By LEAH WEATHERSBY

Part of studying history is pondering those persistent "what if" questions, and one of the scenarios that looms largest in the American imagination is "what if Hitler had won the war?"

"Timegate," a new novel by Latona resident Liz Osborne and her father, Walter Hesse (who lives in Monroe), ponders that question - with some fast-paced adventure to boot.

The book tells the story of Scott Hanover, a prison inmate living in the year 2044, in a United States that has been under German control for a century. Fortunately for us Yanks, science has found a way to send Hanover back in time to stop the Nazis from stealing our vital military secrets. The mission, of course, is fraught with danger.

But that's perfect for Osborne and Hesse, both of whom seem to love history and adventure writing.

Osborne, 52, a former administrator for Group Health, had her first book published in 1995. Officially classified as a romance novel, "Promises to Keep," had been years in the making - Osborne had put aside the idea of writing a book for years in favor of graduate school, career and family.

However, as her daughter got older, Osborne, who said she was an avid reader even as a child, decided it as time to revisit her old dream. In 1988 she helped form a critique group with five other writers, four or whom are now published. Amazingly, the writers still meet even after 14 years.

While Osborne originally fancied herself an romance novelist, she discovered while writing "Promises," a novel set in the Civil War era, that what she loved writing most was adventure scenes such as the ones in "Timegate."

When Osborne's mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1995, she realized that working on a book might be just the way to distract her father from the stresses in his personal life. "The process of taking care of (my mother) while watching her mental world shrink was causing his mental world to shrink," said Osborne.

So the two decided dust off a concept Hesse had been kicking around for years. The retired college professor (who taught astronomy and earth sciences at California Polytechnic State University) had already published several text books. He had long thought of writing novels, but nothing had really gelled.

However, father and daughter proved that good things can come from teamwork. They plotted the story together based on Joseph Campbell's theories on mythology and Hesse wrote a first draft. Then Osborne took the text and ran with it, expanding aspects of the story she found interesting. They finished "Timegate" in 1996.

And then the book sat. They tried to find an agent for the book, but Osborne said that thanks to cut-backs and consolidation in the publishing industry (and the fact that "Timegate" can't be easily pigeon-holed into the science fiction or adventure genres) the book attracted little more than "nice rejection letters."

But just as one family misfortune had instigated the writing of "Timegate," another reversal led its publication.

Last year, Hesse, 81, was diagnosed with lung cancer, despite the fact that he had never been a smoker. (As it turned out, asbestos exposure during his own military service was the likely cause of the disease.)

Wanting her father to see "Timegate" published in his lifetime, Osborne submitted the book to iUniverse.com, a print-on-demand publisher. While it is a non-traditional company, iUniverse reviews books before accepting them for publication and asks for editorial revisions. "Timegate" came out in April, published under the pseudonym W.L. Hesse (a combination of Osborne and Hesse's names.) The catch is that you can't just buy the book while browsing through a shop, you have to either purchase it online or special order it from your local bookstore.

Despite the fact that there was no advance, and royalties won't arrive for a while, Hesse said he was encouraged by the publication of "Timegate" in April and is hard at work on a second novel set during the Civil War titled "Outrider."

Osborne, who has authored several non-fiction books on health care administration, is now focusing on fiction. She is currently working on a mystery series in which amateur sleuth Robyn Kelly, a health care worker, investigates mysterious deaths at the hospital where she works. How it will all turn out is still unknown, but adventure is guaranteed.