Norman Birnbach of Marblehead remembers a few years ago when his teenaged daughter spotted a rotary phone in a restaurant and tried to use it.
“She had never used a rotary phone before, and it took her several tries,” Birnbach laughed. “There was no ‘send’ button.”
He added, “I realized that based on her experiences, my bright, adventurous daughter would have had lots of trouble navigating the New York City of my childhood. Together, she and I began working on the premise for a novel in which a teenager, who becomes an accidental time-traveler, meets up with her father.”
Fast forward a few years, and Birnbach released his first novel, “Stealing Time,” co-written with his college friend Tilia Klebenov Jacobs.
“Stealing Time” is set in 2020 when teenager Tori and her dad do not get along… until she gets stranded in 1980 and meets him as another struggling teen. The two join forces in gritty New York City, working together as peers to prevent a crime that might otherwise destroy them.
The novel explores how subjects like generational trauma, technology and societal norms shape us.
Birnbach moved to Marblehead in 1997. He runs his own public relations company serving clients in the health and high-tech fields. He has also written more than 100 humor pieces for publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, San Francisco Chronicle and Chicago Tribune, among others.
Birnbach’s short stories have won awards at the Marblehead Arts Festival, and he led a workshop, “Marketing Your Writing,” at this summer’s Literary Festival.
About “Stealing Time,” Birnbach said, “It was a fun book to write, and we’re finding that people are responding to it… whether they’re compatriots of mine or my daughter. I still really love the concept of getting to meet your parents and getting to understand them.”
He emphasized that while his daughter’s experience with a rotary phone may have sparked the idea for the novel, “I am not the father … and my daughter may not be the daughter.”
The book has received some impressive reviews.
“‘Stealing Time,’ a whip-smart time-travel novel, is as clever and inventive as it is fascinating and compelling,” said New York Times bestselling author M.J. Rose. “Filled with facts about gemstones, quantum physics, nostalgic scenes of 1980s New York City, a zany female thief and her cohorts, and heartwarming family scenes, this is a tale for readers from 15 to 90.”
Brinbach and Klebenov Jacobs are also about to release their second book.
“It’s a ghost story for middle grades,” he said. “It will be available Sept. 30, just in time for Halloween. You can’t live this close to Salem and not write about ghosts.”
“Stealing Time” is available on Amazon and at Saltwater Books in Marblehead.
