Threads of Time

THREADS OF TIME

ISBN 978-1-4116-8556-7

By Carolyn R Scheidies

Not Just about dates…

THREADS OF TIME is the latest book by author Carolyn R. Scheidies. The book’s premise is that history is not just about dates. It’s about explorers and adventurers, about spies and presidents. It’s about people of faith who made a difference in their world.

In THREADS OF TIME you’ll discover how Marco Polo’s adventures to China influenced Christopher Columbus and how John Smith impacted both Pocahontas and Squanto. History is the story of interconnected lives. THREADS OF TIME brings historical figures to life.

Author discovers history

When juvenile rheumatoid arthritis put Scheidies in a wheelchair as a young teen, she found solace in reading. As she immersed herself in her father’s extensive library, she began to build on a love of history she’d first discovered in elementary school reading biographies. During those teenage years when pain and disability held her in its grip, she felt useless and wondered if her life had meaning. Still, she persevered.

She learned there was more to history than dates and events. Scheidies said, “History is real people living out their lives at a particular time and the influence they had on future generations both good and bad. I could see how these people are remembered because they didn’t give up or quit when things got tough.”

Scheidies’ love of history led her to take so many classes while getting a comprehensive major in journalism, she had almost enough credits to minor in the subject. Even though extensive reconstructive surgery finally got her back on her feet, Scheidies never lost her love of libraries, history and searching for the truth.

Birth of the book

“THREADS OF TIME,” she said, “came about when my son was in middle school and he came home with some disturbing information about Columbus. I decided to do some research and discovered I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought about the man, his time or his motives. Studying Columbus led me back to Marco Polo and forward to other historical figures. I was amazed at how one person influenced another, sometimes even when they never met.”

But while Scheidies researched and wrote a draft of THREADS OF TIME, she did little with it when her novels began to sell and writing historical fiction took her away from non-fiction for a time.

Passing on history

When Scheidies’ son married and began his own family, she realized she wanted her grandchildren to love history by reading about the struggles and the faith of those who came before. She dusted off the manuscript, did more research, revised and finally had the work ready. The result is THREADS OF TIME that ties eleven historical figures together from Marco Polo to Florence Nightingale. Threads tie together Columbus, John Smith, Squanto, Paul Revere, Harriet Tubman and more—persons of different times, genders and races. Individuals who didn’t give up, even though, at times, everything seemed against them.

THREADS OF TIME includes The Ten Commandments, The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights and more, along with teacher suggestions and an index.

And now

Scheidies has come a long way from the teenager who thought she had nothing to offer. Through her latest book, she hopes others will not only get a clearer picture of the past, but also be encouraged that we can all contribute to our world if we use the talents God has given us, and don’t give up.