Meet Author
Sharon Ledwith
I'd like to introduce you to author Sharon Ledwith-- friendly, funny & feisty just like her characters :)
I enjoyed her book
Last Timekeepers and the Arch ofAtlantis and would like to encourage you to purchase a copy for your middle-grade or YA readers.
Below are a few questions to learn a little more about this awesome writer.
What
are you working on now?
I’ve
just finished the second round of edits for the prequel to The Last Timekeepers
series entitled, Legend of the
Timekeepers which will be out sometime this year (hopefully late spring),
but I don’t have a release date yet. I also have a completed manuscript of
the second book in the series entitled, The
Last Timekeepers and the Dark Secret, but there’s the fun job of revising it
into Jordan Jensen’s point of view. I’ve also signed on with literary agency,
Walden House (Books & Stuff) this past December to take on another young
adult series I’ve created about teens with psychic abilities with the first
book called, Lost and Found: Mysterious
Tales from Fairy Falls, so I’ll be one busy gal!
What
process in writing is hardest for you?
Getting back into a work-in-progress
after leaving it for awhile. I know that sounds odd, but I honestly have a hard
time getting the momentum going again after I’ve been pulled away from writing
a new story in order to do edits on an upcoming release, or a blog tour, or
marketing and promoting the book I already have out. So to answer your
question, I guess I have a hard time juggling projects back and forth, and know
I must learn this skill if I want to survive in this new publishing
paradigm.
What
process in writing is the most enjoyable for you?
The first draft—hands down! It’s the
most creative part of writing, a chance to get down and dirty with all your
characters, throw them against the wall a few times, see what they can take,
then rinse them off until they’re all
clean and shiny at the end of the book.
Are
you pantser or a plotter?
Sometimes
I’m a pantser (writing by the seat of my pants), sometimes a plotter (outline
entire storyline)—it all depends on the tone of the book and where my
imagination directs me. I have many
notebooks and pads and sticky notes at my disposal. I also have a file full of
ideas. I guess I start with the characters and build the story around them. The
characters, my characters, must carry the story to completion, give readers
closure. It’s a must. In order to do this, I begin writing out character
tracking sheets (stats on characters’ appearances, clothing, likes and
dislikes, etc.) which have served me well throughout the writing process. Then
the fun begins. Research, research, and more research. When you’re writing time
travel, you’ve got to know your facts to create the fiction. I love this part
of the journey too. Only when I have enough facts, and I feel my characters are
fleshed out sufficiently, then I begin to start the novel.
How
do you come up with your character names?
Sometimes I take names from my
environment, sometimes names from my old National
Geographic magazines (it’s a great resource for names, trust me!), but most
times I go by the character’s personality, their likes and dislikes, and use The Writer’s Digest Character Naming
Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon as my go-to bible for names. I have also
named certain characters after real people I’ve known. For example, my
character Amanda Sault in The Last
Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis was named after my Native American
elder and teacher Bill Sault.
When
is your favorite time to write?
Early and late mornings, and all
afternoon are best times to write for me. Evenings have never been kind to me.
That’s my down-time, when I read, check emails, do some social media stuff, or
watch television with hubby.
What
is your favorite snack while writing?
Hmmm, I usually snack in the
afternoon, so I’m going with herbal tea and a piece (or three) of Cadbury Fruit & Nut Dark chocolate bar. It just seems to soothe the
savage author. Unless hubby has made a batch of his famous butter tarts, then
I’ll indulge in one of those!
Sharon
Ledwith is the
author of the middle-grade/young adult time travel series, THE LAST
TIMEKEEPERS, available through Musa Publishing. Her debut novel, The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of
Atlantis, is the first in the series. When not writing, researching, or revising, she
enjoys reading, yoga, kayaking, time with family and friends, and single malt
scotch. Sharon lives in the wilds of Muskoka in Central Ontario, Canada, with
her hubby, a water-logged yellow Labrador and moody calico cat.
Blurb for The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of
Atlantis:
When 13-year-old Amanda Sault and
her annoying classmates are caught in a food fight at school, they're given a
choice: suspension or yard duty. The decision is a no-brainer. Their two-week
crash course in landscaping leads to the discovery of a weathered stone arch in
the overgrown back yard. The arch isn't a forgotten lawn ornament but an
ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis.
Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to
be Timekeepers--legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the
evil Belial--Amanda and her classmates are sent on an adventure of a lifetime. Can
they find the young Robin Hood and his merry band of teens? If they don't, then
history itself may be turned upside down.
Connect with
Sharon Ledwith:
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