Anna Mendenhall

Anna Paige Mendenhall “A. Paige” Cell:-, Skype: apmendenha639-1467 Matthews Mill Pond Rd. Angier, NC, US 27501 Bio: A. Paige is the typical millennial vagabond you expect to see camping across deserts, in dense mountain forests, and across icy lakes. “Teach, Research, Travel,” has been the motto in these extreme environs for the past four years, and A. Paige uses these experiences now to transport readers. As a burgeoning American ghost writer with talents ranging from the academic to the narrative, A. Paige loves to show parallels between the real, and the imagined, through complex plots and symbolic dialogue. A Witch in Time When walking into a remote cottage in Scotland with the last of her bags, Lauren was only looking forward to a warm room and a glass of wine. What she was not hoping for was the electricity to go out and a strange man to appear in her new bed. Snoring. Loudly. These are the events within the first few moments of Sia Nix’s romantic time travel story, and the quick easy read is certainly full of light-hearted laughs. The general buoyancy of Nix’s writing style makes it an enjoyable brief tale to put a positive spin on the day while either waiting at the doctor’s office or on a particularly long train ride. The short story certainly has the potential to be a successful novel, if more detail was offered to the time periods, scenery, and generational miscommunications, in addition to expanded plots. Nix writes from each character’s point of view, alternating each chapter, offering a balanced insight to a typical confusing time travel situation. There are little details within the story on the backgrounds of either of the main characters, but what can be determined is that Lauren is a recent widow from early 21st century Canada who claims to be American that lived in England for a year. Or Lauren is an American who has lived in Canada and England for a longer spell than stated, to use the differing phrases comfortably, such as Girl Guides, bosoms, bin, etc. Aengus, the story’s paramore that lives in the past, is certainly from Scotland, but from a significant amount of time after the Revolutionary war, than the 1775 he claims the year to be. This is considering his own turn of phrase when speaking with Lauren. After all, the United States was not first called by its overlapping and ambiguous connotation, “America,” publicly, until John Adams gave a speech on March 4, 1797. Yet, Aengus carries on with these sentiments with a respectful, progressive, and sometimes insecure attitude for the time in the middle of the remote hills of 17th-18th century Scotland. There are historical and colloquial inconsistencies in this short romance story that can give the reader an unwelcome pause every other chapter, but the real draw of the story is in the authenticity of the chemistry between Lauren and Aengus. With Lauren and Aengus, it definitely is lust at first sight before the pair begin to communicate. When they do start to communicate and within the desperate rush to the end, their sweet and passionate moments are tinged with enough trust and respect, that the reader roots for their happy ending. When this is not the case in a world of Doctor Whos and G.R.R. Martins, it is a nice welcome to a breath of fresh air from a good, and short, read. Nix, S, 2017. ​A Witch in Time: A Time Travel Romance​, Stolworthy Publishing