Tag: Ryan Gutierrez

Author Q & A: Ryan Gutierrez, Part II

scarsintime
Photo: google

With the formalities out of the way, it is time to get into the deeper topics of Ryan Gutierrez’ “Scars in Time: A Novel (The Nowhen Stories).” Here is the second and final part of my Q & A with the author.

Sandra Cruz:  Have you ever considered going back in time for purely altruistic reasons?
Ryan Gutierrez: You know, if I could, I think I would have to. When you talk about time-travel, people often go to the baby Hitler conundrum. Would you kill baby Hitler to stop the Holocaust? Well, perhaps I’d just kidnap baby Hitler and help him find a nice adoptive family in our time, but I would have to do something. You can’t not try to stop the heinous murder of millions of innocents.

That’s why it was so important for me to limit the time travel in my story to a micro and personal level. I wanted Brennan to be limited to what he could do within his own lifetime only. I didn’t want him getting sidetracked stopping the holocaust.

SC:  Your book reminds me of the movie The Butterfly Effect. Did it inspire your story?
RG: I haven’t actually seen that movie. I think it came out during this weird time when I was on an anti-Kutcher kick for some reason. I actually admire the heck out of him now and all he’s done for victims of the sex trade. I did, however, draw inspiration from the Butterfly Effect that is a part of chaos theory. Basically, a small change to proceeding events could have massive repercussions on the resulting consequences.

SC:  Is this the first book in a series? I would love to read more of Brennan’s travels.
RG: Yes and no. It is the first book of the Nowhen Stories, but Brennan will be taking a backseat role to let others shine. I wanted Brennan’s focus to return to his family and living life well. However, Brennan’s travels through time opened the world to the effects of the Nowhen, the realm that functioned as a sort of way-station between times. The Nowhen is going to be for South Texas, what the Hellmouth was for Sunnydale, what the meteor shower was for Smallville, or the particle accelerator explosion was for Central City. A catalyst for supernatural and extraordinary.

The Nowhen Stories will tell those tales.

SC:  Were you concerned that some readers might not understand some of the Spanish you used?
RG: I was. I decided to do it anyway because I wanted the book to reflect and connect to the heavily Latino roots of the RGV and South Texas in general. I wanted to tell a story that felt universal, but also felt close to the heart of Latinos who may feel underrepresented in pop-culture.

SC: Considering that it contains religious themes/topics, it is geared towards a Christian audience?
RG: Not really. I would love for Christian people to enjoy the book, though I think some of my fellow Christians might frown upon some of the language and the level of violence. I really want the book to express hope for people in general, whether they are or aren’t Christian. It’s a crazy and entertaining story, if I may say so myself, but it’s ultimately a story of hope and restoration. I think that’s a message we all need. It just so happens that in my experience, hope and restoration tend to be intricately woven up with God.

Author Q & A: Ryan Gutierrez, Part I

scarsintime
Photo: google

Ryan Gutierrez’ debut novel, “Scars in Time: A Novel (The Nowhen Stories)” is about Brennan Ramirez, a man determined to change his wife’s traumatic past by going back in time.  As Brennan test drives The Machine, he begins to experience true power, true control, or so he thinks. With every trip, every choice, Brennan realizes that his newfound control may be an illusion. I found the book entertaining and enlightening so in an effort to get to know the author and his motivations for writing it, I recently asked him a series of questions.  Here is the first part of my author Q & A.

Sandra Cruz:  Was this a hard book to write or is this a story you have been thinking about for some time?
Ryan Gutierrez: “Scars in Time” was definitely a difficult story to write, but not necessarily in terms of creativity. The outline process took a few months and once that was complete, the first draft went quite smoothly. The most difficult part about writing “Scars” was the real life scars I was picking at, pun most definitely intended. There are real life events, real trauma, that I exaggerated and fictionalized for the story.

SC:  How much research did you have to do into the topic of time traveling?
RG: Honestly, not too much. I’m a huge sci-fi geek, so in a way I’ve been researching for this my whole life. I think my biggest time-travel related influence for this story is 11/22/63 by the great Stephen King. 11/22/63 starts as a bigger-than-life journey, stop the JFK assassination, but it becomes this personal story of love and growth. That aspect definitely influenced me.

SC:  Some authors base their characters on people they know, was this the case with Brennan? Is it in any way autobiographical?
RG: It definitely is. I’m not Brennan, but there are parts of Brennan that are definitely from me. The PTSD and feelings of powerlessness stemming from his time in CPS were a reflection of my own. The panic disorder symptoms in the book are basically a walkthrough of the panic attacks that I faced in my life. Brennan is the most like a real person, but there are elements of Deidre taken from my wife, elements of Abby taken from both my daughters, elements of James taken from my brother, and so forth.

SC:  Do you consider Brennan a hero/superhero?
RG: No, I don’t. The thing with Brennan is that HE thinks he’s the hero. He wants to be Batman or Superman, but the more power he gets, the closer he is to playing the role of tragic villain. I think that when Brennan realizes he’s not a superhero, he notices the heroic characteristics of those around him. Abby’s immutable joy and unique perspective, Deidre’s resilience and strength, or James’ ability to look to tomorrow. He has to learn from them in order to take his final heroic turn.

SC:  As someone who suffers from panic attacks, I sympathize with Brennan as he suffers through his. His experiences are hauntingly realistic. Is this your way of reaching out to those in similar situations?
RG: Yes, definitely. Brennan’s panic attacks are realistic because they’re based on the real attacks I suffered. I wanted people who have suffered with them to be able to relate to a character who is flawed and doesn’t overcome them by just having some feel good mantra or attitude. By the end, Brennan knows this may be a lifelong struggle, but he knows there is hope in that struggle. As for people who have never suffered from them, I wanted them to get a little peek into them, a way for them to better understand their loved ones who do have those struggles.

Book review: ‘Scars in Time’ by Ryan Gutierrez

scarsintime
‘Scars in Time’ is Ryan Gutierrez’ exciting debut novel. Photo: google

Ryan Gutierrez is an American author born and raised in Texas and currently resides in the small South Texas town of Los Fresnos. He graduated from The University of Texas – Brownsville with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and worked as a Child Abuse Investigator with the state of Texas for five years. His debut novel, “Scars in Time: A Novel (The Nowhen Stories)” is about Brennan Ramirez, a man determined to change his wife’s traumatic past by going back in time.  As Brennan test drives The Machine, he begins to experience true power, true control, or so he thinks. With every trip, every choice, Brennan realizes that his newfound control may be an illusion.

“Scars in Time” begins with a Twilight Zone-like introduction of the main character Brennan “Like all people, we could describe Brennan Ramirez in many ways. …Any time he wasn’t expressing some positive emotion, he looked furious with the world. He had a few decent reasons to be, but we’ll get to that later.” The first part introduces readers to his wife Deidre and her traumatic childhood in the hands of her mother’s boyfriend and an emotionally distant mother. He test drives The Machine a couple of times before he realizes that he can use it to change the past. After quitting his job as a Child Abuse Investigator due to his debilitating anxiety and panic disorder, he feels useless.  He is constantly haunted by one of his past cases: Kaylee, a young girl who ends up dead because he failed to help her. The first time he travels to the past is to fix Kaylee’s life but what he wants more than anything is to go back and prevent Deidre’s traumatic abuse. At first it seems to work and he thinks he is in control, but it turns out to be just an illusion and he is reminded that life is unpredictable and not subject to manipulation. It is divided into four parts: Part I – The Present, Part II – 1994 (when he goes back to help Deidre) Part III – The New Present (includes the consequences of his time meddling) and Part IV – Nowhen (the new normal).

With his impressive debut novel, Ryan Gutierrez does an excellent job of introducing readers to Brennan, a complex and flawed character who ultimately just wants to do the right thing. Due to his anxiety and panic disorder, he feels out of control and the only way to regain some of that control is to go back in time to fix other people’s lives. Through it all, he undergoes a transformation because with each person he kills, it bothers him less and less and justifies it by telling himself that they deserved it. The focus is not so much the science of time traveling, but rather in using it to fix life’s “mistakes” and its consequences. He is constantly popping anti-anxiety pills and the vivid descriptions of his panic and anxiety attacks, especially when driving, are hauntingly realistic. The story flows naturally from page to page and the language is easy to understand, even though there is some sporadic Spanish. It has deep character development and is an emotional roller coaster ride, especially when he realizes how his time travelling is changing the “present” and it turns out that he created two timelines by initially jumping back to 1994. The author’s background in Criminal Justice gives the story an authentic voice as Brennan deals with the fall out of being a Child Abuse Investigator and when he is a Detective in the new present. Despite some Christian themes and scripture quotes, it does not come across as preachy. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of Brennan’s adventures. “Scars in Time” is a must-read page turner filled with action, drama and romance centered around a deeply troubled main character.  It is recommended for science fiction fans who appreciate time travel stories, Hispanic characters and culture and an abundance of pop-culture references.

“Though the memories of all the changes he’d made, all the rips and stitches in time, were crystalline in his mind, all other memories were as they usually were. Blurrier, murkier, and more likely to be inventions of a mind trying to fill gaps the farther back you go.”

*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.

 

New release: ‘Scars in Time: A Novel’ by Ryan Gutierrez

scarsintime
‘Scars in Time: A Novel’ is the new novel by Ryan Gutierrez. Photo: Google

Ryan Gutierrez is an American author born and raised in Texas who currently resides in the small South Texas town of Los Fresnos. He graduated from The University of Texas – Brownsville with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and worked as a Child Abuse Investigator with the state of Texas for five years. His debut novel, “Scars in Time: A Novel” is about Brennan Ramirez, a man determined to change his wife’s traumatic past by going back in time. The true question is no longer “What if you could go back to the past?” but rather “What are you willing to sacrifice to change the past?”

According to Amazon, “Scars in Time: A Novel” revolves around family man Brennan Ramirez. What if you could go back and change your life, remove the pain from the past? For Brennan, that question is no longer rhetorical. Brennan wants a break. After quitting his job as a Child Abuse Investigator because of his anxiety and panic disorder, he is feeling useless. What he wants more than anything is to give his loving wife Deidre and his little girl a good life. Brennan is determined that the best and most definitive way to fix their life for the best is to go back and prevent the traumatic abuse his wife suffered as a child at the hands of her mother’s boyfriend. As Brennan test drives The Machine, he begins to experience true power, true control, or so he thinks. With every trip, every choice, Brennan realizes that his newfound control may be an illusion.