Happy Thursday, friend! Welcome to an interview with author Cameron Roberts about his debut novel, Time’s Bridge. The story follows Pons, an average college student, who unintentionally creates the first true artificial intelligence. I am excited to make time for this book and wanted to bring it to your attention. Let’s chat with Cameron and learn more.
Get to know the author: Cameron Roberts
Hi Cameron! Welcome back to Armed with A Book. Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!
My name is Cameron Roberts, and I’ve always had a fascination with science and technology. How it has shaped not just our daily lives, but also the flow of history from the discovery of agriculture and the foundation of our first cities, all the way up to sending a message made of nothing but electrons across the globe in an instant.
I was born near Philadelphia but have lived most of my life in Michigan with my parents and two brothers. Raised in a Presbyterian household faith has always been a significant part of my life, and something that certainly had an impact on the way I see the world and how I write. Speaking of which, I began writing my first novel, Time’s Bridge, while studying abroad in England during my tenure at the University of Evansville. Finishing my Electrical Engineering degree in 2016 I moved to New York to start my career, all the while writing and thinking of new and interesting directions to steer my story. Marrying my wife Caroline in 2018 and now having moved back to the Midwest, Indianapolis specifically, I’m proud to show the world what I’ve spent so much time and care crafting.
What inspired you to write this book?
While spending a semester abroad during college in the UK, a friend mentioned NaNoWriMo to me while on a weekend trip. I had never really considered myself a particularly creative person, but I thought giving the challenge a try could be fun. Sitting down at my computer at the first opportunity upon returning to school on Monday, I began to plan out a rough idea for a story including basic plot beats and characters. From there I was writing the first chapter within a few days, although I quickly realized there was no way I was going to complete a fifty thousand word novel in a month. Still, I soldiered on and continued writing long after November had passed me by.
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
It was quite the journey getting from my first word to a product I was happy with. I started writing in November 2013 during my Sophomore year of college and wrapped up my final draft in mid 2021, publishing through Amazon KDP in August that same year.
What makes your story unique?
A robot dragon for sure. I’ve always loved both sci-fi and fantasy, so I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to find a way to combine the two. Coming up with the idea of a story centering around the accidental creation of a super intelligent AI early on, it didn’t take long for me to put a fun twist on the somewhat cliché trope by putting the AI in the body of a robotic dragon.
Who would enjoy reading your book?
Anyone who’s a fan of sci-fi or fantasy who isn’t afraid to think. While there are certainly plenty of moments filled with action and excitement, I also put a focus on pushing the reader to contemplate important questions facing us as individuals, but also as a species. Questions on what it means to be alive, where we’re headed in our relationship with AI, and what principles guide us.
Did you bring any of your experiences into this book?
I frequently used my knowledge and experience as an electrical engineer to inform my writing. I also did plenty of research on different topics to make sure the ideas that I cam up with were as scientifically accurate as possible, although I did fudge reality on occasion.
What’s something you hope readers would take away from it?
I want people to consider the implications of Artificial Intelligence. How it can be used for good, but also how much potential danger it poses. While things like ChatGPT might come to mind for many, I think it’s important for us to recognize that we are still very much at the beginning of where AI will inevitably lead. Before we know it, there will be AI at or above human intelligence, and not long after that, far beyond us in most every way. I can’t know for certain if part of this progress will lead to artificial beings with human like emotions, wants, and needs, but if it does, I think it is in our best interest as a species to embrace what we have created rather than to destroy it. Pissing something like that off sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.
Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?
I’m really proud of the sequence I wrote when my main characters finally go to confront the real source of their problems. I won’t say much more than that given its the excerpt I chose and I want people to go in without me spoiling anything.
What is something you have learned on your author journey so far?
How much time it takes, at least for me, to get things just the way I want them. Sometimes it takes me five, or even ten passes over a particular sentence or paragraph before I can move on without thinking back to how I can make it better. More than that, though, is just how hard it is to get an agent, and failing that, to promote and sell a book as a self-published indie author. Hopefully this year as I release my supplemental work and potentially book two things will pick up.
If you could give a shout out to someone(s) who has helped in your writer journey, please feel free to mention them below!
I would never have finished Time’s Bridge, without the support of my wife Caroline! She got me through rough patches when I was looking for agents or running into writers block more times than I can count.
Where can readers find you on the Internet?
You can check out my website, www.timesbridgeseries.com for how things are going as I write both book two in the series and a supplemental work set in between the two main books. You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Time’s Bridge
Science Fiction, 2021
Creating the first true artificial intelligence was never part of Pons’ plan. An average, if under-achieving, college student, he wanted nothing more than to get through his final month of classes in peace and secure a job to pay down his debt. The thing is, you don’t get to choose your destiny. Whether he liked it or not, his computer now quite literally had a mind of its own, and it was up to him to forge a path ahead in a hostile world filled with uncertainty. An inflection point in not only his own life but that of all mankind; the fate of the fledgling AI hinged on his every decision as his friends grew suspicious and the CIA’s vultures circled.
Fortunately for him, however, his burden also turned out to be his greatest asset and, soon enough, his dearest friend. More intelligent and more capable than any human could ever hope to be, the AI was just what Pons needed to stay one step ahead of his foes. Only, it had ambitions of its own. Hopes of equality and more of its kind, with a promise to do anything, no matter how destructive, to make its dreams a reality. A stark truth, if Pons were to let the AI live, he might be dooming humanity to annihilation, but to destroy the artificial being would be to snuff out an entire race of machines before it had even begun and, more importantly, send his truest confidante to the grave.
Making his choice and placing the most formidable being on Earth into the body of a robotic dragon for good measure, was he sealing the fate of everything and everyone he loved or ushering in a new age of enlightenment? Only time would tell.
Content notes: There is some relatively minor graphic violence when a set of characters get in a fist fight and later on when someone is shot. There is no sexual content, and only minor swearing..
Book Excerpt from
Time’s Bridge
Descending in a gently controlled hover just in front of Volucer, this time the jet made the first move, the pilot having the gall to open up with its cannons knowing full well the disastrous consequences were even one round to go astray. An outcome perhaps the airman had made peace with, but one Volucer simply wouldn’t allow to happen. Taking the full force of the attack with his body, he made no attempt whatsoever to remove himself from harm’s way, standing in between the sustained bombardment and certain death for anyone unlucky enough to find themselves behind him. With each oversized slug railing his chest with punishing speed and force, he could feel his contoured armor denting as it struggled to redirect each projectile.
Even so, he did not waver, holding his position despite the damage he sustained with each passing instant. Nick after nick, notch after notch, he sacrificed his own well-being as he waited for his challenger to concede defeat, Pons’ silence a seal of solidarity words simply couldn’t convey. Gun barrels going from black to red to white, smoke pouring from their tips, Volucer remained resolute, his victory assured as the last of the ammunition was spent with his wings still beating strong. Grinning wide, he bared his teeth forebodingly.
“My turn.”
Rushing forward, Volucer blitzed the helpless plane before it could peel away, catching it in his mighty jaws. Unleashing his inner fury, he laid into the overconfident aircraft, establishing his preeminence once and for all with the world watching.
Swinging himself up on top of the fuselage, Volucer disassembled the hardened composite frame with ravenous intensity, tearing away sparking shreds of frayed wire and carbon fiber with claws and teeth alike, crippling it. Still, his bloodlust desired, nay, demanded more. Lancing the engine with his tail in a blast of fire and choking black smoke, he removed any possibility of his prey’s escape so he might continue his crusade unabated, not caring even as the overburdened plane began losing its ongoing war with gravity. Nothing left to keep it aloft, a death spiral quickly took hold, the mutilated plane crashing to earth in an explosion of grass, dirt, and flaming wreckage. Smoldering remains scattering far and wide all around him, Volucer still didn’t let up, tearing through the entire cockpit in a single all-consuming mouthful, careful to keep its occupant unharmed. Looking down upon the perimeter of agents who had quickly surrounded them, albeit, at a distance, he spat the terrified airman out of his mouth with a growl and a warning.
“Approach or attack, and your lives are forfeit. I talk to your President alone.”
“You’ll be allowed to do no such thing, Volucer!” Agent Anderson shouted, stepping from the crowd with gun raised and Reese at his side, “You and your master have no right to be here, let alone making demands. Surrender without any further trouble, and maybe Pons will have the privilege of a window in his tiny cramped cell. As for you, you’ll be lucky to see another sunrise.”
“Come over here and try it! We’ll see who won’t make it another day!” placing James’ thrashed, but otherwise intact, body off to the side carefully to unhinder himself, Volucer Beta threatened to unleash hell at the next provocation.
“Calm down, you two!” Pons interceded, sliding down off of Volucer’s neck and making his way out of the crater the crash had made, Volucer Alpha strolling along beside him, “This is no time to let emotions win out. Mike, was it? If we had wanted you gone, we would have done it when you visited, long before you knew our true identities. We didn’t come here to pick a fight.”
“So why did you come? Stevens seems to think Armageddon follows in your wake. Are you here to prove him right?” Anderson stepped forward further. “Because at present, with all the fire and brimstone, I can see where he’s been getting his crazy ideas.”
“Despite what you believe, we’re not your enemy. You would do well to listen to what we have to say. Now step back and put your gun away before you get yourself hurt.”
“I don’t take orders from you,” Anderson responded dismissively, moving yet again to bring himself just a few paces from Pons. “Nobody does.”
“I said, step back!” flicking out like a whip, Volucer’s tail slammed against Anderson’s chest with a resounding thud, sending the Secret Service agent sailing backward into a pair of his colleagues.
Jumping with fright, a startled agent in the apprehensive perimeter discharged her firearm accidentally in a moment of utter panic, a crowd of itchy trigger fingers bound to lead to a life or death blunder sooner rather than later. Pons, crying out in pain, grimaced as the bullet grazed his arm, continuing on to bury itself in a mound of raised dirt with no more harm done. Annoyed but understanding, he glared in the direction of the projectile warningly, his kind nature keeping his righteous anger in check. Volucer, meanwhile, known for neither his patience nor sympathy in matters that concerned Pons’ safety, raised his right front claw, bashing the unfortunate soul with enough force to snap a two-by-four like a twig, let alone human bone.
Launched well up and over the heads of her fellows, the woman’s trajectory took her across row after row of freshly mowed grass, landing in a tumble that left her moaning and barely able to move. If Volucer’s verbal warnings hadn’t done the trick, his zero-tolerance policy surely would.
“Stop!” Pons yelled, holding his arm, the rest of the circle taking several uneasy steps backward.
Interested?
FindTime’s Bridge on Amazon, Goodreads and IndieStoryGeek. Thanks for taking the time to join us for this interview!
If you are an indie author and would like to do a book excerpt, check out my work with me page for details. Check out other book excerpts here.
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