Bone Lines, a dual timeline novel by Stephanie Bretherton
74000 years ago a Sumatran Volcano erupted. It gave author Stepanie Bretherton the idea that became ‘Bone Lines’. A fascinating dual timeline novel incorporating prehistoric life and modern scientific approaches to digs.
It’s rare to see a story that has a dual narrative divided by some 74000 years. Where did you get the idea from?
I’ve always been fascinated by both ancient history and modern science, though I studied neither beyond GCSE level. However, I’ve become something of a latent nerd and I do love a good science documentary or the latest issue of The New Scientist, and often get lost down a wormhole or two on the internet.
In terms of the inspiration for Bone Lines, I think a couple of documentaries coalesced in my imagination. I’d watched one about human evolution that planted the initial seed but it wasn’t until I saw a documentary about the eruption of the Toba super volcano in what is now Sumatra 74,000 years ago, that this idea germinated. The presenter commented that it was hard to imagine humans near the area or under the path of the ash cloud (and the ensuing volcanic winter) be able to survive the devastation.
And so, with my writer’s ‘what if’ brain I thought, “Well, you know what? I’m going to imagine it!” A vision soon emerged of a young woman with a child escaping the aftermath to seek out sanctuary elsewhere, and this journey developed into a kind of reverse migration back to Africa.
That character developed very quickly and started to write herself and the prehistoric narrative was actually a lot of fun to work on as, while obviously there had to be plausibility, it was set so long ago that I also had a fairly free reign for the imagination. However, as I was writing that character’s story I wondered what relevance it might have to me, sitting here today at my computer, and that’s when I decided to add a contemporary narrative with a genetic scientist who is involved in the study of her ancient remains, asking herself similar questions.
Genetic Scientists play a large role in modern multi-disciplinary historical research, yet undertake a role that is incredibly complex. How did you research the techniques that they undertake?
I did hours of research on the internet, read anything relevant in any newspaper or journal and watched every documentary I came across (I should add, this book took 8 years of weekends to write – I still work full time) but also realised I needed first-hand input, not only to confirm a few things, but also to help me solve a few plot problems – indeed to give my geneticist a problem or two!
Professor Mark Thomas of UCLA very kindly gave me an hour or two of his time, and listened with grace to some very odd questions, which was enormously helpful. He also gave me a crucial tip for creating a key obstacle in my cotemporary heroine’s path. However, I should add that I also had to take a certain amount of fictional license. Some roles, tasks and locations have been composited for narrative efficiency – and some timescales for research or tests either stretched or shortened! Towards the end, I also had another genetic scientist I have ‘met’ over twitter kindly fact-check my final manuscript.
The remains discovered in Bone Lines are some 64000 (ish) years older than Cheddar Man. Did you draw on discoveries from other countries when looking at the types of evidence that may be uncovered?
Oh, absolutely. I think certain principles apply to the study of ancient remains no matter their era or location, and we have been anatomically modern humans for 200,000 years, so many characteristics remain common. The Cheddar Man story came very late in my book’s journey, however, so made only a small, but nevertheless useful impact, particularly in the choice of which bone finally yields the holy grail of DNA for my fictional team.
Otzi, ‘The Iceman’ from Switzerland was also informative, as were a number of archaeological finds over the years in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Siberia. What’s also wonderful is that certain recent discoveries have seemed to confirm some of the ideas that I took a fictional punt on, so I’ve been feeling a bit ‘prophetic’ too!
Bone Lines is intended as the first in a series. Should we expect to see other historical discoveries in the work of Dr. Kluft?
Just as the prehistoric character is on a kind of formative quest, Dr. Kluft goes on her own journey in Bone Lines, from being someone who is held back by her own past to someone determined to live more in the moment, so I’m not sure how much ‘history’ she will be doing. I want her to be involved in work that is vital to the here and now – but having said that she will always look back with a certain fondness on what ‘Sarah’ has taught her. Meanwhile the prehistoric story will switch to focussing on some of the ‘Children of Sarah’ as the overall series is to be called. However, the ‘long-buried’ past does come back to ‘haunt’ the present in its own way, especially in Book Two!
Whose work inspires you the most in this genre?
That’s a tricky one as I’m not sure I read much at all in this genre – or that this genre particularly exists, I may have accidentally invented one? People sometimes ask ‘Oh is it like Clan of the Cave Bear?’ and I have to reply that I don’t know because I have never read any of that series. Or David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, which is on my to be read pile, but not in my consciousness yet. Kate Mosse, Alan Barber and Barbara Erskine have all been mentioned or recommended.
I do love a good dual narrative though, and Lindsay Clarke’s The Chymical Wedding is one of my favourite novels. I also very much enjoyed pure historical fiction in my youth and I devoured the Jean Plaidy books as a teenager. I have read some but not as much science fiction as I’d like (I loved the Dune series, and anything by Margaret Atwood), so I suppose you could say I’m as fascinated in where we come from as where we are headed!
How did you get into writing?
I’ve always had a love of words and storytelling and have been a ‘communicator’ of one kind or another throughout my ‘mosaic’ career, but writing fiction has been my first love since the first A+ for a school composition! Bone Lines is my second go at a full length novel. My first attempt remains unpublished but was a fantastic learning experience and an exercise in finding out what I wanted to write about. It was an effort to write ‘commercially’ but ultimately my heart wasn’t in the chosen genre and I’m glad it didn’t get any further than some very encouraging rejection letters, as I don’t feel it represents me now. Writing fiction is hard work, at every stage, but especially in terms of getting published, so you need to believe in, and put heart and soul into what you are doing.
How do you go about planning your novels?
I think I’m more of what’s referred to a as ‘pantster’ than a ‘plotter.’ My writing process is organic, I tend to just turn on the tap and see what flows, then go back and reverse engineer. Having said that I tend to know the beginning and have an idea of the ending, and will set certain landmarks to reach and character arcs to develop.
But my research process can also affect the narrative. It’s twofold, I start from a place of having certain key information but then if I come across something useful or interesting during the course of my reading around the subject, it may prove to be the answer to a particular problem, or it may inspire me so much that I will find a way to work it in to the story.
On the other hand, if one of my characters tells me that they need to do something or go somewhere or say something, I will do some specific research to see how plausible that it is, or whether their motivation needs to be adapted to my overview of the book, or the current wisdom on the subject.
How do you balance the fact and fiction when writing this type of novel?
Like any relationship, it’s a negotiation! And dependant on the greater need/contribution. If the story demands something to happen in certain way, then sometimes the ‘real world’ has to take the passenger seat. Vice versa, when an essential ‘truth’ is driving the story’s intent. But with Bone Lines it was always very important to me that the science and the history were up to par with established evidence, or plausible theory, at the very least.
Sometimes I stretched the notion of what someone from such a very ancient era might have been capable of in terms of symbolic thinking or weapon and tool-making, as far the current evidence tells us – but our understanding of prehistory remains fluid, and so long as it might have been ‘possible’ I often just went with a series of actions or reflections in order to flesh out either character or plot..
One of the areas that my website is looking at currently is the way that history is interpreted and presented to the general public. How do you go about deciding how to portray your characters and the events in which they become involved in?
I think truth of character emerges or it doesn’t and when it does you know you are onto something. Certain thoughts, feelings, experiences, objectives and desires tend to be universal and relatable. If the reader can imagine themselves into the situation, then you are doing something right. However, it’s important not to impose too much subjectivity or contemporary ‘knowing’ into a historical setting. This rather arch kind of interpretation or anachronous imposition, or modern language and music can work well in film and television if done right, but it’s harder to pull off, I think, in a novel.
There are certainly significant differences in behaviour, and probably in self/social awareness in every era. For me, it was about making my prehistoric character very much at one with her landscape and living in the moment – something I feel we have lost to a great extent today. By the same principle, I couldn’t have her worrying about her hair and make-up (she has ‘jewellery,’ but this is functional), or what to do with her time. Her drives and her decisions had to be kept very simple and focussed, even if she is more intuitive than many of us allow ourselves to be today.
Which authors have been most influential to your own writing to date?
So many, and so varied! As mentioned I loved the Jean Plaidy books a young teenager, but from there it was onto the Brontes and Dickens, and from Grahame Greene to John Irving, Maya Angelou to Alice Walker, Harper Lee to Margaret Atwood, Herman Hesse to Patrick Susskind, Annie Proulx to Cormac McCarthy, Ian McEwan to Arundhati Roy, Kate Atkinson to Barbara Kingsolver.
Have you got any plans for future books that are in a historical setting?
Book Two of the Children of Sarah series picks up the prehistoric narrative, but this time from the perspective of an old woman looking back on her life and telling stories to the tribe. I have another historical dual (or even triple) narrative brewing the background. Different eras and characters, but probably employing a similar ‘storytelling’ style.
What advice would you give to an aspiring author?
If writing is what you have to do, the write, write, write! (Then rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.) But be aware that there’s no easy path to publication, you need to do your research into the industry and into your genre. Get the Writer’s Yearbook, sign up to writing newsletters and websites such as Reedsy, join writing groups in real life and on line. Go on a reputable writing course, if you can – as much for the networking and industry advice as anything.
Be supportive of other authors. Get professional opinions from editors and beta readers or work with a reputable agency such as The Literary Consultancy (be prepared to invest in your work, if you are serious, and be prepared for some tough editing.) But ultimately listen to your own intuition and write about what you want to write about, in your way. Do your research. Develop your own voice.
And be aware that if / when published, that’s where the real work begins, so get marketing savvy! Start building your social media platforms and networks now. Self-publishing is a perfectly respectable way to go, but work on and invest in making it the most professional ‘product’ that you can. Be aware that you are unlikely to make a serious living from fiction. Look after your health (physical and mental) and grow a thick skin. Everyone has an opinion and you won’t like many of them. Then, if you are still standing, keep writing some more…
Blurb
A young woman walks alone through a barren landscape in a time before history, a time of cataclysmic natural change. She is cold, hungry and with child but not without hope or resources. A skilful hunter, she draws on her intuitive understanding of how to stay alive… and knows that she must survive.
In present-day London, geneticist Dr Eloise Kluft wrestles with an ancient conundrum as she unravels the secrets of a momentous archaeological find. She is working at the forefront of contemporary science but is caught in the lonely time-lock of her own emotional past.
Bone Lines is the story of two women, separated by millennia yet bound by the web of life. A tale of love and survival – of courage and the quest for wisdom – it explores the nature of our species and asks what lies at the heart of being human.
Author Biography
Born in Hong Kong to a pair of Liverpudlians (and something of a nomad ever since), Stephanie is based in London but manages her sanity by escaping to any kind of coast. Before returning to her first love of writing fiction, Stephanie spent many years pursuing alternative forms of storytelling, from stage to screen and media to marketing. Meanwhile, an enduring love affair with words has led her down many a wormhole on the written page.
Drawn to what connects rather than separates, Stephanie is fascinated by the spaces between absolutes and opposites, between science and spirituality, nature and culture. This lifelong curiosity – and occasional conflict – has been channelled into her debut novel, Bone Lines, and into short stories, poems and various works in progress. This includes the continuation of the Children of Sarah series, of which Bone Lines is the first story.
Connect with the author
http://stephaniebretherton.com/
Bone Lines – Kindle Edition
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