Hallo, Hallo dear hearts and fellow book bloggers from the #AShapeOnTheAir tour!
You could say, I developed an affinity for stories evoking a strong visceral experience of time and the ways in which we can bend ourselves through different evolutions of being physically present in both the historic past and the present day world.
Throughout my tenure on Jorie Loves A Story, I’ve been exploring different variants of genre which seek out to explore how TIME can become a co-director of how a story is both shaped and told. I’ve walked through time shifts, time slips and time travelling narratives from year one into this tenth year of book blogging my bookish life. Each of the different styles of how time is proportioned throughout the story has become a fascinating jaunt through both historic and contemporary conversations about how our lives can become re-anchoured through time and the experiences we continue to shape as we live dimensionally rather than linear.
One of the recommended authors attached to the Dr Dulac series is a favourite author of mine as well: Christina Courtenay of whom was also a regular chatter of mine when I used to host @SatBookChat weekly rather than twice of month. I’ve had the pleasure of reading quite a few of her stories over the years and still have quite a few left to become lost inside. I have been a huge appreciator of her style of time narratives and the dramatic romances she creates inside them. On that note, when I realised she was mentioned in connection with this series, it was a footnote of knowing that I most likely would be able to walk into this new series with ease. As I am dearly familiar with her style and hoped that a similar one might be found in Ibbotson’s series, too.
Throughout this conversation with Dr Ibbotson, you’ll see how my questions led the conversation to discuss different aspects of the story and her ability to tell the story out of the research which gives her a lot of wicked good insight into the Anglo-Saxon past. I’ve previously read a few books about the Anglo-Saxon era and it is a time period that I am starting to explore more deeply myself through the stories I am finding in Historical Fiction.
I loved how she responded to my questions and enquiries but also, how I learnt quite a bit about how she’s written the series overall. It is a wonderful discovery for someone like me who likes a thinking man story and wants to have an intellectual reading experience rooted in wicked research.
And, without further adieu – enjoy the response Dr Ibbotson shared with us!
A Shape on the Air
by Julia Ibbotson
Can echoes of the past threaten the present? They are 1500 years apart, but can they reach out to each other across the centuries? One woman faces a traumatic truth in the present day. The other is forced to marry the man she hates as the ‘dark ages’ unfold.
How can Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, unlock the secrets of the past? Traumatised by betrayal, she slips into 499 AD and into the body of Lady Vivianne, who is also battling treachery. Viv must uncover the mystery of the key that she unwittingly brings back with her to the present day, as echoes of the past resonate through time. But little does Viv realise just how much both their lives across the centuries will become so intertwined. And in the end, how can they help each other across the ages without changing the course of history?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1739887704
Published by Archbury Books
on 8th January, 2023
Format: Trade Paperback
A Shape on the Air (book one)
The Dragon Tree (book two)
The Rune Stone (book three)
Converse via: #HistFic or #HistNov as well as #TimeTravel and #HistoricalFiction
+ #DrDulacSeries, #AngloSaxon as well as #HFVBT
Available Formats: Trade paperback and ebook
About Julia Ibbotson
Acclaimed, award-winning author Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of resonances across time. She read English at Keele University, England (after a turbulent but exciting gap year in Ghana, West Africa) specialising in medieval language, literature and history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. She wrote her first novel at 10 years of age, but became a school teacher, then an academic as a senior university lecturer and researcher.
She has published a number of books, including memoir, children’s medieval fantasy, a trilogy set in Ghana, and medieval time-slip, as well as academic works. Apart from insatiable reading, she loves travelling the world, singing in choirs, swimming, yoga and walking in the countryside in England and Madeira where she and her husband divide their time.
I enjoyed putting this interview together, because I had a chance to discuss the components of the time shifting inside the novel as much a I had the pleasure of discussing aspects of how the story was written. I am hopeful that visitors of the tour and my regular readers alike will enjoy where our conversation took us.
I love how you took your passion for early Anglo-Saxon History as a fuell of insight and creativity for your stories and series. Presently, we’re celebrating your Dr Dulac series (by way of the first novel “A Shape on the Air”) which is a trilogy (rounding out with “The Dragon Tree” and “The Rune Stone”).
For a non-scholar but avid Historical Fiction time-traveller through stories like yours which allow us to time jump through History — what did you find through your research into this era in time which sparked a knowing interest to invest your stories into this part of Medievalism? What was the tipping point where you said “That’s brilliant” and you knew this would be a setting and a timescape which would allow you freedom to move and write and create stories and characters?
Ibbotson responds: My interest was sparked by my research into the Anglo-Saxons for my first degree, which made me think that early Anglo-Saxon England was largely misunderstood. It was my ‘eureka’ moment! I was always fascinated by the Anglo-Saxon period of English history: the making of Britain as a unified country following nearly 400 years of Roman occupation and the subsequent withdrawal of Roman troops in the early 5th century AD.
So many questions: how did the ensuing incursions by Germanic tribes fill the Roman spaces and impact on the Britons? How did it effect the Britons’ everyday life? Why was this period called ‘The Dark Ages’? Was it all really so barbaric with invasions and brutal suppression of local populations?
No, I didn’t believe so! The age was surely only ‘dark’ because of the lack of surviving documents and evidence, a darkness of knowledge. And recent research in archaeology and geophysical features of England has seemed to support my view that huge swathes of the country actually remained peaceful and settled. Angle and Saxon tribes from the continent were largely assimilated into Britons’ lives, and the eventual cultural dominance of Anglo-Saxons most probably a slower process of change.
So I was most interested in how we used to live, ordinary people with ordinary lives, not in the battles and kings. I learned to speak Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at university and the language tells you a lot about their everyday way of life, their customs, their food, their beliefs, and so on. And recent archaeology has uncovered evidence of a much richer culture than we previously thought, beautiful jewellery, precious artefacts, gilded icons etc, as well as domestic pots and articles, evidence of skilled craftsmanship and valued imports from abroad.
I wanted to reflect that idea in my stories, so A Shape on the Air begins that journey. It’s about relatively ordinary Anglo-Saxon village life in that historical period, so even though Lady Vivianne and Sir Roland are clearly ‘nobles’ and demonstrate a fairly ‘rich’ culture, they aren’t from great wealthy royal families; their setting is limited and fairly day-to-day.
The time trifecta section of literature is one of my top favourites to explore – how did you approach the science behind the slips in time and also the believablity of anchouring both characters together through how the slippage in time occured? In other words, how did you approach this part of your series to where the reader can readily take that leap of faith with you and feel just as settled in the past as they do in the present?
Ibbotson responds: I’m interested in concepts of time, for example the Einstein-Bridge Theory that there are ‘bridges’ between time dimensions through ‘wormholes’ and possibly ‘black holes’.
Quantum Physics is mind-boggling but fascinating! I love the idea of aspects of the past touching the present (what about that déjà vu feeling?). And for Dr Viv in A Shape on the Air, there is a family resonance from her predecessors. So I was linking the two main characters in the two time zones through that connection. There’s also the resonance of betrayal and anxiety that touches both Dr Viv and Lady Vivianne’s hearts which creates a sense of greater sensibility and perhaps susceptibility to something a little ‘magical’. In time-slip there needs to be a ‘wormhole’ of identification that ties both worlds together and allows each character to reach out to the other across the ages. There’s also that notion: can the past inform the present, and vice versa?
Were there other stories about time and dual narratives which inspired you before you started crafting your own? Either in books or films alike?
Ibbotson responds: I loved the film Sliding Doors and it made me wonder, can you change the course of history by diverging time? Surely not because then everything and everyone in the future would necessarily be different. That’s reflected in the wonderful novel Life After Life (Kate Atkinson). I also had inspiration from children’s books about bending time, like A Traveller in Time (Alison Uttley) and Tom’s Midnight Garden (Philippa Pearce). A strong concept throughout A Shape on the Air relates to not changing the course of history, at least for the present day characters.
What did you feel was the most challenging aspect of constructing the Dr Dulac series and carrying through your vision of it for the length of the trilogy? I was curious if you started the story initially with the concept of a trilogy in mind or if you decided on that as you were writing “A Shape on the Air”?
Ibbotson responds: I had no plan for a trilogy at the time of writing A Shape on the Air but I fell in love with my characters and their situations and I simply couldn’t let them go! So I had to continue their stories to see what might happen to them next.
A Shape on the Air is an Anglo-Saxon timeslip, but its sequel, The Dragon Tree, takes Viv and Rory further in their story but this time to the beautiful tropical island of Madeira and connects them to a mystery in the later medieval period (14th and 16th centuries) which is an interesting part of the island’s history. The Rune Stone travels back to the Anglo-Saxon world of England and yet another mystery to solve. I guess the most challenging aspect of any series is deciding just how much of the ‘reminders’ of back-story you need in the second and subsequent books: too little and the readers might be confused, and if there’s too much it could become repetitious.
Like you, I have a strong affinity for “Pride and Prejudice” as well as for the film “Chocolat” — as your writing your romances into the arc of your stories, what are you personally hoping readers will pick up on as far as the nuanced details of how you wanted them to see the relationship building as well as are there any subtle nods of homage to other characters or stories you’ve loved yourself?
Ibbotson responds: For me, romances are about the gradual development of a relationship and the strengthening of it through shared experiences and understandings, even though difficulties and ‘ups and downs’ create challenges along the way. I wanted readers to feel that as I put Viv and Rory, and Vivianne and Roland through so much in their lives.
What is your favourite part of creating
the initial spark of romance between your two characters as well?
Ibbotson responds: My favourite part is to do with walking in the characters’ shoes and feeling that point of contact between two hearts and minds. I love the slow build up of emotion and realization.
When it comes to time itself and the romance of time in general what do you feel is our fascination with it and how time travelling (or time shift and time slip) has become a bit of a mainstay in the hearts of readers (or watchers of film, tv series)?
Ibbotson responds: Perhaps it’s the mystery of reaching out through time, across the ages, that fascinates readers and audiences. It reflects the mystery of romance itself – it’s hard to define that spark and how/when it occurs. Also the romance to readers of ‘experiencing’ a different time period and the fact that human emotions are not so different from our present day emotions: the universality of human experience. In addition, there’s the idea that love can be timeless and can exist beyond life itself.
In the Dr Dulac series – which supporting character did you love creating and do you think they are oft overlooked by readers? What is it about them that stands out to you as the writer and what do you hope readers will latch onto themselves as they find them in the text?
Ibbotson responds: I love Tilly/Matilda! She is a great character to write, fun and crazy and so ‘real’. She is the foil to the seriousness of the main story arc.
What is the best way to describe the Dr Dulac series – installment by installment? As a bit of a teaser of sorts for those just entering into the trilogy?
Ibbotson responds: I’m not sure how much else to say that isn’t in question #4. But here goes…Basically, the series follows Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, and Rev Rory Netherbridge, gorgeous local clergyman, as they navigate mysterious time-slips into medieval times.
A Shape on the Air: Can echoes of the past threaten the present? How can Dr Viv DuLac unlock the secrets of the past? Traumatised by betrayal, she slips into the Anglo-Saxon world of 499 AD and into the life of Lady Vivianne, who is also battling treachery. Viv must uncover the mystery of the key that she unwittingly brings back with her to the present day, as echoes of the past resonate through time. But little does Viv realise just how much both their lives across the centuries will become so intertwined. And in the end, how can she and Rev Rory, her new love interest, help Lady Vivianne across the ages without changing the course of history?
The Dragon Tree: Viv and Rory travel to the island of Madeira where again they experience a different time through the lives of a shipwrecked noblewoman from the 14th century and a rebellious nun from the 16th century. Can they discover, through those past lives, the secret of the mysterious dragon tree and the ancient ammonite from Madeira’s volcanic origins…before it’s too late?
The Rune Stone: back home in England, Viv discovers a mysterious rune stone in Rev Rory’s churchyard and its ancient runic message seems to be a curse. Viv feels the echoes of the past as she connects with Lady Vivianne again in the early 6th century and desperately tries to unlock the secrets of the runes. Viv and Rory urgently need to help their Anglo-Saxon lady to retrieve her precious bracteate pendant that marks her lost child, and find her peace again.
The series would be enjoyed by fans of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay.
Being an avid reader of the Quantum realms, I was keenly curious how you intergrate Quantum Mechanics into the fabric of your stories which parlays back to an earlier question I had about the science you use to channel in the time slippages and re-achours between the present and the past. On a personal note, I love how creative books are written about Quantum Physics and Mechanics as they sometimes read as stories themselves rather than tomes of scientific discoveries. Do you have any favourite writers in that relam and which books are your go-to favourites to refer to as your writing?
Ibbotson responds: Professor Brian Cox, the astrophysicist prof of particle physics at the university of Manchester, England, is my go-to writer and broadcaster in this area. His books and television series are mind-boggling. His books include ‘The Quantum Universe’ and his TV series ‘The Wonders of the Universe’ and ‘The Planets’, and they are brain-stretching concepts of our universe and our place in it, and the story of how it all began. You feel as if anything could happen between past and present. Fascinating stuff.
In the film “Somewhere in Time” there was an object used as well – a penny if memory serves, whereas in your story its a key. Was having an object involved in your story inspired by another story or was it something you felt that might help fuse the suspension of time for the reader as it was another level of connection and tethering?
Ibbotson responds: The key which Viv brings back from the 5th century to the present day in A Shape on the Air represents the key to a mystery and its unfolding, a kind of Quest which Viv and Rory must undertake, and reflects the ‘quest’ that Viv and Rory as well as Vivianne and Roland, must journey to peace and happiness, for themselves and their worlds. It’s also a physical link from the past into the present predicating the conceptual link of time travel.
In respect to your future works,
what can you tell us about your latest writings and upcoming releases?
Ibbotson responds: My latest is Daughter of Mercia and a new series. Dr Anna Petersen, an academic runologist, is brought in to interpret runic symbols on the handle of an Anglo-Saxon seax (dagger) which has been found by archaeologists in a mysterious burial site containing (mind-bogglingly) both sixth century and present day sets of skeletal remains. They have been buried together at the same time – how is this possible? It raises the question: what happens if someone time-slips into the past and cannot get back to the present day? Anna’s nemesis is Professor Matt Beacham, the archaeologist, and they have an immediate antagonism, but together they must solve the mystery, as Anna connects with the sixth century world. And perhaps they can reach a new connection together.
I’m currently writing the second in the series, Secrets of Mercia. More about that later!
When your not researching or writing your stories what renews your creative energies?
Ibbotson responds: I actually love researching new discoveries in Anglo-Saxon archaeology through current academic papers and books and that in itself renews my creative energy, as I find new things to write about. So much is now being revealed. It doesn’t sound ‘relaxing’ but it’s my hobby too! My current joy is the delightful book ‘Winters in the World: a journey through the Anglo-Saxon world’ by Eleanor Parker, an Oxford academic. It’s full of Anglo-Saxon poetry and details about their thoughts and concepts of the world.
I’m also an avid reader of novels (including psychological thrillers!), walking in the beautiful countryside in England and Madeira, gardening, yoga, singing in choirs, oh, and baking and cooking for friends and family – all these things refresh my soul!
Thank you so much for your interesting thought-provoking questions;
they certainly made me think.
This blog tour is courtesy of:
Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours!
Follow the Virtual Road Map
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NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.
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.@joriestory NEW Author Interview
I've been exploring different variants of genre which seek out to explore how TIME can become a co-director of how a story is both shaped and told. I loved discussing A Shape on the Air.https://t.co/eEcikQxLom#HistFic #TimeTravel #bookblogger pic.twitter.com/kQHcmvqnRW
— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) February 21, 2023
Very nice interview!
Hallo, Hallo Lydia!
Thanks for your lovely comment. I had a lot of enjoyment with assembling the questions for this interview and I loved where the conversation led from there as well. The constructs of time narratives are one of my favourites to discover and to examine and this author, truly had me at ‘Hallo’ with the premise of this one, too. I look forward to re-exploring this author in the short future of the year (betwixt Spring and Autumn) whilst re-delving into reading more time narratives as well. Thanks for stopping by and appreciating the post.
Yes, so glad our paths crossed! Bless you and I hope your trials and tribulations resolve themselves soon. All the best with your ongoing quests.
Thank you so much for your interesting and thought-provoking questions in our chat today, about A Shape on the Air. It made me think hard. Thanks for participating in my book tour with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours; much appreciated. I do hope you enjoy the two sequels to A Shape on the Air, also about bending time. If you’re interested in the fascinating world of the Anglo-Saxons, do check out my blogs on my website (below). I have some articles on how they used to live.
Dearest Dr Ibbotson,
This conversation has only encouraged me to pursue reading your novels. I can’t wait to take a fuller look into your blog and website, however, per my recent #TheSundayPost my personal housing situation has altered severely. With a timed deadline on that circumstance, I’m having to table a lot of my personal reading goals/plans and that includes the books I wanted to purchase to read. Yours included. Ergo, it might take a bit to gather them, but I definitely want to start with A Shape on the Air and continue forward into the series.
I am so grateful you loved my questions. This interview gave me a wicked sweet diversion of focus and I was beyond grateful for it. You piqued my interest actually about your blog(s) as I had mentioned, the Anglo-Saxons are part of my pursuit into Historial Fiction, as one of my favourite reasons for pursuing HF overall is to dive deep into the historic past and live amongst those we couldn’t otherwise understand. As #HistFic for me has always provided such a lovely lens of insight that generally goes overlooked or unnoticed.
I am wicked thrilled our paths have crossed and I will definitely be in further touch with you as I move into your stories. Again, that will take a bit longer than usual per my circumstances but I’m hopeful I can start to gather books again post-April and forward from there. Bless you for blessing me with this conversation and for giving my readers such a delight of joy to discover about your series, too.