Get ready to learn more about the book Escape in Time in this discussion with sapphic author RJ Nyx.
Join us for an exclusive peek behind the scenes as we quiz RJ Nyx about Escape in Time, writing, reading, and more.
This book is part of the Disguised as a Man category in the 2025 IHS Reading Challenge.
Why did you write Escape in Time?
I’ve always loved the idea of time travel, of the ability to fix things that should never have happened or twists of fate we wished weren’t true. That’s where the idea for this series originated, and where better to start than World War Two? Human nature fascinates me. Our ability to endure, our compassion, and our empathy. Equally, I’m intrigued by the darker side of our nature. The part of us that can so easily descend into hatred and persecution. Both sides of that interest were perfectly evident in the Second World War, so a mission back to that time seemed like a perfect place to kick off this series.
Who is your favorite character in the book?
The main hero, Landry, is my favorite character, predictably. She’s tough and super intelligent, but undergoes serious emotional development over the course of this and subsequent books in the series. I try hard to make sure none of my characters are like me, or that I bleed into the characters. They should be 3-d living, breathing people rather than extensions of me or who I might wish to be. I’d take her job, if it was up for grabs though!
What was the biggest challenge writing this book?
The research and reading to ensure I treated the subject matter with the appropriate respect and relevance was the biggest challenge. When I came to write the scenes in Ravensbrück, I knew that research had to take me to the actual concentration camp, the only women-only camp that existed. A few days later, my wife and I were on a plane to Berlin and then in a car travelling north to the camp. We were there for many hours, and we spent them all in total silence. The brutality of the camp is still very much tangible despite it being mostly demolished, though the beauty of the surrounding area remains, including the lush lodges of the camp’s officers. Much of the camp’s scenes in this book are taken directly from personal accounts and historic records. None of it is there for the sake of gratuitous violence. I believe we can only learn how to behave in our present and future by looking to the past. Remembering what we have done as humans is imperative to that journey, though I’d advise you to please take care of yourself as you read those scenes (chapters 23-27). And if this topic interests you, I highly recommend This Is A Woman by Sarah Helm. Though it’s an incredibly tough read, it serves as a poignant documentation of the savagery of this particular war.
If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?
I’m planning a whole series! I’ve got books two and three already written. But they need a major overhaul, a brand new edit, and a total rewrite. That should be happening from April, and I’m hoping to get those two out in September, if not before. The second book is called Change in Time, and our time-travelers head to Chicago to save a biophysicist from a psycho serial killer. Meanwhile, Foster continues to unravel in true anti-hero style.
If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose?
I’d like to spend the day with Chuck Palahniuk. I love his writing and concepts, and I think he’d be a lot of fun to hang out with. He shares a lot of writing tips and knowledge on his newsletters too, and I love the sense of a writing community that comes from that. I’d really like to know how he came up with the idea of Fight Club, and if he likes what David Fincher did to it in the movie version.
Do you have any odd writing quirks?
My worst quirk is probably reading out the dialogue as I write it. It’s my way of figuring out if it sounds too clunky and unrealistic. I have to do it super quietly though when my wife is sitting beside me trying to pound out her current novel too!
What has helped or hindered you most when writing a book?
The biggest obstacle is always myself, and I think that’s true for a lot of writers. You have to get out of your own way, stop second-guessing your ability, doubting your story and yourself. Just get out the words, because you can’t edit a blank page. You can’t make non-existent words better. I’m getting better at that, so books don’t take as long to write as they used to!
What do you do to get inside your character’s heads?
I try to make sure that I know who they are, inside and out, as well as I know myself. I create character sketches, have conversations with them, and I write in a journal and monologue their thoughts and key experiences throughout their lives. I try to set aside everything I know and love and hate and have any feelings about whatsoever and replace all of that with my character’s feelings. I hope then, that I can navigate them through the story true to the character I’ve created and they’ve become rather than marionetting them through the manuscript on my terms.
What books have you read more than once in your life?
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is one I constantly come back to. Some of the sentences in that book are so beautiful, I have to stop to reread them. And the concept is inspired. Like life, the enjoyment of books is in the journey for me, not the ending. And I think that you can never read the same book in exactly the same way, because you’re constantly evolving as a person, so you’re never the same person reading the book. You’ve had more experiences, you’ve laughed, loved, and lived, perhaps grieved, lost, and cried more. All of those things reframe your references for everything you consume and every interaction you have.
Describe your favorite reading spot.
That’s the same place as my favorite writing spot – our little writing shed in the back yard, where I can see all manner of little birds munching on the seed and the naughty squirrels doing their acrobatics to steel from the supposedly squirrel-proof feeders. I’ve got a reclining chair and footstool in there, a fire, and all my creature comforts. It’s perfect.
