Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Ghosts of Christmases Past - Sharon Ledwith


Ghosts of Christmases Past…

“Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.”

Love that last line in the first paragraph of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. “Dead as a doornail” really sticks out in my mind. Boy, Dickens sure had a way with words! And believe it or not, Charles Dickens wrote the classic Christmas tale as a novella—something I never knew. In fact, I decided to read A Christmas Carol for the first time a few years ago. I knew the story like the back of my hand, and most movies based on the book were true to form. But there’s nothing like reading the actual script written by an author’s hand. Though the language was a little archaic, it still didn’t take away from the magic of the story.

Through Scrooge’s ghostly visitations, we got a glimpse of the man behind the mask. Who he was, and what circumstances and choices created his reality. We often don’t see what we’ve created until, like Scrooge, we’re faced with a crisis or fear. When I sat down to write Legend of the Timekeepers, the prequel to my middle grade/YA time travel series, I wanted to create a back story for the series that would help readers understand who my characters were, where they came from culturally, mentally, and spiritually, and how they decide to move forward with their lives. Tricky to say the least—especially when you’re dealing with a mythical land that may or may not have existed.


It took confronting my own fears to write the prequel. For one, I had never written a pure fantasy before, and had no ‘historical’ parameters to go by like I had when I wrote The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis. That scared the ‘Ebenezer’ out of me! The only research I used were the readings by Edgar Cayce and other authors claiming to be a psychic or channel. Mumbo jumbo for some, but for me it was a treasure trove, and a chance to take the hand of the Ghosts of Atlantis’s past and be led on a fantastical adventure. I find that time travel stories have a way of making us reassess our own lives, of reliving the joyful and the challenging times, so that we hopefully wake up and make better choices like Scrooge did.

This is what I’ve learned from my Ghosts of Christmases past. And this is why I write time travel books. God bless us, every one!

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, available through Musa Publishing. 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.

Tagline & blurb for Legend of the Timekeepers:

There is no moving forward without first going back.

Lilith was a young girl with dreams and a family before the final destruction of Atlantis shattered those dreams and tore her family apart. Now refugees, Lilith and her father make their home in the Black Land. This strange, new country has no place in Lilith’s heart until a beloved high priestess introduces Lilith to her life purpose—to be a Timekeeper and keep time safe.

Summoned through the seventh arch of Atlantis by the Children of the Law of One, Lilith and her newfound friends are sent into Atlantis’s past, and given a task that will ultimately test their courage and try their faith in each other. Can the Timekeepers stop the dark magus Belial before he changes the seers’ prophecy? If they fail, then their future and the earth’s fate will be altered forever.

BONUS: My middle grade/young adult short fantasy story, The Terrible, Mighty Crystal, is free and available until the end of December only through Musa Publishing. This tale is a spin-off from Legend of the Timekeepers as it features the Atlantean cross-eyed seer Shu-Tu, and reveals a little background on how and why she became a seer.

Tagline & blurb and tagline for The Terrible, Mighty Crystal:

There is the known and the unknown. And then there is the unknowable.

A rumor around Atlantis whispers that the mighty crystal has the power of resurrection. Fourteen-year-old Shu-Tu believes this to be true and will do whatever it takes to bring her father back from the dead. Recruiting two trustworthy classmates, and with the help of her beloved teacher Thoth, Shu-Tu sets out to change her father’s fate, and right a wrong.

Instructed to meet Thoth at his grotto, Shu-Tu and her friends are forced to flee underground, and must follow the maze of passages to find another way out. There, they come across a baboon-headed human hybrid possessing a rare firestone—one of six harvested from the mighty crystal—which has the power to restore life. Shu-Tu agrees to play the hybrid’s bizarre game to win the firestone, knowing that if she loses, she loses her father forever.

The Terrible, Mighty Crystal Link (only until the end of December):


The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis Buy Links:


Legend of the Timekeepers Buy Links:


Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her WEBSITE and BLOG. Stay connected on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and GOODREADS. Check out THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS TIME TRAVEL SERIES Facebook page.  

8 comments:

Sharon Ledwith said...

Thanks for having me aboard your blog for the holiday season, Rita! Really appreciate your support and kindness! Here's hoping you, Nikki and Snooper have a wonder holiday season! Cheers and hugs, bis sis!

Rita Monette, Writer said...

And thanks for taking me up on my offer, Sharon. You are the hardest working writer and supporter of other authors that I know. I'm beginning to think there are two of you!

Sharon Ledwith said...

Psst... I have a clone. Don't tell anyone. She works for single malt scotch. She might not be cheap, but loves her job! LOL! Hugs and thanks again!

Jeff Salter said...

enjoyed the blog.
Though I own at least one paper copy of Dickens' story, I have never read it (or don't recall doing so).
But let' get to the cloning issue: I REALLY need at least one, maybe two. Can you hook me up?

Serena Schreiber said...

And this is why it's art. We create it, but it changes us or at least the way we see the world.

Rita Monette, Writer said...

Thanks for stopping by Jeff. If anyone can give you a tip on cloning, it's Sharon...she's everywhere.

Rita Monette, Writer said...

Yes, Serena. Let's hope all of our writing has this effect on others.

Sharon Ledwith said...

Jeff - cloning entails a lot of mess and psychotherapy! Are you still in? LOL!

Serena - true that! It's such an emotional roller coaster creating art at times!

Thank you both for your kind words and support! Cheers and Happy Holidays!