John A. Heldt is a reference librarian who lives and works in Montana. The former award-winning sportswriter and newspaper editor has loved reading and writing since writing book reports on baseball heroes in grade school. A graduate of both the University of Oregon and University of Iowa, he is an avid fisherman, sports fan, home brewer, and reader of thrillers and historical fiction. THE MINE is his first novel.
When Rie Conley asked me to write a guest post for Mission to Read, she suggested a piece about history and family roots and their relevance to my debut novel, THE MINE. She could not have suggested a better topic. History and family roots are essential components of the story.
In many time-travel novels, the interloper's impact on his (or her) new environment is not immediate or profound. He might make a mess of things in 18th-century Scotland or 14th-century France, but his presence does not directly jeopardize his future family line.
Not so in THE MINE. When my protagonist, Seattle college student Joel Smith, travels from 2000 to 1941, he finds himself in a position to affect his own existence. He meets, among other people, his 21-year-old grandmother – a woman who is rather fond of a man who will not be Joel's grandfather.
Should Joel meddle in a relationship that was not meant to survive the war? Should he consider the couple's happiness over his own fears and concerns?
The first "Back to the Future" film addressed this matter directly. When time traveler Marty McFly acted in ways that jeopardized the pairing of his future parents, his brother and sister disappeared from a family photo he kept in his wallet. When he acted in ways that brought them together, his siblings reappeared. Marty learned quickly that he had a vested interest in sticking to the original script.
Joel Smith doesn't make things vanish as he travels through a decidedly inconvenient parallel universe, but he is constantly mindful of his obligations to others. These include his obligations toward a kind, reclusive, and extraordinarily beautiful honors student who happens to wear the ring of a U.S. Navy officer.
When Joel falls in love with Grace Vandenberg, he is immediately confronted with ethical questions those of us stuck in the present will never have to answer. Should he re-write her history or leave her destiny intact? His wants and moral obligations are continually at odds.
I enjoyed writing THE MINE in part because it allowed me to explore a favorite subject from an unusual perspective – the perspective of a time traveler. History is not dead to Joel Smith. It is a work in progress. It is something he can change, something to be handled with considerable care.
This is particularly true on a micro level. Joel cannot prevent U.S. entry into World War II. He cannot prevent Joe DiMaggio from hitting safely in 56 consecutive games or Joe Louis from defeating Billy Conn in a celebrated heavyweight fight. But he can alter the fates of individuals in his life.
As he travels through 1941, Joel discovers the difference between what he can do and what he should do. He learns that actions indeed have consequences. And he comes to realize that some people and events, even those he deplores and wants to change, are best left undisturbed.
In THE MINE, as in real life, these things have a purpose.
In 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of Whirlaway, swing dancing, and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.
