While sipping on a beer outside a Colorado restaurant more than 10 years ago, Stoughton resident Lynn Perez-Hewitt noticed a man dressed in a dated brown suit and fedora crossing the street.

“That just doesn’t fit,” Perez-Hewitt thought to herself.

So, she grabbed her journal — always on hand — and began to outline the man who would later serve as the inspiration behind the time-traveling protagonist in her novel “Measured Time.” Published in October, Perez-Hewitt told the Hub the 267-page fiction book is full of rich characters, each inspired by people in her life.

The novel, which Perez-Hewitt said is appropriate for all audiences, follows World War II physicist Nick Nishimura, who teleports from a military intelligence base in Los Alamos to Arizona in 2008. Amongst the shock, Nick must figure out, who is still alive? Will he be pulled back in time? How can he adjust to the societal changes?

Perez-Hewitt said she uses her characters to explore topics about human nature and relationships such as loyalty, courage and marriage. Some of the more fantastical elements stem from sci-fi movies. The way she writes intense character relationships and development is inspired by renowned authors like Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez, she said.

But her greatest inspiration is those around her.

“There are bits of me and bits of probably everybody I know scattered throughout this book,” Perez-Hewitt said. “My husband jokes that I collect people like other people collect salt and pepper shakers.”

Whether that is observing a perfect stranger on the street, like the brown suit man, or looking inward to herself, Perez-Hewitt said she combines different elements of real people to construct rounded characters.

Like Perez-Hewitt herself, Nick is an observer who can’t part with his handy notebook, she said. Readers get a glimpse into his mind through his written notes. But unlike Nick, Perez-Hewitt said she isn’t so scientific in her writing process.

A self-proclaimed gardener — a term coined by George RR Martin — she plants an idea, not quite knowing where it will take her until she writes it down. And sometimes, it’s the characters who tell her their next move, she said.

“My books have a lot of dialogue in them because my characters talk to me, and my characters surprise me,” she said. “Sometimes things come out that I don’t expect, which is really kind of exciting.”

A life-long journaler, vivid storyteller and public relations specialist, Perez-Hewitt said she’s always considered herself a writer. But it wasn’t until “Measured Time” that she embraced an element of ambition, which she said has pushed her into a space as an author.

While Perez-Hewitt first encountered the brown-suit-man in 2009, life got busy and she didn’t have much of an interest in writing a novel after seeing some of her friends struggle with the arduous process. But, by 2017, she said she couldn’t stay away from the characters and knew that Nick “needed more than a short story could give him.”

“When I picked it up again, I just fell in love with the characters again,” she said. “I just began to see how everything connected and to see what might happen.”

Perez-Hewitt said she has received wonderful feedback from readers and is nearly halfway done with the sequel, which she hopes will be on shelves by December. The book is available online and the Stoughton Public Library carries a copy.