An interview with Seph, Drum and Tom, the characters in Tumbling Through Time.

I took the time recently to sit down with corporate attorney Tom Fraser, brand manager Seph Pyle and eighteenth-century sea captain George "Drum" Drummond from Tumbling Through Time.

Gwyn: This is your first book, is it?

Seph: Yes.

Tom: God, yes.

Drum: No, actually. I've appeared in Blackmuir Fires. Very small part, though.

Gwyn: Liked it?

Drum: The author is outstanding.

Gwyn: Glad to hear it. Now I don't want to give away the ending of
Tumbling Through Time--

Seph: No, don't!

Gwyn: --but I can see, Seph, you're sitting between the two men from two different eras. Anything you want to confess?

Seph: Ah, no. [smiles]

Gwyn: Can we assume the story ends happily?

Tom: Oh, yes.

Drum: I wouldn't say the story has definitively ended.

Tom: Oh, it's ended.

Gwyn: Seph?

Seph: [clears her throat] No comment.

Gwyn: Seph, you seemed reluctant to share the fact that Tom and Drum look alike with the two of them during the story. Do you regret that now?

Seph: I . . . ah . . . it seemed irrelevant at the time.

Gwyn: I see you're still wearing the pink heels. Has that been an inconvenience?

Tom: [grinning] Not at all.

Gwyn: I meant for Seph.

Seph: They're comfortable; they match everything. The lady who does my pedicure sometimes has trouble reaching the pinkie nail, but other than that . . . [she shrugs]

Gwyn: And your color?

Seph: [looks down] O.P.I. Lincoln Park After Dark.

Gwyn: It's fab. Tom, are you still in Paris?

Tom: Yes.

Gwyn: Is that hard?

[Tom and Seph share an adolescent smirk.]

Tom: Yes, it can definitely be hard.

Gwyn: Hmm. Drum, you're looking good. Could that mean you've been reinstated in the English navy?

Drum: I'd say that opportunity has been permanently removed from the table as an option.

Gwyn: Sorry.

Drum: [grunts]

Gwyn: You're kind of the odd man out, being from a different century. Was that a challenge while you guys were working together?

Drum: [raises a brow] I found it to be a gratifying distinction.

Gwyn: Gratifying?

Drum: Tom and Persephone should certainly be grateful.

Gwyn: I was rather imagining a sequel, where Elettra gets into the action, you know like Julia Roberts in Ocean's Twelve--though, come to think of it, I suppose Ocean's Four would be more appropriate, huh? [guffaws]

Drum: [crosses his arms] I don't think so.

Gwyn: Well, be careful. You never know when you might get, dare I say it, pressed into service. [more laughter]

Drum: [muttering] Bloody writers.

Gwyn: Who do you see playing you in the movie? Seph?

Seph: Gosh, I know she doesn't really look like me at all, but just I love Drew Barrymore.

Gwyn: I can see it. Tom? Drum?

Tom: God, I don't know. It's rather embarrassing. I mean who can answer a question like that--

Drum: Brad Pitt. Definitely Brad Pitt.

Gwyn: Brad Pitt, eh?

[Seph shakes her head discreetly and mouths COLIN FIRTH.]

Gwyn: I see. Well, I hope that all works out. Drum, looking back, is there anything you'd have done differently?

Drum: If I'd been smart, I would have docked at Gibraltar when we took Miss Quimble and her party aboard, checked into the Lamb and Pig and purchased a month's-pay's-worth of Madeira to tide me over while I waited. Might not have made a damned bit of difference in what happened but I certainly would have felt better.

Gwyn: So no regrets about the French cutter?

Drum: [angrily] I'm not talking about the cutter.

Gwyn: Hey, watch your tone. You could be the one with premature ejaculation problems next.

[Tom snickers then catches himself.]

Gwyn: Tom, you're from North Dakota. All my favorite men are from North Dakota. Did that work for you?

Tom: It's beautiful. There's nothing like an anonymous wheat field under a gleaming moon on a warm August night, I always say. [smiles at Seph]

Gwyn: Oooh, nice. I can almost hear the crickets myself. Seph, any last words on Tumbling Through Time?

Seph: Read it. Please! It'll save me the trouble of having to write a book myself.