It's Raining Books: The Order of Time Series by Scott P. Southall

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

The Order of Time Series by Scott P. Southall

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Click to see the other stops on the tour.

Welcome to It's Raining Books. Can you describe your dream home?

Since I moved to Australia twenty years ago, I discovered that I love living near the water. I’ve been lucky to live in beautiful places in Sydney. All of the places are either on the harbour or at the beach. My dream house would have a waterfront location with private beach. A generous outdoor entertaining area and an infinity edge pool. There would be plenty of extra bedrooms for friends and family to stay. I’d also have a jetty with a boathouse. My office for writing and drawing would be on the top floor of the boathouse. I’d put my desk in front of a tall arched window overlooking the water. If you are going to dream you should dream big.

If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?

A: My wife and I eat very simply. We usually eat some sort of protein like fish, beef or chicken accompanied by a fresh salad. A perfect example would be salmon fillets rubbed with olive oil, salt and pepper. They are cooked slowly on the barbecue over medium/low heat. The fish would be served with a salad of baby spinach leaves topped with pear, avocado, pine nuts, and shaved parmesan. Simple, healthy and delicious.

Tell us about the absolute BEST fan letter you have received.

My best fan letter was actually an email from the mother of a ten-year old reader. She told me that her daughter loved The Order of Time so much that she had decided she wanted to be an author. When I started writing I hoped that kids would be entertained. That they would laugh and learn a bit about history from my stories. It really floored me to learn that my writing could have that kind of impact on a young person. I’m sure she probably decided she wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer ten minutes after her mother sent the email but it was still pretty cool.

Say your publisher has offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go?

I already have a couple of ideas for the next few books in the series locked in; however, the one place I want to go to explore and research is South America. There were so many incredible civilizations in South America like the Incas and the Chachapoyans. I would love to go to Peru and have the chance to see the remains of the Chachapoyan’s remote mountain top fortresses and learn more about them. They were called the “Warriors of the Clouds” which I think sounds very cool.

Who designed the book cover for the book you are touring?

A: The fantastic team at elementi studios worked with me to customize and capture exactly what I was looking for in each book cover. They were fantastic because I had very specific concepts and imagery that I wanted to include in both books. Getting it right was really important to me and they brought the ideas to life. The covers actually exceeded my expectations. I would highly recommend them.

About the Series

Picture two twelve-year-old fraternal twins who are like night and day. She is a smart and highly organised MMA fighter. He’s not a fighter, he’s a lover of history, art and Star Wars. Despite their differences they are one formidable team. Together Anastasia and Edward Upston travel through time and navigate ancient civilisations, angry gods and mythical monsters in their quest to protect the integrity of human history.

About The Order of Time

Anastasia and Edward Upston are eleven year old twins who are different in almost every way. Despite this they are inseparable and he best of friends. They tackle the highs and lows of sixth grade together whether they are fending off bullies at the elite Blake Academy or examining rare antiquities at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Then: life gets complicated.

They discover that their friend and mentor, Dr. Gregorian, is part of a secret society called the Order of Time. It turns out that time is not fixed, it’s a fluid continuum where changes to the past can create ripples all the way through to the present. It unwittingly falls to the twins to travel back through time to ancient Egypt where they must overcome deadly assassins, evil high priests and vengeful gods in order to prevent disaster. Together Anastasia and Edward must navigate all obstacles to preserve the past and find their way back home.

About The Order of Time and Odin’s Door

The orange light bathed the snow-covered fields as the fiery globe began to dip below the horizon. It was strange that something so beautiful could signal the arrival of something so evil. One thing twelve-year-old twins Anastasia and Edward Upston knew for sure was that when mortals were caught between two bickering gods nothing good would come of it. Surviving the Viking Age may be the hardest thing they ever do, if they can…

Read an Excerpt from The Order of Time and Odin’s Door

“Um, Anastasia, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?” Edward asked as he grabbed his formerly sane sister by the elbow and led her away from Erik. “What in the heck are you thinking? Help them kill the dragon?”

“I said we’d help Erik try to convince Soren to leave first. We’ll only help them kill the dragon if Soren won’t listen,” his twin explained, as if it should all make sense now.

“Have you lost your mind?” Edward snapped.

“It’s a really simple plan. Don’t overthink it,” Anastasia said, looking at him like he was the one who was crazy.

“Ahem,” they heard Erik interrupt from behind them.

“I’m sorry, but we’re a little busy here at the moment,” Edward called over his shoulder at the red-haired Viking with the big sword.

“While you’re talking to the slow one, I am going to find the Jarl. He’s also fixated on getting killed by Nidhogg. Perhaps you’ll have better luck talking some sense into her,” Erik said, shaking his head dismissively.

Edward watched the big Viking follow Soren’s footprints until he disappeared into the underbrush before turning back to Anastasia. “We’re supposed to be in Strasbourg earning our entrance into the academy. We don’t even know why we’re here and you’re talking about killing dragons,” Edward whispered harshly just in case Erik was still in earshot.

“I know we’re not supposed to be here but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help someone who needs our help,” his twin whispered back, her posture stiffening.

“You know we can’t risk changing what happens here. How many times has Dr. G told us that the ripples from any change in the past can completely change the future? That red-haired dude is Erik the Red, the man who colonizes Greenland. His son Leif Erikson was the first European to sight North America: five hundred years before Christopher Columbus. Assuming we could help kill this dragon, just imagine what changing the past related to that guy might do. Dollar bills could say In Odin we trust and we might not even exist!” Edward was no longer whispering as he threw his hands in the air in exasperation.

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