Thanks for visiting my site. I’m Bette Bono, author of the Aggie and Abe historical fiction, time travel, romance, adventure novels The Better Angels and Fear Itself. I’ve also written two short story collections: Neighbors & Other Stories and The Second Chance Shop & Other Stories.
What’s this blog about? My writing mixes many things I love, and so does this blog. Here you can find posts on history, books, writing, mystery, time travel, adventure, romance, senior citizens, and superheroes. (Those last two or three topics are not mutually exclusive.) So check out the categories listed to the side. (If you’re on your phone, the categories may appear at the bottom.) I hope you find something to interest and intrigue you. Enjoy!
What are my novels about? In The Better Angels, retired teacher Aggie May fears dementia when she begins to see visions from the past. Then she gets a recruitment visit from Abe Irving of the American Association of Remarkable Persons (“the other AARP”) who explains she has developed the ability to travel through time. Soon Aggie joins other “Remarkables” on a mission to 19th century New York City in an effort to locate a missing photographic portrait of Abraham Lincoln created by the Civil War photographer Mathew Brady. While learning the rules and limits of time travel, Aggie faces the possibility that she may have both extraordinary power and extraordinary vulnerability.
Aggie, Abe, and the other senior time travelers reconnect in Fear Itself. This time, in a bid to understand what was happening in America as Hitler rose to power, they investigate America First and the pro-fascist German American Bund, two groups active in the United States in the 1930s. As Aggie and Abe explore this dark history, they grow closer. But when unexpected danger appears, they are forced to confront their obligation to act against evil.
What about the short stories? We think of neighbors as those that live nearby. But we’re all linked to other people, places, and time periods. Sometimes those connections reflect love and joy, sometimes danger and darkness. Neighbors includes stories about coal mining, vaudeville, the Nazi’s exhibition of “degenerate art,” the Coney Island ride A Trip to the Moon, tightrope walking, wasps, poisonous plants, space debris falling from the sky, old people falling in love, young people falling in love, Grand Central Station, Munich in 1937, Central Park in 1873, synesthesia, Picasso’s Bust of Francoise, the Wright brothers, affordable housing, and the meaning of life. Neighbors explores relationships we have with other people, with ideas, with history, and with ourselves.
The Second Chance Shop & Other Stories (available soon) explores what people do when they’re presented with, or seek out, a second chance.
My books are available from Amazon and other retailers in print and Kindle formats. The Better Angels and Fear Itself are also available as Audiobooks. https://www.amazon.com/Better-Angels-Bette-Bono/dp/1733444858/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+better+angels+bette+bono&qid=1576253430&sr=8-1 My publisher is the wonderful All Things That Matter Press. Their website is https://www.allthingsthatmatterpress.com/
Bette Bono's Blog 