Candlemark & Gleam is known for finding exciting new voices. We are delighted to announce that a new member has joined the crew of our intrepid starship: Lise Breakey has come on board with her novel Unraveling Timelines, which Athena calls (in Hollywood pitch-memo-speak) “The X-Wo/Men Meet Underworld”.

Lise started out writing fantasy role-playing game articles and books but has also written science fiction intermittently over the last 25 years. In her day job, she writes legal briefs and represents indigent criminal defendants in the California Courts of Appeal. Her best writing occurs at Cosmos Coffeehouse, where everyone loves Doctor Who and they have free refills of ice tea and open mike night every Tuesday.

Below is the mouth-watering synopsis that Lise supplied for Unraveling Timelines:

Peter Chang is an unassuming young man from San Francisco who wonders how he got the stockbroker job he is so obviously unqualified for. One night, his boss’ daughter emerges from the wall in his office, pursued by killers. Smitten, Peter helps her escape — and the life he understands disappears as he is snatched from one alternate timeline to another.

Nikki Varian is a bohemian rebel whose overbearing father uses his time-traveling power to create alternate timelines and exploit them for profit. But when the old man is murdered, her quest to find his killers and preserve what is left of her family leads her to the horrifying truth: that alternate timelines can be destroyed as well as created.

When Nikki is captured by the survivors of her father’s xenophobic extermination campaign, Peter must discover his own mysterious power in order to save her. Together, Nikki and Peter must find a way to make peace with her father’s implacable enemies — or the timeline that they both call home will be the first of many to unravel.

We expect to show Unraveling Timelines to the world within the next year, along with vibrant returns from other members of the Candlemark troop: A. M. Tuomala, Justin Robinson, Anne Johnson, Natania Barron. Keep this frequency open!

Image: The Green Dragon mahjong tile, used as a talisman and leitmotif in Unraveling Timelines (Creative Commons license).