Rendezvous with a comet: Fact and fantasy

On Nov. 11, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta satellite is set to make a historic first landing on a comet, a feat that has sparked writers’ imaginations for centuries.

“The idea of traveling on a comet is not new, but the reality is,” said T.W. Fendley of Chesterfield, Mo., author of The Labyrinth of Time. “In 1877, science fiction pioneer and visionary Jules Verne published Off on a Comet about forty people stranded on a comet for two years.”

In Fendley’s young adult contemporary fantasy novel, alien visitors from the Pleiades return to Earth on a comet spaceship. Her inspiration came from Javier Cabrera Darquea’s 10-year-study of thousands of engraved river stones found near Ica, Peru, not far from the world-famous Nazca Lines. While many believe the stones were a hoax, Darquea maintains they are records from an advanced civilization that thrived on Earth millions of years ago, when aliens, humans, and dinosaurs shared this planet.

“In my novel, sixteen-year-old Jade Davis must find a way to join the alien travelers on the comet and save humanity from fiery destruction,” said Fendley. The Labyrinth of Time will be available Nov. 7, 2014, from online booksellers. Most local bookstores and libraries can order it on customer request. The ebook is available now for pre-order on Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and Apple iBooks.

T.W. Fendley is an award-winning author of historical fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults. She began writing fiction full-time in 2007 after working twenty-five years in journalism and corporate communications. In October 2011, L&L Dreamspell LLC published her debut historical fantasy novel for adults, Zero Time.

T.W. fell in love with ancient American cultures while researching story ideas at the 1997 Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. Since then, she’s trekked to archeological sites in the Yucatan, Peru and American Southwest. She currently lives near St. Louis with her artist husband and his pet fish.