FAQ SHEET FOR SHARON LEDWITH & THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS SERIES
How do you come up with ideas for your books?
Well, the idea for The Last Timekeepers series came to me in a dream I had around 1998. In this dream, I saw seven arches, and there were seven people (five kids, two adults) with crystals in their hands, walking up to these seven Mayan-like arches. It definitely had an Indiana Jones feel to it. But to be honest, ideas come to me naturally, whether they’re in my dreams or I’m sitting watching a television show, doing housework, reading a book, or going for a walk. I love all things time travel, supernatural, and mysterious, so I naturally fell into those genres. I also love myths and legends—asking where did they come from, are they real, is there a smidgen of truth to them? I’d like to think so. Atlantis is one of my favorite myths to play with, and the arches I saw so vividly in my dream looked as if they could have come from there, hence leading me to write, The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, and birthing the subsequent book series.
However, the idea for my Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls series had a very different origin story. The first two books in this series were birthed from my own experiences I had while living in a tourist region. I volunteered as a literacy tutor for a few years, and then worked at our local animal shelter for a year. I found both positions truly humbling and eye-opening. Then, using the ‘write what you know’ adage, an idea rattled around in my mind. Since I wrote for young adults, I imagined a teenager who possessed a unique psychic ability and struggled to cope with this supernatural power, while trying to lead a normal life. I delved deeper. What if this teen was uprooted and forced to live in a small tourist town where nothing much ever happened? It’s bores-ville from the get-go. Eureka! Both books, Lost and Found, and Blackflies and Blueberries, sprang from these ideas. Welcome to Fairy Falls. Expect the unexpected.
What’s the premise for The Last Timekeepers Series?
Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers—legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the evil Belial—five classmates are sent into the past to restore balance, and bring order back into the world, one mission at a time. In the first book of the series, The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, the Timekeepers time travel to Nottingham, England in 1214 where they must find an adolescent Robin Hood before history is turned upside-down. The rest, as they say, is history.
What’s the premise for Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls?
Set in the quiet tourist town of Fairy Falls, each book follows a teen protagonist with an unusual psychic gift who becomes entangled in a local mystery, uncovering corrupt truths that threaten the town’s future. Featuring diverse characters, witty humor, and gripping challenges, the series will appeal to fans of Rick Riordan’s mythical adventures, offering a similar blend of action, heart, and humor.
You may wonder how I got the idea to create the fictional tourist town of Fairy Falls—the setting for Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls teen psychic mystery series. The truth is that I wrote what I knew based on the area where I was living in at the time. You see, for over eleven years we lived on a medium-sized lake in the heart of cottage country. So I took in the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, emotions, and feelings of this beautiful place, and added the challenges and obstacles of what it would be like for an uprooted teenager possessing a psychic ability to adjust to the day-to-day living in Fairy Falls. Meagan Walsh, the protagonist from Lost and Found tells us what she thinks of Fairy Falls right off the bat: “This town sucks!”, and she goes on to describe it as ‘a small, boring northern tourist town’. If only Meagan knew what life had planned for her in this magical place!
If you could time travel anywhere into Earth’s past, where would you go, and why?
That’s an easy one. Atlantis. I believe it was a real place and not a myth. I’ve done too much research to know this, and would love to see how advanced we humans were during those times, and what the world looked like back then. My gut tells me Atlantis existed. Still a non-believer? Check out the books and readings by channels Edgar Cayce and Dolores Cannon. You’d be amazed at what they reveal. However, I wouldn’t want to go back to Atlantis when things were, let’s say got little shaky and wet, for the Atlanteans!
If you could pick just one psychic ability, which one would you pick, and why?
Not fair! But, if I had to choose one, then it’s psychokinesis. Wait. What the heck is psychokinesis, you ask? Pull up a virtual seat and be prepared for the uncanny. Psychokinesis, also called telekinesis, is the ability to move or manipulate objects without applying any physical or other scientifically explainable force. A word with Greek origins, psyche, which roughly translates to ‘mind’, and kinein, meaning ‘to move’. Psychokinesis or ‘mind over matter’ is deliberate, focused, and specific on the part of the possessor. As to why? Well, let’s say I’m a HUGE Star Wars fan, and would love the Force to be with Me!
What sets The Last Timekeepers series apart from other books in the same genre?
Keyword: Atlantis. I wanted to create a book series for middle grade/young adults that had a different slant to the time travel genre. I love history. I also love myths and legends. There’s many time travel series out there, but nothing that has roots leading back to Atlantis—at least what I know about and have read. And since there’s no concrete evidence that Atlantis did exist (yet), then that left the door wide open to possibilities, and for my imagination to blossom.
What sets Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls apart from other books in the same genre?
Keyword: Fairy Falls. The small tourist town is the glue that holds this series together. Talk around town is that there’s something quite mysterious about the origins of Fairy Falls. Perhaps it’s the Druids who settled and later founded the town after fleeing from their homeland of Ireland? Or maybe it’s the mysterious Standing Stones that remain hidden from prying eyes, yet rumors abound at their existence. What about the otherworldly creatures that are said to inhabit the forests, and have even been spotted by hikers and tourists? They’re real, aren’t they? There’s also the powerful Ley lines that run underground throughout Fairy Falls. What are they, you ask? An invisible, vast network of energetic lines that run through the earth, and are aligned with either the sun or the stars. These lines link to sacred places and natural magical sites, usually where old churches or ancient sites would have been built. Perhaps the Druids knew all along that Fairy Falls was a sacred site, and had the means to hook up to Mother Earth’s healing, nurturing energy via the Standing Stones.
How long did it take for you to start and finish The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis?
Groan. That’s a loaded question. I started gathering ideas and writing the first draft in 1999. I signed the publishing contract in 2011. Now, this was a back and forth project. During the 2000s, I wrote a second book in The Last Timekeeper series, The Last Timekeepers and the Dark Secret, created and penned another young adult series (Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls), worked on my paranormal romance, took a writing correspondence course, and worked at the local animal shelter. I finally picked The Last Timekeeper series back up in 2010, transcribed and polished it, and kept sending it out until I struck gold with a publishing contract offer. And even then, after all that, there were major revisions on changing my point of view over from five characters to one character. But I was determined, and did it.
How long did it take for you to start and finish Lost and Found?
Actually, not that long. I started writing this book around 2008, while I worked at the local animal shelter in the tourist town, close to where we lived. During my daily duties of scooping poop, cleaning cages, feeding, watering, and all the glory that goes into being an animal care attendant, an idea flashed through my mind. I found myself wondering what the animals would say. How would they act and sound? What did they desire? How did they end up in the shelter? So, chasing down the animal voices frolicking in my head, I wrote their story, added a psychic teen who had the gift of animal gab, and set the book in the fictional tourist town of Fairy Falls. The whole process took about two years, but I did have the benefit of fleshing out this series beforehand, with another novel, Blackflies and Blueberries, the second in my Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls series.
What’s a writer’s life like?
Hmm—that’s a tricky one! First thing you need to learn is to have structure and discipline. Without those two things, there’s chaos. Get a timer to keep you on schedule, and use it, especially when checking your social media accounts. Make sure to jot down your priorities for each day either for the week ahead or the night before. Create a plan and stick to it. Pick the days you write, the days you blog (I blog every Monday), the time to check emails, do your social media stuff, promote, market, and all that other gobble-de-goop an author has to do nowadays. It’s crucial. Once you’ve established structure in your writing life, stick to it. Yes, you’ll have days you need to juggle or cross off, just do your best. So, to answer the question, my life as a writer has been a challenge, but it’s been a blessing too!
What is your writing process?
Cut a vein and write. Kidding. I have many notebooks and pads at my disposal. I also have files full of ideas. I guess I start with the characters and build the story around them. My characters must carry the story to completion and 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 has served me well throughout the writing process. Then the fun begins. Research, research, and more research. When you’re writing time travel or dabbling in the paranormal, 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. Sometimes I’m a panser (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.
How did you become a writer?
Practice. Perseverance. Patience. These three steps repeated over and over again until shaken, stirred, and poured. Never forget them. These steps have served me well. Remember, slow and steady progress assures success.
Do you have any writing rituals?
Yes. Coffee in the morning. Green tea in the mid-morning and afternoon with a piece of dark chocolate. Oh, and I burn incense when writing a new book, and do a weekly sage to clear my writing space.
Who are your favorite characters?
There’s many! My top 5 picks:
- Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)
- Clare Randall and Jamie Fraser (The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon)
- Harry Potter (Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling)
- Quasimodo (Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo)
- Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson and the Olympian series by Rick Riordan)
Tell us about your journey to become a published writer.
It seems like a lifetime ago. I always had a vivid imagination, but it needed taming. I read a lot of romance books during the 90s, and one evening while I was reading, I thought how simple the structure and dialogue was. You can write, an intuitive voice urged inside my head. Let me tell you, I almost fell off my chair. But the words rang true for me. So, I took writing courses, met a couple of gals, started a writing circle (or trinity in our case), and wrote my first novel—a paranormal romance. It caught the eye of an agent, but I was hardly ready, and I see that now. I needed to hone my craft, and I needed to get better and better. And that takes making mistakes—lots of them. You’re ego takes a pounding too. But, I stuck it out, and after 16 years of writing in the trenches, I signed a publishing contract for The Last Timekeeper Series. However, there was one catch—I had to rewrite the entire manuscript in the point of view of only one of the characters. Originally, I had written the series with each kid having their own chapter throughout the book. The publishing company found this confusing and suggested I write the first book in only one of the character’s voices. That way, the next book would feature another character’s point of way. It was sage advice and made the book stronger.
What’s the best piece of writing advice you could give to other writers?
Invest in the best. That’s in yourself, and in your readers. Your readers deserve the best of what you have to offer them. Surround yourself with the best possible team. Never stop learning. As you grow, so will your readers, so be prepared for this. Oh yeah, and never give up. That’s a given, and should be part of any writer’s credo.
If you’re serious about writing a book, then check out, Tips, Tools & Tricks for the Tenacious Writer, a writing resource available free for download that shares a glimpse into my personal journey to publication, and beyond… https://www.sharonledwith.com/tips-tools-tricks-for-the-tenacious-writer/
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About the Author…
Sharon Ledwith is the acclaimed author behind two engaging young adult series: The Last Timekeepers, a middle-grade/young adult time travel adventure, and Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls, a teen psychic mystery collection. Her passion for the arcane, ancient mysteries, and legends has been a driving force in her storytelling, weaving elements like Atlantis, the Druids, and psychic abilities into her narratives.
Sharon’s writing journey began in her mid-thirties, inspired by a lifelong fascination with the unexplained and supernatural. Her meticulous approach involves crafting detailed character profiles and conducting extensive research to unearth ‘golden fact nuggets’ that enrich her stories, making them both entertaining and educational.
Residing in a serene yet bustling tourist region of southern Ontario, Canada, Sharon shares her life with her supportive husband and their two shiny red e-bikes. When she’s not immersed in writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, e-biking, and indulging in an occasional dram of single malt scotch.
Sharon’s dedication to her craft is evident in her disciplined writing process. She begins by developing her characters, building the story around them, and ensures they drive the narrative to its conclusion, providing readers with a satisfying closure. Her intuitive plotting allows room for creativity, often leading her imagination in unexpected directions.
In addition to her writing, Sharon actively engages with her readers through her blog, where she shares insights into her writing life and upcoming projects. She is also present on various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Goodreads, fostering a community of readers and fellow authors.
Sharon’s work continues to captivate readers, offering them an escape into worlds filled with mystery, adventure, and the unexpected. Her stories not only entertain but also inspire and educate, reflecting her belief that children are truly the keys to our future.
