Melanie Bateman was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and moved to the United States at age nine. She has an associate’s degree in fine art from Utah Valley University, emphasizing in illustration. From a very young age she’s had a passion for drawing, specifically nature and the human figure. It is from this creative look on the world that she began to write stories.
Check out the interview with the author HERE.
Favorite book: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Favorite soda: Malta polar (Venezuelan malt drink. To die for!) Favorite dessert: Tres Leches Cake Favorite flower: Roses Favorite season: Autumn Favorite movie: To laugh: Hot Rod, always. To laugh and cry: Life is Beautiful. Favorite country you want to visit: Italy Favorite comic book character: Batman Favorite place to visit: St. George, Utah with family. Favorite holiday: Christmas 
I could go on and on about the ideas that brought The Time Key to life, but I’ll try my best to avoid spoilers here!
1. The actual Time Key I designed after a timepiece necklace that my husband gave me as a gift our first year of marriage. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of time travel, and that necklace was the first spark for me to really consider writing a story. 2. To keep the story respectful, the Roma Travelers are called just by that name in The Time Key, despite the research I did about real people living in Andalucía, Spain referring to themselves as gitanos. I have a great admiration for the culture, and some of the scenes included were inspired by this video (see below).
3. I chose the year 1897 as a reference to Henry James’ publication of What Maisie Knew that same year, as I borrowed the name for one of my characters. It’s a sad story, but so is Maisie’s.
4. Lena’s name, an unexpected character in The Time Key, was borrowed from H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine. The time traveler in that book has a little helper called Weena, and I thought a similar name would suit my own character. 5. I read a lot of Victorian literature while preparing to write The Time Key. When I kept returning to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I decided to research his life. A lot of his beliefs reflected those of a lot of people at the time. I found that it was a time of massive progress, but in general people were still widely superstitious. Spiritualism was becoming popular at this point as well. Then I ran into the story of the Cottingley Fairies and read that the author readily believed that the photographed fairies were authentic. I had been toying with the idea of including fantasy elements in the story, and with my findings I wanted to bring that same innocent belief into The Time Key. 6. On that same note, Russell Gilmore was loosely based on how I saw Doyle. A physician, a tall man with a mustache, and a spiritualist, which might explain why he’s so accepting of all the mystical events and creatures in the story. 7. I throw in a few minor details that hint at other versions of our world. The “yo-yo” wasn’t called by that name until 1920’s in America when immigrant Pedro Flores started selling the toy under that name. So, where did Stanley hear “yo-yo” in 1897 England? He probably heard it from a traveling observer just passing by (you will get this reference in the book). 8. In this version of Kingston-upon-Thames, the market exists, same as ours, but the monument is different. The illustration is based on the Greek Goddess of war, on whom I based the goddess in this story. There’s a lot more lore to it, but that would be a spoiler! 9. While I searched for pictures about the WWII London Blitz in 1940, I saw that the area of Kingston had been affected by the bombings. The scene where Stanley sees a burning cathedral in ruins was one of the first scenes I wrote, which was based on that picture. 10. The idea of Rosie/Sibyl came to me as I was outlining the plot. I needed a “fixer” in a time traveling story, someone who knew secrets that Stanley needed to learn. Rosie’s abilities came together after I read The Time Traveler’s Wife, in which the main character has a similar “condition” to Rosie. 
Chapter One
There couldn’t be a better time to begin Stanley Becker’s story than at the moment he stood on the frozen stone wall of Kingston Bridge overlooking the river Thames, breathing in the winter night and pressing the icy metal barrel of a pistol to his jaw.
I have often wondered where it would be most appropriate to begin. A few other moments come to mind, but despite the significance they play, I choose to begin Stanley Becker’s story at the approaching end of his life. Before he found himself standing on the bridge, Stanley hadn’t contemplated what the best approach to ending his life would be, but he had assumed that a bullet to his head would be the quickest. What did he know about suicide? All he knew was that it would be rather unfortunate if he missed. Through his misty breath, he looked down at the black waters that seemed so calm and knew it would be the perfect resting place for his worn-down body. The moment he blew his brains out, his corpse would crash down into the dark waters and conceal him from the world he was so determined to leave. Few things could be more poetic. Stanley Becker smiled. Soon he would see Jane again, holding little Maisie’s hand and grinning, just as the last time he had seen them alive. Although Stanley Becker was about to take his life on this particular night, his thoughts lingered elsewhere, remembering the tragic event that had taken his entire reason to live. He remembered it quite vividly. Six years ago, Stanley had refused to attend the opera despite Jane’s pleading. He had stayed home to write a story that he would never finish. Unbeknownst to him then, on the same bridge where he now stood, his wife and daughter had lain sprawled in the crimson-stained snow, lifeless. Perhaps the fact that Mr. Miller had not driven that night, but one of the drivers employed by Jane’s father, could have been the single event that sealed his family’s fate. There were other incidents that only I had been able to see as I revisited the night when everything changed, and although unclear, they nevertheless deserve some mention. Perhaps the cause had been that Jane’s father had insisted on sending his own driver, that the driver himself had had a drink too many and had failed to see the incoming collision. Or, possibly, that a street cat had darted across the street and consequently startled the horse of a carriage whose driver had had recent late nights looking for a runaway daughter, losing control only moments before the accident. I only observed the minor events of that night, but the matter of life and death could have been the result of numerous decisions by unknowing players and (as Stanley’s mother always told him) could not have been stopped and can never be changed. I can’t help but feel sympathetic when I am reminded of this truth, however insignificant it renders us, but it would be a long time before Stanley understood the fragility of our human existence, and how crucial our resolve to ignore such realities impacts the way we play our set role. As he presently stood on the bridge, yearning for the end to come, Stanley was comforted by the thought that he would no longer need to worry about what he could have done differently. Soon, the long, numbing, excruciating life he had led for six years would be over. He was ready for whatever awaited him in the next life, if there was any- thing waiting for him at all. The pistol felt heavy and the cold embraced him. He wondered if attempting a suicide could be any less pleasant. As Stanley passed a hand over his eyes, he steadied himself for the big moment. The barrel pressing on his jaw was aimed straight to his brain. For a split second he wondered if it would hurt. His gloved hand gripped the gun. His finger touched the trigger. Stanley Becker held his breath and felt the end draw near. He squeezed the trigger. 
A magical and captivating story of time travel and mystical creatures. This is a story that will pull you into the adventure from page one and tug you along and keep you there until the very beginning. Common themes in the story deal with family, redemption, and sacrifice. Melanie Bateman has written a fun, riveting, and thrilling adventure and time travel story that readers will absolutely not want to miss.
Genre: science fiction, fantasy, time travel Publisher: Sweetwater Books, an imprint of Cedar Fort Publication date: June 14, 2015 Number of pages: 320 Content Rating: PG, violence, nothing graphic Book Rating: 5 stars 
A review copy of this book was provided by SLB Tours.
July 25--Reading Is My SuperPower | Katie's Clean Book Collection
July 26--Toni Shiloh Prayerfully-Lifted Romance | Zerina Blossom's Books July 27--Christy's Cozy Corners | Bukwurmzzz July 28--Mel's Shelves July 29--26 Countless Possibilities July 30--Singing Librarian Book 
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