What is The Traveler Series?
THE TRAVELER SERIES is the story of a very unique group of individuals, each with the power to change history itself. With the aid of a device called a timeband, a Traveler can travel back into the past or forward into the future. He or she can slow down the passage of time, speed it up, or stop it entirely. If a Traveler does something in the past to change history, no one on Earth remembers the way things used to be, except for other Travelers wearing timebands.
When Ruthie McDonald puts on a timeband and becomes a Traveler, she finds she is now part of a centuries-spanning war between rival groups of Travelers, each trying to shape the course of human history to fit their own view of mankind's destiny. It's a secret war, fought by a small number of extraordinary individuals on a battlefield as broad as history itself, and the stakes are nothing less than the fate of mankind.
The Traveler Series begins with VARIATION SEVEN, in which Ruthie goes from being a waitress in a Chicago diner to a time traveler on a team that is trying to bring about the ultimate destiny of humanity called Variation Seven. Variation Seven is now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
When Ruthie McDonald puts on a timeband and becomes a Traveler, she finds she is now part of a centuries-spanning war between rival groups of Travelers, each trying to shape the course of human history to fit their own view of mankind's destiny. It's a secret war, fought by a small number of extraordinary individuals on a battlefield as broad as history itself, and the stakes are nothing less than the fate of mankind.
The Traveler Series begins with VARIATION SEVEN, in which Ruthie goes from being a waitress in a Chicago diner to a time traveler on a team that is trying to bring about the ultimate destiny of humanity called Variation Seven. Variation Seven is now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
Trips Through Time: The Books of The Traveler Series
BOOK ONE: VARIATION SEVEN
Ruthie McDonald, a waitress from Chicago in 2007, becomes the accidental recipient of a timeband. She begins training to become a Traveler on a team led by a woman named Sarah and a mysterious recluse named Carlos. But as she goes on missions with her new partner, Miles Terwilliger, with whom she becomes romantically involved, she comes to learn that she may be working on the wrong side. Another team of Travelers, led by Caesar, claims that Sarah and Carlos may be working toward the extinction of the human race. Now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
Ruthie McDonald, a waitress from Chicago in 2007, becomes the accidental recipient of a timeband. She begins training to become a Traveler on a team led by a woman named Sarah and a mysterious recluse named Carlos. But as she goes on missions with her new partner, Miles Terwilliger, with whom she becomes romantically involved, she comes to learn that she may be working on the wrong side. Another team of Travelers, led by Caesar, claims that Sarah and Carlos may be working toward the extinction of the human race. Now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
BOOK TWO: STRANGE TIMES
Ruthie and Miles are stranded in an altered North America after a sudden rewrite of history, called a reality wave, dematerialized the space plane they were traveling in. Heading back to the late 1800’s, they find themselves on a battlefield, and Miles is shot by an unknown Traveler. Ruthie is able to bring him to the far future for medical treatment, where she is helped by a mysterious woman named Miranda. Now available from Smashwords and other ebook retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
Ruthie and Miles are stranded in an altered North America after a sudden rewrite of history, called a reality wave, dematerialized the space plane they were traveling in. Heading back to the late 1800’s, they find themselves on a battlefield, and Miles is shot by an unknown Traveler. Ruthie is able to bring him to the far future for medical treatment, where she is helped by a mysterious woman named Miranda. Now available from Smashwords and other ebook retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
BOOK THREE: LIVING IN THE FUTURE
Ruthie and Miles learn that their baby daughter is herself a Traveler, born with the ability to Travel without a timeband. Meanwhile, Sarah engineers a military takeover in 1862, convincing George McClellan to overthrow President Lincoln and take over the government. As Ruthie and her fellow Travelers unite to undo the military dictatorship of the US, another Traveler, Stan, triggers his own reality wave by helping American Indians establish a united continent free of English rule in the 1700’s. Now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
Ruthie and Miles learn that their baby daughter is herself a Traveler, born with the ability to Travel without a timeband. Meanwhile, Sarah engineers a military takeover in 1862, convincing George McClellan to overthrow President Lincoln and take over the government. As Ruthie and her fellow Travelers unite to undo the military dictatorship of the US, another Traveler, Stan, triggers his own reality wave by helping American Indians establish a united continent free of English rule in the 1700’s. Now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
BOOK FOUR: DYING IN THE PAST
Ruthie, Denise, and Sarah find themselves in a changed America where native American culture still dominates into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They meet Sassacomuwah, an army translator who agrees to help them. As Stan attempts to become powerful in the twentieth century, in the new timeline he helped create, he runs afoul of a Russian gangster. Meanwhile, Ruthie and Miles are under attack by Simon and Rebecca, the twin children of Sarah and Carlos. Now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
Ruthie, Denise, and Sarah find themselves in a changed America where native American culture still dominates into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They meet Sassacomuwah, an army translator who agrees to help them. As Stan attempts to become powerful in the twentieth century, in the new timeline he helped create, he runs afoul of a Russian gangster. Meanwhile, Ruthie and Miles are under attack by Simon and Rebecca, the twin children of Sarah and Carlos. Now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
BOOK FIVE: TRAVELERS’ TALES
Ruthie becomes aware of the Family, composed of her descendants in the far future. They all have the ability to Travel without a timeband, and in the future the Family rules the world. Simon and Rebecca send an assassin to kill Ruthie’s family. Now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
Ruthie becomes aware of the Family, composed of her descendants in the far future. They all have the ability to Travel without a timeband, and in the future the Family rules the world. Simon and Rebecca send an assassin to kill Ruthie’s family. Now available from Smashwords and other e-book retailers, and in print from Lulu.com.
BOOK SIX: PAST AND FUTURE TENSE
Ruthie is given the task of editing Caesar’s memoirs, and the story of Caesar’s life is revealed, including how he first obtained a timeband, how he met Carlos and became his partner, and how their partnership ended as Carlos progressed into madness. In the future, Miranda fights a solitary war against the Family. Now on sale from Smashwords and other ebook retailers.
Ruthie is given the task of editing Caesar’s memoirs, and the story of Caesar’s life is revealed, including how he first obtained a timeband, how he met Carlos and became his partner, and how their partnership ended as Carlos progressed into madness. In the future, Miranda fights a solitary war against the Family. Now on sale from Smashwords and other ebook retailers.
BOOK SEVEN: FUTURE IMPERFECT
While one version of Miranda is trying, unsuccessfully, to convince Ruthie to help her, another version is attempting to free her husband William from the Family. Sarah recruits Jason, a former teammate of Ruthie’s, to assassinate her in hopes of preventing the Family from ever coming to be. Now on sale from Smashwords and other ebook retailers.
While one version of Miranda is trying, unsuccessfully, to convince Ruthie to help her, another version is attempting to free her husband William from the Family. Sarah recruits Jason, a former teammate of Ruthie’s, to assassinate her in hopes of preventing the Family from ever coming to be. Now on sale from Smashwords and other ebook retailers.
BOOK EIGHT: FINAL VARIATION
The team is shocked to discover that one of their own has been murdered, but Miranda arrives to tell them that the lost team member may still be alive as a prisoner of the Family, a prisoner in a far future prison called the Labyrinth. Now on sale from Smashwords and other ebook retailers.
The team is shocked to discover that one of their own has been murdered, but Miranda arrives to tell them that the lost team member may still be alive as a prisoner of the Family, a prisoner in a far future prison called the Labyrinth. Now on sale from Smashwords and other ebook retailers.
Who are the Travelers?
There are only twelve timebands in existence, and thus only twelve Travelers — individuals who can travel to any era in Earth’s history and affect the future course of events. Who are the twelve Travelers, and what special skills and abilities do they possess?
RUTHIE MCDONALD One day Ruthie is working as a waitress in a Chicago diner, trying to make ends meet. Then a bomb explodes and one of her favorite customers is killed. She takes a strange item off of his arm and puts it on her own arm, and suddenly her life is changed forever. As a brand-new Traveler, she has to learn how to control the timeband with her mind, or she may end up lost in the distant past or future. Worse, she doesn’t know which of her new allies can be trusted, and who should be feared.
MILES TERWILLIGER Before he became a Traveler, Miles was a fighter pilot in the Confederate States Air Force, in a timeline where the Confederacy had won the War for Southern Independence. He survived the firebombing of Atlanta during the Great American War of the 1930’s, and shortly thereafter was given the chance to wear a timeband and keep mankind on track for a bright future. Courageous and resourceful, he’s the one to send to gather intelligence in a dangerous period of history.
SARAH RICKERT Sarah is the stern leader who has gathered together a team of highly-skilled operatives and given them timebands. She’s the commanding general in the secret war that stretches across the centuries, and she assigns the missions that her agents carry out. To win her approval, her subordinates have to measure up to her high standards, as she demands nothing less than absolute loyalty and extreme competence from those on her team. Her own origins are shrouded in mystery, for Sarah has worn a timeband longer than anyone, except for her mentor Carlos and his former partner Caesar.
DENISE HAN Denise was a graduate student in theoretical physics in the early twenty-first century when she was given the opportunity to become a Traveler, a second-generation Chinese-American living in Milwaukee. She understands the principles behind time travel better than any other Traveler, although even she doesn’t completely understand the power behind the timebands they wear. Her main duty now is to train new Travelers how to control their timebands using mental commands.
JASON FOOTE Once a backwoodsman in the early days of the American west, Jason used his timeband to become a master in all forms of combat, either with or without weapons. He uses this knowledge to be the master at arms for his team, training new recruits to survive against all adversaries in hostile environments. A solitary man by nature, Jason doesn’t get along with others easily, but there’s no one you’d rather have by your side in a fight.
BEN DRUMMOND Ben is his team’s history specialist, an expert in all of the alternate paths that history might have taken, if events are changed in just the right direction. Once a black history student at a formerly segregated university in the 1960’s, Ben escaped being hanged by a lynch mob when he was given a timeband and the chance to change history. Now he helps plan his team’s missions by identifying the key events that can affect the future course of history.
CARLOS YBARRA Carlos is the reclusive mastermind who serves as the hidden mentor to Sarah’s team. He spent a lifetime mapping out all of the myriad variations that are the possible courses that history can take, but now conducts his researches in secret, cut off even from the associates who work for him. No one knows his current whereabouts, except possibly Sarah, but he is reputed to be the greatest time traveler of all.
CAESAR, real name ANGELO ROSETTI Once, Caesar and Carlos were partners, and together they used their timebands to explore all of human history and its many possible alternate variations. But long ago their partnership ended, and Caesar founded his own team to work against everything that Carlos was trying to accomplish. Now an elderly man, Caesar is still a Traveler of great intelligence and fierce determination.
ELLIE GAGNON In a timeline where New France was one of the most powerful of the many nations in North America, Ellie was an accomplished secret agent, a skilled operative in the service of her prince. Now she uses those skills as a Traveler as one of Caesar’s top agents. She’s a master of disguise, a clever seductress, and when the occasion calls for it, a cold-blooded assassin.
STAN ATWAS Stan is a longtime associate of Caesar’s, a demolitions expert and master linguist. Of Turkish and Greek extraction, Stan is the person who will take on the job that others don’t want to handle, whether it’s assassinating a key historical figure or changing the course of a war. Deliberate and thorough, Stan takes care of the toughest assignments that Caesar needs done.
HARVEY BROOM Harvey is Caesar’s historical expert, a brilliant mind that can comb through huge amounts of historical data to track the movements through time of their adversaries. Rarely in the field, Harvey stays behind at his team’s headquarters, monitoring the changes in history using advanced computer networks. When there is a radical change to the timeline, Harvey can analyze how history has shifted and report his findings to Caesar.
TONYA HARRISON Tonya grew up in one of the meanest neighborhoods of Detroit and became a helicopter pilot in the war in Iraq. She avoided certain death in battle when Caesar offered her a chance to become a Traveler instead. Now she serves as the team’s pilot, flying all manner of aircraft, including suborbital spaceplanes.
RUTHIE MCDONALD One day Ruthie is working as a waitress in a Chicago diner, trying to make ends meet. Then a bomb explodes and one of her favorite customers is killed. She takes a strange item off of his arm and puts it on her own arm, and suddenly her life is changed forever. As a brand-new Traveler, she has to learn how to control the timeband with her mind, or she may end up lost in the distant past or future. Worse, she doesn’t know which of her new allies can be trusted, and who should be feared.
MILES TERWILLIGER Before he became a Traveler, Miles was a fighter pilot in the Confederate States Air Force, in a timeline where the Confederacy had won the War for Southern Independence. He survived the firebombing of Atlanta during the Great American War of the 1930’s, and shortly thereafter was given the chance to wear a timeband and keep mankind on track for a bright future. Courageous and resourceful, he’s the one to send to gather intelligence in a dangerous period of history.
SARAH RICKERT Sarah is the stern leader who has gathered together a team of highly-skilled operatives and given them timebands. She’s the commanding general in the secret war that stretches across the centuries, and she assigns the missions that her agents carry out. To win her approval, her subordinates have to measure up to her high standards, as she demands nothing less than absolute loyalty and extreme competence from those on her team. Her own origins are shrouded in mystery, for Sarah has worn a timeband longer than anyone, except for her mentor Carlos and his former partner Caesar.
DENISE HAN Denise was a graduate student in theoretical physics in the early twenty-first century when she was given the opportunity to become a Traveler, a second-generation Chinese-American living in Milwaukee. She understands the principles behind time travel better than any other Traveler, although even she doesn’t completely understand the power behind the timebands they wear. Her main duty now is to train new Travelers how to control their timebands using mental commands.
JASON FOOTE Once a backwoodsman in the early days of the American west, Jason used his timeband to become a master in all forms of combat, either with or without weapons. He uses this knowledge to be the master at arms for his team, training new recruits to survive against all adversaries in hostile environments. A solitary man by nature, Jason doesn’t get along with others easily, but there’s no one you’d rather have by your side in a fight.
BEN DRUMMOND Ben is his team’s history specialist, an expert in all of the alternate paths that history might have taken, if events are changed in just the right direction. Once a black history student at a formerly segregated university in the 1960’s, Ben escaped being hanged by a lynch mob when he was given a timeband and the chance to change history. Now he helps plan his team’s missions by identifying the key events that can affect the future course of history.
CARLOS YBARRA Carlos is the reclusive mastermind who serves as the hidden mentor to Sarah’s team. He spent a lifetime mapping out all of the myriad variations that are the possible courses that history can take, but now conducts his researches in secret, cut off even from the associates who work for him. No one knows his current whereabouts, except possibly Sarah, but he is reputed to be the greatest time traveler of all.
CAESAR, real name ANGELO ROSETTI Once, Caesar and Carlos were partners, and together they used their timebands to explore all of human history and its many possible alternate variations. But long ago their partnership ended, and Caesar founded his own team to work against everything that Carlos was trying to accomplish. Now an elderly man, Caesar is still a Traveler of great intelligence and fierce determination.
ELLIE GAGNON In a timeline where New France was one of the most powerful of the many nations in North America, Ellie was an accomplished secret agent, a skilled operative in the service of her prince. Now she uses those skills as a Traveler as one of Caesar’s top agents. She’s a master of disguise, a clever seductress, and when the occasion calls for it, a cold-blooded assassin.
STAN ATWAS Stan is a longtime associate of Caesar’s, a demolitions expert and master linguist. Of Turkish and Greek extraction, Stan is the person who will take on the job that others don’t want to handle, whether it’s assassinating a key historical figure or changing the course of a war. Deliberate and thorough, Stan takes care of the toughest assignments that Caesar needs done.
HARVEY BROOM Harvey is Caesar’s historical expert, a brilliant mind that can comb through huge amounts of historical data to track the movements through time of their adversaries. Rarely in the field, Harvey stays behind at his team’s headquarters, monitoring the changes in history using advanced computer networks. When there is a radical change to the timeline, Harvey can analyze how history has shifted and report his findings to Caesar.
TONYA HARRISON Tonya grew up in one of the meanest neighborhoods of Detroit and became a helicopter pilot in the war in Iraq. She avoided certain death in battle when Caesar offered her a chance to become a Traveler instead. Now she serves as the team’s pilot, flying all manner of aircraft, including suborbital spaceplanes.