I find it hard to believe that with JOURNEY FROM DELPHI for now the story of Lauren and Zack Fletcher has come to an end.

For a time travel thriller trilogy (that is easy to say fast), sheets of paper mapping out the plot, characters, and timelines had to be laid out on a table. As the story developed, both book by book and with an overarching series plotline and theme, a typically messy table became more so.

But, that is part of the fun. If you know where you’re going with the story, then seeds can be planted that will bear fruit later. It is in creating the characters who will live and breathe within the story, often causing it to change course in directions of their choosing, that as I write I become totally immersed.

One of my main characters, Professor Lauren Fletcher, is a heroine in any age – past, present, or future. A woman who grows into her strength throughout the book, she is both a warrior and a catalyst to events large and small.

For readers of the first two books, the third novel, JOURNEY FROM DELPHI, carries through the plot element of Professor Lauren Fletcher’s classic J ’adore perfume. A full-timbered heroine – tough, yet vulnerable, Lauren bears wounds from her childhood in a military family whose constant moves created separation anxiety, and in her inability to conceive. Lacking sensitivity to Lauren’s needs, and immersed in his career, her husband, Professor Zackary Fletcher, is more concerned with tenure than with their relationship. They aren’t on the same page, and the fabric of the marriage ist earning.  It is his decision to travel to Greece for yet one more dig that allows them to be thrown back in time and into a war. And with Lauren on this journey is a bottle of her favorite J’Adore perfume.

Io, the queen of the ancient city of Mycenae, takes a fancy to the floral scent in Book One, PASSAGE at DELPHI. Lauren leaves her a small bottle of what she has left. Lauren had been using dabs of the perfume to quell the horrible aroma of the Thermopylae battlefield.

Lauren doesn’t realize that her fragrance will be carried on the wind, revealing her location to an enraged arch-nemesis.

Little does Lauren know that this perfume will be used to deceive and seduce another character who visits the Mycenaean citadel later in Book Two, DELPHI’S CHOSEN.

Oh, the tangled web of fun plotting twists, turns, and payoffs.

As with any trilogy, foreshadowing and hinting at events to come is part of the intrigue.

Lauren is the victim of an attack on a college campus in Book One. This assault was staged by a mysterious taskmaster to test her resolve as, if chosen by him to save humanity, more threats to her survival will be on the way. Lauren’s fierce survival instinct enrages her attacker, and her response becomes a catalyst to so much of what happens between them later. Further, into the story, the risk will be not just physical, but psychological, as well.

Lauren is also impacted by the arrogance of her husband, Zack’s risk-taking. The consequences of his miscalculations are dreadful, causing her to make hard decisions as to what is most important while under the physical and mental assaults.

This character’s resolve impacts the lives of two children. Unable to become a mother biologically, Lauren channels the protective instincts of all mothers into two young people in need of help and family.

And despite Zack’s disconnect, despite his insensitivity to her needs, Lauren never abandons him. Even when they are apart, she remains emotionally connected to him, allowing for them to eventually reconcile just how much they truly mean to each other.

While ideally, all literary characters learn something about themselves on their journeys, for Zack and Lauren the learning curve is dramatic.  And Lauren never shies away from the challenge. It is Lauren’s endurance, and her commitment, that makes her so compelling to me. I hope these characteristics make her as real to you as they have made her for me.

Inviting you to be swept away into her and Zack’s journeys in the past, present, and future,

--AK Patch

Allan Patch is the author of the contemporary/historical fiction thriller Apollo Series trilogy.  Patch uses contemporary characters, historical encounters, and page-turning adventure to pose the question: what must we learn from our past to ensure our future. Read more from Allan at www.akpatchauthor.com.