Interview With Author Aspen Andersen

Time travel is usually within the sci-fi domain, so I was delighted to find Aspen Andersen’s fantasy debut, The After Hours. With an intriguing magic system linked to emotions and one woman’s quest to right a wrong, I was hooked. I recently chatted with Aspen about her book, her background in architecture, the importance of building a writing community, and more!

Author Aspen Andersen

What is the premise of The After Hours?

Sloane Becker is haunted by the events of one night one year ago—the night her friendship with her best friend ended. But when strange things start to happen around Sloane, she realizes that she has the ability to manipulate time—even travel back to that terrible night.

She’s not the only time traveler out there, though. A community of other travelers exists, with one main rule guiding them: don’t alter the past. This doesn’t stop Sloane from wishing she could fix that one night. Nor does it stop the mysterious woman who seems to be stalking her through time, trying to kill her.

As Sloane struggles to master her newfound abilities, as well as her complex relationship with her mysterious coworker Eric, something keeps pulling her back, over and over again, to that night everything went wrong. Sloane knows she shouldn’t do anything to change the past—but what if her future self has already made those choices for her?

What inspired this time travel story?

I’ve always been obsessed with time travel but not in the traditional sci-fi/time machine type way. One of my favorite fantasy series had a character who had a time-manipulating magical necklace, which I found myself wanting a whole book dedicated to. When I watched Heroes I wanted a show revolving entirely around Hiro Nakamura.

How did you put your own spin on the time traveling genre?

I don’t think people are used to reading time travel fantasy, most people immediately equate time travel with science fiction. But this book is firmly a fantasy. The power to manipulate time is an inherent magical power, not technology-based. It’s also heavily influenced by the wielder’s emotions—causing the powers to be rather capricious and not an exact science at all.I also don’t send my characters super far into the past or future, and there is no portaling through space involved. Space-time continuum theories were not invited to this party!

In addition to writing, you have a master’s in architecture and manage projects at an engineering firm. Does your architecture expertise influence your writing?

I do like to describe settings and places in detail with a spatial eye—it’s important for me to place my reader properly in the space and orient them to it, rather than focus on surface-level details. Giving the reader a sense of circulation and adjacency to other areas can layer a sense of safety or danger onto the setting without explicitly stating, “there’s no way out,” for example.

What was your writing process for The After Hours?

Well, I started and stopped writing this book many, many times. I dreamed up the world and the rules around the powers when I was in high school. Deciding what I wanted to happen within the boundaries of the world was my challenge. So I went from being a pantser who wrote on vibes, to being a religious plotter.

Because time travel inherently complicates plot structure by making it non-chronological, I had to make use of spreadsheets. My spreadsheets are notorious in my debut group, hah! I use them to make sure story beats are hitting when they’re supposed to, and to keep track of the non-linear timeline. I also use the spreadsheet for many other things like word count tracking, heat mapping character relationships, ensuring subplots get adequate page space, and making sure I’m weaving in red herrings or foreshadowing in a consistent and evenly spaced manner throughout.

What’s some of the best advice you have for aspiring writers?

Find your people. And when I say your people I don’t just mean strangers online that have similar reading tastes. I mean go hunting for those few trusted individuals that are invested in you, get your book, and aren’t just critiquing your work to get a fix for their own sanctimoniousness. Even just one good critique partner who you can share all the ups and downs with, and bounce ideas off of, can make or break your writing career. The act of writing is inherently solitary, but it doesn’t mean everything around it needs to be! Find your book besties who want your success as much as their own.

Where can people order your books?

Everywhere books are sold!

Where’s the best place to follow you?

I’m allergic to social media, but I’m most active on Instagram, @aspenandersenbooks