We recently read an article that took the “everything I need to know” gimmick and applied it to several books, movies, etc. What a great idea, we thought, and promptly stole it. So without further ado, here is the first installment (of course we are anticipating sequels!) of Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Time’s Edge.
Choose your battles.
“Unless you know of a way to force a scientician to leave a room when he chooses not to, you’re wasting your time.” (Orela, a member of the Executive Council, cautioning another council member not to tangle with a man who could, literally, blast him into atoms. Time’s Secret.)
Know yourself.
“Choose your path. Choose the one that calls for you alone.” (The direction given to Michael and Kate as they are being tested in the Realm of the Scienticians. Time’s Edge.)
Perception is everything.
Unfortunately, Michael did not trust his own interpretation of events. His attraction for Kate was so strong he was afraid it was coloring his perception of her. He wanted her to be innocent of any evil intentions. He wanted her to be just what she said she was. He wanted it so badly he wondered if he was twisting the facts to convince himself she was innocent. (Michael, trying to decide if he can trust Kate. Time’s Edge.)
Don’t jump to conclusions.
“I won’t pass judgment until I have all the facts.” (Michael, refusing to express a negative opinion of his commanding officer in spite of the fact that it appears that the officer deceived him. Time’s Edge.)
Be observant.
Michael saw the flicker in Radford’s eyes and recognized it for what it was. Radford was, for the first time, afraid of losing. Michael now knew he had an edge over his opponent. (Michael and Radford’s Tavon contest. Time’s Secret.)
Keep a sense of humor during stressful situations.
“Let me be, Kate,” Radford whispered. “If you die healing me, Michael will kill me anyway.” He grinned ruefully. “I think bleeding to death would be an easier way to die.” (Time’s Secret.)
Don’t be afraid to say, “I love you”.
“No, I don’t think I do,” Michael replied, remembering Kate had known he loved her even though he had never said so. He looked down at her and opened his mouth to say the words.
“I love you, too, Michael.” Kate smiled and then stretched up on her toes to kiss him. (Time’s Edge.)
Time is. Time was. Time is past. Time is a difficult thing to pin down! As one year turns into anther, we thought this would be a good time to explore that most elusive of all concepts. Here are some thoughts on the subject:
1. Clocks slay time… time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life. William Faulkner
2. For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. Doug Larson
3. The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time. Abraham Lincoln
4. The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. C. S. Lewis
5. Time goes, you say? Ah, no! alas, time stays, we go. Henry Austin Dobson
6. Time is money. Benjamin Franklin
7. Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. William Penn
8. We are time’s subjects, and time bids be gone. William Shakespeare
9. You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by. James M. Barrie
10. Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back. Harvey MacKay
Our own take on time:
Time is a concept, not a reality. We create the illusion of time, but time, as most beings define it, doesn’t really exist. Orazio, the Time Master (Time’s Secret)
And our all-time favorite remark about time:
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. Albert Einstein
Shelfari, amazon.com’s “community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers”, has a neat feature; readers and authors can add quotes from books they enjoyed. We had a lot of fun selecting quotes from our novel Time’s Edge. Here are our favorites (in no particular order):
“It’s impossible to walk through solid rock… You have to walk between the molecules that make up the rock.” Nick, the Sarzonian guardian
“Seers. They make everything they say sound like a prophecy.” Jafrey Ral
“What I can do is science, not magic. Magic is just a term for an aspect of science that hasn’t been explained yet.” Michael Blayne
“Within this dimension there are doorways to every place in the galaxy… A misstep in this hall can have serious consequences.” Alrick Zartollis
“If we live through this remind me to buy you a Ratherian beer.” Commander Lucas Joyston
“This place is a cross between a medieval castle and a space station.” Kate Weston
“The robot was my ancestor…just as the amoeba was yours.” Edgar, Michael’s robotic servant
“I’m ready to believe anything from a man who spends three months on a simple probe retrieval and then returns wearing a cat.” Zilla, the commander of Division 9
“You are not the portent. You are the great event.” Rista Jahlan
“Alrick will kill you if you talk, and Michael will kill you if you don’t. Glad I’m not you.” Jafrey
A couple of blogs ago, we asked, “Why do writers write?”. During our search for the answer, we accumulated other bits of wisdom from authors past and present. Here’s a sampling of advice that falls under the “how-to-write” category.
1. There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. ~Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith
2. I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard
3. Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain
4. Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth
5. The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~Mark Twain
6. Be obscure clearly. ~E.B. White
7. …a writer is working when he’s staring out of the window. ~Burton Rascoe
8. The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie
9. Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head. ~From the movie Finding Forrester
10. The best style is the style you don’t notice. ~Somerset Maugham
11. I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener
12. Don’t get it right, just get it written. ~James Thurber
13. There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. ~W. Somerset Maugham
J.M. Dattilo 