My Accidental Einstein Time‑Travel Mistake

From The Dark Secret of Ian’s Peak: Book One, in the second story titled “The Basement,” here’s a behind‑the‑scenes moment that still makes me laugh.

When I first drafted The Basement, I had a scene set in 1860, and in that early version the doctor had this line running through his mind:

“The Doctor knew damn well that he couldn't answer his questions, but he also knew he didn’t need to be Eienstien to figure out what was wrapped up in the blanket.”

I thought it was a great line… until I did some research and realised Albert Einstein wasn’t born until 1879. So unless my 1860 doctor had already invented his own wormhole, there was no way he could’ve been comparing himself to Einstein.

Once I stopped laughing at myself, I rewrote it to:

“The Doctor knew damn well that he couldn't answer his questions, but he also knew he didn’t need to be a genius to figure out what was wrapped up in the blanket.”

Much more historically accurate — and far less embarrassing.

And the funniest part? I still ended up using one of Einstein’s wormhole theories as the basis for the time‑travel element in the story. So in a strange twist, Einstein still made it into The Basement… just not 19 years before he was born.

At the time I was coming up with the plot for this story, I was actually working at a hospital in Perth, Western Australia, which definitely helped shape the atmosphere and the medical details in those early drafts.

Pick up your copy of 'The Dark Secret of Ian's Peak: Book One - Special edition today!