About the Book

Book: The Time Door

Author: Shannon McDermott

Genre: Adult Science Fiction

Release date: October 8, 2024

A reckless last mission on Mars, a crusade for justice on Earth …

Reuben Jackson is the only one who still cares about Mars. In the shambles of the Great Collapse, Earth has abandoned the Mars explorers to their fate. But Reuben will make a stand for the Mars team—even against the powerfully united politicians and scientists.

In too deep, he discovers hidden conspiracies and unexpected allies.

As the conflict mounts on Earth, time runs down on Mars. Left to face Mars alone, Commander Donegan Moynihan and his team have no hope of surviving after their supplies are gone. Willing to accept a quicker death than starvation, the explorers strike out on a dangerous mission. They venture deep inside the ancient volcano of Arsia Mons, into perils and secrets long buried. What they discover would move mountains on Earth—but will it be enough to save themselves?

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I received a complimentary copy of this book, and all opinions given are my own and not an endorsement of all author’s opinions.

Author Interview

● What was the most challenging part of writing your book?

There is a sequence where the explorers discover a buried region on Mars. It is, of course, deserted, but the environment itself seems to oppose them. I found it challenging to write opposition that appeared to both be deliberate and come from unconscious forces.

● What was the most enjoyable part of writing your book?

Coming to the scenes in which characters who had never liked each other came, finally, to understand each other.

● How do you weave Biblical truths into your writing?

Most often, subtly. I always make some references to God or the Bible, but overall, there is little overt religion in my novels. But the story is shaped by my understanding of human nature, right and wrong, and the ultimate hope in the universe, and my understanding of all those things is shaped by my Christian faith.

● Are any of your characters based off of yourself or those close to you?

Sometimes I project elements of my own experiences or personality onto characters. Yet they are made up of other things, too. I have never written a character who is myself, disguised or otherwise.

Still less have I ever based a character off of someone that I know. Not worth the lawsuit.

● What is your next big goal as an author?

The Eternities Series is currently planned as a duology. I am hoping to expand it, including to a book that is, shall we say, different in its combination of space and vaudeville.

About the Author

Shannon McDermott is an author of science fiction and has been occupied for years with constructing scenarios of the colonization of Mars. Always a fan of the genre, she reviews Christian speculative fiction with Lorehaven. Her interests include history, classic

literature, and lattes. She lives in the great Midwest, where she does her best to avoid icy weather, sweltering heat, and tornadoes, according to the season.

More from Shannon

There is a story of an abandoned space colony. Still young, still unsteady, and suddenly cut off from the mother planet—the colony will either learn fast to survive alone, or it will die altogether.

The story has been told again and again, a thousand variations on the old theme. When I was getting acquainted with it, through battered paperbacks and anthologies gathered from the old “scientifiction” magazines, I noticed that the colonies were usually abandoned because of a space plague, or aliens, or interplanetary war.

Exotic, exciting problems, the stuff of science fiction. But I had a thought: What if the reason for abandoning a space colony were a bit prosaic? What if there was just no more money?

The national debt is very much a thing (and an ever-growing thing, at an ever-increasing rate). We would be in trouble if that debt were ever called, or even if no more could be contracted. If it suddenly became time to pay the piper, if the money running off the press was no longer good enough—America couldn’t afford to support a colony on Mars. And we would have too many problems of our own to care very much about theirs.

A classic sci-fi story with a modern twist, something fantastic mixed with something prosaic. I liked it.

As I set to work on the idea, I soon made another variation to the theme. The abandoned colony did not take the whole stage. I gave equal space to those who had abandoned it. Good or bad, they had their reasons; they had their story, too. And as I began to write it, I realized that both stories were about survival. The struggle over whether they survived, and how, and what they would become on the other side.

These ideas grew into The Time Door—two parallel stories, separated by the distance between Mars and Earth, and yet united in the end. Whether abandoned on Mars, or caught in the collapse on Earth, they all need a way out; they all need to find a door.