Background
Learn how the author came up with the concept and title as well as the motivation behind why he wrote the story and what influenced him.
Concept
I've wanted to do a time travel and human origins story for some time. My plan for the Beyond Saga has always been to do that in book 3, which occurs within the natural progression
of the book series
Book 1 (BC9) is how it all begins, which includes the invention of faster-than-light travel and an alien invasion that isn't what it seems.
Book 2 (BtH) takes the next logical step. With FTL now possible, humankind launches its first instellar mission to make first contact with an exospecies (my term for alien race).
In book 2, we learn that time travel is possible, setting the stage for book 3 (BYD).
Book 3 reveals some startling truths about the human race and the multiverse in general.
In book 4 (BEX), everything that's occurred throughout the first three books reaches a climactic tipping point, threatening all of existence.
Each book raises the stakes, and book 3 is step 3 of 4.
As a science fiction author, it was only a matter of time until I tackled time travel. In the vast majority of all shows, movies, books, and games I've known over the years, the
subject of time travel is not handled very well. Characters travel to the future or the past to affect things but the end results usually don't make sense.
Most sci-fi employs simple linear time travel in a single universe, a prospect riddled with paradoxes (which tells us that this can't work). Most plots just ignore these
issues and infer that the reader should gloss over them and enjoy the story. Think about things too much, and the plot breaks down quickly. And too few stories explore time travel
in multiple universes. Most of the stories I've seen involving the multiverse just deal with mirror/alternate universes but not time travel.
Beyond Yesterday is my way of handling time travel. If I may be so bold, it's time travel done right--or at least, done with as many of the paradoxes resolved as possible
using time travel in multiple universes, which I refer to as branch theory. My goal was to craft a comprehensive time travel plot that's hard to poke holes in. But it's fiction, so there
are always holes.
Regarding the human origins aspect of the story, my assertions about what happened in the past work very well with the the multi-universe time travel to create a fundamental plot
device that drives the entire book series. Aliens creating or "hyper-evolving" humans has been done before, of course. Therefore, my goal was to do implement it as plausibly as
possible. Events occur out of necessity and the best of intentions.
It should be noted that even though I'm proud of my fictional theories and plot devices, I'm not personally convinced that any of it is true in real life.
Finally, BYD isn't all about the plot and science. It's about how those things affect people. It's about Maya coming into her own as a first-time captain. It's about Brooke finally dealing with the
consequences of her spark (drug) use. It's about their relationship and relationships between the other characters. There are protagonists and
antagonists but no good guys or bad guys. Everybody wins and everybody loses to some extent. Hopefully, it makes the reader think while thoroughly entertaining. Enjoy!
Title
The title of Beyond Yesterday is fairly straightforward. Maya and the crew of the starship Yesterday travel back to a time period that's a few years before (beyond) yesterday.
It's catchy, and it works on multiple levels.