​The launch of Book #5, "Ticking: The Great Experiment", was a huge success. Lots of fun talking about the adventures of the time travellers. Thank you to those 47 who attended!
Next one? Probably February or March 2026 for #6 "Ticking: The Grandfather Paradox". The Canadian chrononauts travel through time and space to the Klondike Gold Rush; you know, Soapy Smith, Colonel Sam Steele of the North-West Mounted Police and Frederick Trump. That's right, the President's grandfather really did spend time in Bennett, BC and Whitehorse, Yukon, running a hotel, restaurant and brothel.
What do Beatrice, Sky and Zac have in store for him (don't be too hard on your keyboard answering that one)?

 ​You're invited to my book signing on Saturday, November 29th at Chapters Coquitlam, between 1 and 4 pm. To draw you there, we'll have a prize draw. Pick up a signed copy of any of my books. They make great Christmas presents. 
'The Great Experiment' (the fifth in the series) is about the Prohibition era in the USA. You know, gangsters, flappers and rum-runners. The story races to The Bahamas, where illegal booze was obtained by rum-runners like the legendary Bill 'The Real' McCoy (pictured).
Writing exciting historical fiction is easy when the real-life characters are as engaging as Bill McCoy. During Prohibition, he became a household name, with a Robin Hood mystique for the American public. To further endear him into our hearts, he came complete with a lovable dog! And it is true; he never broke the law.

Hope to see you at Chapters!

You'll meet him in 'The Grandfather Paradox', but, for now, there he stands in the photo, in his 'parlor' surrounded by minions. The most infamous figure of the Klondike era, Smith was a ‘confidence man’, one who used elaborate tricks and ruses to talk their victims out of their money. Smith was a crook with a gift for organization, constructing an empire any Mafia don might envy. A southern charmer, he dressed like a judge, sat on a horse like a prince, and spoke like a bishop. Smith arrived in Skagway with members of his gang sometime in August 1897 and was shot and killed on July 8, 1898, during a showdown on a wharf.

Below is a podcast. It sounds very much like two people discussing 'Ticking: The Great Experiment' and it is. However, I generated these two using Artificial Intelligence, as provided by Notebook LM. AI 'read' the book and generated the 12 minute discussion. Click the tiny arrowhead on the left below and have a listen. Let me know what you think in the 'comments' section.

Audrey and I recently visited Nassau in The Bahamas, the site of Zachary Burling's time travel adventure in "The Great Experiment". There, in the heart of old Nassau, beside Government House, the colonial Graycliff Hotel offers an enticing old-world experience. 

The Graycliff was built in 1740 and, consequently, has a rich history. During Prohibition, the hotel was owned by Mrs. Polly Leach, a close companion of Al Capone. The Graycliff was the most sophisticated gathering spot for the rich and famous and, likely, a competitor to the Lucerne Hotel, which is unfortunately no longer in Nassau.

Touring the elegant building and its tranquil gardens took me back to the Roaring Twenties and the Lucerne. "The Great Experiment" describes the Lucerne and its lush tropical gardens, where Bill McCoy and Zachary Burling meet Cleo Lythgoe and Spanish Marie. At one point, I could have sworn that I saw the tall frame of Bill "The Real" McCoy striding through the garden, his wide-brimmed fedora disappearing around the bamboo shoots before I could catch-up and shout, "Hey Bill! Let's sit a spell and have a chin-wag!"

After some delay, I am pleased to announce the publication of my fifth book, 'Ticking: The Great Experiment'. I'm excited to say that I think you're going to love it!

The book is available as a paperback ($15.99) or as a Kindle ($3.99) through Amazon.

I'll be informing readers and friends through social media. Enjoy the read and let me know your thoughts about it, herein or on my Facebook page.

​Craig Vann

As an author of historical fiction, sometimes you just get lucky. In my research for 'The Great Experiment', I happened upon an article about the journalist Lois Long (1901 – 1974), a writer for The New Yorker magazine. She wrote under the pseudonym 'Lipstick'. On the strength of a Ying/Yang relationship with her editor boss and a generous expense account, she would visit the myriad of speakeasies and clubs that were ubiquitous in the late 1920's in New York City. She'd write about each one in her 'Tables for Two' column.

​Her words carried weight.

Lois was the personification of a 'flapper'; she would drink, smoke, dance and carouse her way through the night and part of the morning all in the name of penning a column for the next edition of the magazine.

Her column was very popular with everyone, but specifically with young women who could not afford to go out often, so they'd live vicariously through 'Lipstick'. The popularity of her column helped propel the fledgling mag to its place among the finest publications of the day.

Tall, sharp and full of life, Lois shared characteristics with her man from the future, Skypilot. But, as with her boss at The New Yorker, it was a type of Ying/Yang relationship.

My luck with Lipstick continued when I found that her room mate was actress Kay Francis (1905 –1968). Like me, you may not recognize Kay's name, but you might be interested to know that  after time on Broadway in the late 1920s (when we meet her), Miss Francis moved to film. There, she achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, becoming the number one female star and highest-paid actress at Warner Bros. studios. By 1935, Francis was earning an annual salary of $115,000 ($2,700,000 today), dwarfing the $18,000 Bette Davis made.

​Braden Harding is the winner of a signed copy of my second book "Ticking: The Hawking Sequence". Braden, his dad Ryan and I participate in the annual hockey pool at Translink/Coast Mountain Bus Company, a fun and competitive pool that's been active since 1983 (same year I started in the pool). Enjoy the read, Braden!

Below is my intrepid assistant, checking grammar for the upcoming fifth book in the "Ticking" series. I'm sure his first comment will be, "Can you cut it down a bit?"

Book Five will have the chrononauts travel back to a time of turmoil in America. Beatrice simply wants to visit with Cecilia Payne, a female scientist of the day, and with Albert Einstein, but things go from bad to worse, quicker than a teetotaler can jake walk out of a speakeasy.

Enough clues, you'll have to read the Real McCoy when it is released this Fall.