Time Gangsters Virtual Tour is here!

TIME GANGSTERS

By Berin L Stephens

Cousins Billy Fairbanks and Danny Shanks are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Gangsters from the 1920s are searching their homes for hidden treasure. But what seemed like a strange dream is in fact reality!

When Billy and Danny examine a hole that they find in her bedroom wall they discover a metal box with four gold coins inside it. The cousins then bury their find in Danny’s backyard. But after Billy returns to his home the gangster that entered his room the night before takes him at gun point and takes him back to 1927 New York City in his Model T Ford!

Meanwhile Danny is also captured by the gangster that was in her room the night before. As Danny struggles against her captor her mother gets home and sees Danny and the gangster vanish before her eyes!

Billy’s captor is actually FBI Agent Ned Elliot and he is after the Carnassi Gang. The Carnassi Gang are trying to change history by getting control of mysterious coins that were stolen from the tomb of King Tut! Agent Elliot asks Billy for his help because the gang has entered Billy’s time to look for the coins.

Danny has been captured by the Carnassi Gang and they want to get the truth from her at any cost – even torture! Danny lies and says her name is Ruth, but when Carnassi asks her where she hid the coins she is so frightened she can’t answer. Danny is stuck in 1927 because the gang put an anchor coin on her to keep from being thrown back into her time.

When Billy is thrown back to his time he goes to the house of Wheezy, who besides being his best friend was the person most likely to believe him. He shows Wheezy pictures he took of the coins. Wheezy then sends an email to a professor he knows in Egypt to get them translated.

Danny escapes because the Egyptian that the Carnassi gang has been torturing tells her the word to unlock the anchor holding her. Danny wastes no time going back to her time, unfortunately Zoot follows her but after several minutes he is thrown back to his time before he can recapture Danny.

When Billy gets home his mom tells him that Danny has been kidnapped and a Detective West wants to speak to him. Billy manages to unbury the coins and hide them in a shed at his house. But when Danny shows up at her home she tells Detective West about the coins. Detective West then takes the coins into police custody.

The next day Agent Ned Elliot shows up and asks why Billy gave the coins to the Carnassi Gang, but Billy can’t figure out what happened as the police have the coins. Suddenly Billy, Wheezy, and Danny begin to fade out. Agent Elliot orders them into his car so that they won’t be erased from time! When they reappear they are in 1927 and use the time anchor coins to hold them there.

But the Carnassi gang knows they are there so they must escape, but Agent Elliot is shot! Billy heads one way and Danny and Wheezy another. But Wheezy get captured by the gang so Danny is alone and must head to a location Agent Elliot told them about Club Velocity and looks for Sticks Agent Elliot’s inside man in the Carnassi Gang.

Billy goes back to his time but everything is different. Most of Plains, Colorado is now a ghost town and the houses he and Danny live in were never built! And the Carnassi family has ruled the United States for three generations – all because they got the coins!

When the time coin finally lets Billy go back to 1927, he is captured by the Carnassi Gang who are also holding Danny and Wheezy! Sticks manages to free all three of them. Soon they are in a battle for control of the coins with the Carnassi gang. As they battle the various powers of the coins will they live to see another day?

Who will be the victor in this battle for the future? Read TIME GANGSTERS to find out! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Berin,

First off I’d like to thank you for taking the time for this interview. I’m sure readers ofTIME GANGSTERS will be interested in learning a little more about the book and the person behind its creation.

1) Time travel is a popular theme we’ve seen it in Sci-Fi shows and movies usually it is an accident caused by solar flares or futuristic alien technology. But your idea is definitely unique. How did you come up with the idea of using ancient Egyptian medallions from King Tut’s tomb?

 I'm not sure. The idea to have magic coins and gangsters from 1927 came to me in a dream. I just added the Egyptian stuff to make it more exotic.

2)Do you have a favorite character? And if so, why that character?

 I don't know. I guess I'd have to say Danny because she's the most like me. I had never written a female viewpoint character before and it helped me relate to her by putting a little of myself into her.

3)Are any of your characters based, even loosely, on someone (including you)?

With this book, not so much, other than what I said about Danny. My first book, The Dragon War Relic, had three characters based on me in some form.

4)As a reader, do you have a favorite scene in Time Gangsters?

I enjoyed the scenes where they are first figuring out the powers of the coins.There was drama and comedy as they experienced a lot of trial and error.

5)Which scene did you have the most fun writing?

The final battle was fun to write, with the kids and the gangsters now using the coins to their full power.

6)How did you discover the powers of the medallions? And how many of the medallions never had their powers revealed in Time Gangsters? There were a lot of Egyptian gods and goddesses never mentioned, so is there a possible sequel in the works?

The time travel coin came from the dream. Other than that, I just tried to think of what would make cool powers. I also looked up some stuff on Egyptian mythology and tried to tie the powers of the coins to the diety on the coin. And yes, there were several coins that they never learned the powers of. These were coins that were never hidden in the walls so Wheezy never got a chance to look them up. As far as a sequel, there isn't one in the works, yet, though I have played with the idea of having the kids go to World War II.

7)Do you know how to control the time medallion? I’m not asking you to reveal anything that could alter our timeline, I’m just curious if you found out how to work it?

Unfortunately, it didn't come with an instruction manual. The first time I used it I ended up somewhere in the late Crustacean. It's best not to play with those things unless you know what you're doing.

8)Do you have a favorite genre?

I don't know. I love fantasy, sci-fi, and superhero stories, or anything in between. Overall, though, I like comedy and am frustrated that there is so little of it in the sci-fi/fantasy area.

9)As a writer is there a question you wish someone would ask you about your writing and if so how would you answer them?

 I keep thinking back to when I first started into writing. The advice given was to write outlines, so I did it. That didn't work for me and it made me think that I just didn't have what it takes to be a writer. When I tried just winging it without an outline, I found out that it worked a lot better for me. Now, at some point, you need to work out some kind of outline in order for the plot to work. So, to get back to your question, I wish people would ask a little more about the creation process. And my answer would be to experiment with different approaches. Try different types of outlines, try writing by the seat of your pants. Everybody is different and their brains function different ways. There's no such thing as one method that works for everybody. Study and try as many methods as possible before settling on your own personal method. I'm still experimenting to try and find what works best for me.

Again Berin thank you for your time and I hope your readers enjoy Time Gangsters as much as I did! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more about Berin Stephens check out the following

Author Website: www.berinstephens.com

Author Blog: http://berinstephens.blogspot.com

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Books-by-Berin-Stephens/129836213004?ref=ts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember to post a comment to be entered for a chance to win an ARC copy of this book!  Comments posted January 19th - 26th will be eligible.  This giveaway in open to North American posters only.

Thanks to Cedar Fort, Inc for making this title available.  Want to learn more about Cedar Fort and their books check-out their site http://www.cedarfortbooks.com/