Episode 617-With James Goodhand

The Functional Nerds Podcast

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James Goodhand, author of The Day Tripper.

About The Day Tripper: The right guy, the right place, the wrong time.

It’s 1995, and Alex Dean has it all: a spot at Cambridge University next year, the love of an amazing woman named Holly and all the time in the world ahead of him. That is until a brutal encounter with a ghost from his past sees him beaten, battered and almost drowning in the Thames.

He wakes the next day to find he’s in a messy, derelict room he’s never seen before, in grimy clothes he doesn’t recognize, with no idea of how he got there. A glimpse in the mirror tells him he’s older—much older—and has been living a hard life, his features ravaged by time and poor decisions. He snatches a newspaper and finds it’s 2010—fifteen years since the fight.

After finally drifting off to sleep, Alex wakes the following morning to find it’s now 2019, another nine years later. But the next day, it’s 1999. Never knowing which day is coming, he begins to piece together what happens in his life after that fateful night by the river.

But what exactly is going on? Why does his life look nothing like he thought it would? What about Cambridge, and Holly? In this page-turning adventure, Alex must navigate his way through the years to learn that small actions have untold impact. And that might be all he needs to save the people he loves and, equally importantly, himself.

About James Goodhand: James Goodhand has written two YA novels. His YA debut, Last Lesson, was called “a powerfully charged study in empathy,” by the Financial Times. The Day Tripper is his adult debut. He lives in Englad with his wife and young son.

This week’s picks:

• James #1: Time Shelter: A Novel by Georgi Gospodinov
• James #2: One Day (Netflix)
• Tracy: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
• Patrick: In Search Of… With Leonard Nimoy (The Complete Series)

SPECIAL NOTE AND LINK:

Locus – The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field – is holding their annual fundraising drive to keep their doors open, lights on, and future bright. Please consider supporting Locus through their annual fundraiser. It runs March 5th through April 5th. Explore the campaign and wonderful reward tiers at: igg.me/at/locusmag2024

Links:

• James Goodhand on the network formerly known as Twitter
• Tracy Townsend on the network formerly known as Twitter
• Patrick Hester on the network formerly known as Twitter
• The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2024 Patrick Hester

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