, quality. Or so says the main character of an unpublished story I wrote fifteen years ago, which set me on the journey towards my current book, Holly Nightingale, Outside of Time.

I’d always made up stories as a child but studying history at university (and watching too many documentaries) led me to writing historical fiction in my 20’s. Yet the constraint of the genre – that it’s hard to comment on the incredible contrasts between the past and the present without atmosphere-killing digressions – left me wondering if there was a better way to explore history through my fiction. It was this desire to explore the past in an accessible way (rather than a timey-wimey love of Flux capacitors) which led to Holly’s adventures.

I was always fascinated (and terrified) by sci-fi and the unexplained as a kid, lapping up stories of strange phenomena and other worlds, and I guess I’ve always had a passion for what might lie behind the surface of reality. I have a vivid memory of my elderly great aunts’ sitting room, which was a 1930’s time capsule and the atmosphere – the sheer weight of the past – made a real impact on my infant mind, resurfacing as I sought to understand what the past would actually have been like as a writer. It was this visceral memory (coupled with too much TV science fiction as a kid) which led me to writing time travel (and the abovementioned story), throwing modern protagonists back into history to create that time-shock and clash between our world and one which is very alien.

Fact is often stranger than fiction, and in my opinion the greatest source of inspiration, and I love to pepper my work with intriguing (and often creepy) cases of the unusual that a reader might Google. Einstein proved time moves differently depending on where you are in the universe and how fast you are going, for example, and accounts of what we’d now call time travel (from Mayan Astronaut sculptures to The Time Slip of Versailles) can be traced through human history, yet The seven Sleepers of Ephesus is one of the most convincing.

Recorded in most detail by Gregory of Tours during the Middle Ages (as well as the Jewish and Islamic traditions) the story tells of seven devout brothers, who, refusing to give sacrifices in the name of the Emperor Decius, were walled up in a cave above the town of Ephesus to die, only to awaken nearly 300 years later during the reign of Theodosius the II. I’m not the first writer to have linked this resurrection legend to time travel, but it’s the idea of what Gregory left out which inspired Outside of Time (and my Deeper Realms Series). For as mercurial time traveller Ravenna Friere says, “the brothers may have slept once more when their work was done, but as was their way, the chronicler’s said nothing of the women who were with them.”

And at the end of the day, if quantum physics demonstrates the impossible is possible (google wave-particle duality) surely there’s a little room for magic and miracles in the world!

“Well, I’ll let you into a secret: time is weird – in fact, it’s downright crazy!”

When lonely 14 year old Holly Nightingale is alone strange things happen. Unwilling to upset her protective single parent mum, history geek Holly turns to fellow social outsider Leah; but as she confides the strange experiences she’s been having, both girls are drawn into the influence of the mysterious yet dangerous time traveller Ravenna Friere, who claims to be her mother’s old mentor.

But when Holly’s strange time travelling episodes begin to get out of control she must learn to master her fledgling supernatural power before the ancient forces her mother was shielding her from can exploit her inherited gift.

OUTSIDE OF TIME is a story of bravery and friendship in the face of forces far bigger than the characters. With its witty dialogue and deliberately strong female lead, this older middle grade story will appeal to readers of the likes of Rick Riordan and Eoin Colfer, while having a depth familiar to lovers of Phillip Pullman, Jonathan Stroud and Philip Reeve – with forgiveness and self-worth at its heart.

A gripping yet funny read for lovers of classic fantasy adventure, magic, and all things historical!

Writing under the pen name Ian Roberts, IR Storer is a former tutor of history, author and illustrator who has been making up implausible adventures for as long as he can remember.

Often writing with a strong female lead, Ian uses the medium of time travel to explore the past, creating a world where the miraculous is possible, and his brand of quirky historical fiction is sure to delight both lovers of fantasy adventure and classic science fiction.

Ian lives in the East Midlands with his wife and two teenage children, he is the author of the five star rated Deeper Realms fantasy series, as well as several historic articles including ‘Murderers and Merry men’ in History Today. Holly Nightingale, Outside of Time is his first work of children’s fiction.