Scribblings Blog

My Time Travel & Psychic Mysteries Journey [Sharon Ledwith]

1/25/2023

The journey to publication wasn’t easy for me. In fact, it took me a great deal of time and effort to get to where I am now. So, let’s go back to 1995 when I got bitten by the writing bug during a Planning Your Novel college workshop I attended just for fun. One of the exercises I volunteered for still sticks in my mind. The teacher handed me three pennies, and I had to throw them into a waste basket one at a time. I managed to get all three coins in, shooting at different angles and distances. My teacher, Tom Arnett—a NYT bestselling author—was surprised at my luck because the norm was usually two pennies in. He explained that getting all the pennies in would suggest your (writing) goals would be too easy because the person threw them from a close distance. On the flipside, one penny in (throwing too far away) suggested having unrealistic expectations/goals about a career in writing.

You could say that this penny exercise set the bar for me, and gave me some hope in a field I knew absolutely nothing about. I ended up taking Tom’s night course, Starting your Novel, and from there the writing games began.

Trying to get published looked something like this:

Write a book (a shapeshifter paranormal romance) which took about 2 years, including research and learning the basics. Lots of sweat equity!
Attended a workshop where I met an agent, and handed her a query and outline, which piqued her interest. Our relationship vacillated for four years until we decided to go our separate ways.
Around 1998, I had a dream about seven Mayan-like arches. I saw five kids and two adults with crystals in their hands, walking toward these arches. It definitely had an Indiana Jones feel. So, I thought I’d challenge myself to write a young adult time travel series based on that dream, and called it The Last Timekeepers.
Had some luck with The Last Timekeepers when an agency and publishers showed interest. However, their interest was short-lived. Rejection, rejection, and more rejection.
In 2003, we sold our graphic trade business and house, and moved to our renovated cottage. There, I started a teen psychic mystery series entitled, Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls.
I decided to try my hand as a participant in the 2007 Muskoka Novel Marathon. The idea is to write a novella or novel in three days, and the winner gets a chance at publication. During the course of the marathon, our dog died suddenly and I left, only to return the next day determined to finish writing my manuscript in time to submit. It was truly a bitter-sweet experience.
I needed a break from writing, so as a distraction, I worked as an animal care attendant at the local Animal Shelter for the next fourteen months. I wrote a whole book out of my animal shelter experience, and geared it for my teen psychic mystery series. To this day, I still have an emotional connection to this book because I based my animal characters on many of the real shelter animals I cared for.
In 2011, I decided to investigate eBooks and how to go about publishing them. I learned that many authors were being forced to wear two hats in these changing times; one for business, and one for writing. I started a blog in May 2011 to create an on-line presence.
Then, I entered the 2011 Muskoka Novel Marathon and met two writers who’d just signed publishing contracts. Their good fortune fed the fire within me.
This is where hard work and opportunity collide. One of those writers shared a link on Facebook, which I thought was her publishing company. But it wasn’t. It was the link to a new epublishing company calling for submissions. I sent out my query and got a reply within seven days—Musa Publishing wanted to see my manuscript. Excited, yet not getting my hopes up, I sent my young adult time travel manuscript in. They loved it, but wanted major revisions. I agreed, and they offered me a five book deal. Wow!
I signed the contract September 13th, 2011, with a release date of May 18th, 2012. Plenty of time for rewrites, and plenty of time to learn what’s expected of an author in this new paradigm of publishing.
Time travel to 2015 when Musa Publishing closed their doors permanently. That’s when Mirror World Publishing appeared out of the blue, and opened their doors to me. Not only did they take on The Last Timekeepers series, but in 2017 added Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls to their expanding roster of young adult books. Woohoo!

Update to 2023: I’m happily juggling both series, while balancing my author life with all the promoting and marketing required to succeed in today’s publishing world. I’m truly living the dream! Thanks to Sassy Scribblers for allowing me to share my writing journey with your followers!

Here’s a glimpse of the premises of both my young adult series:

The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventures…
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.
Children are the keys to our future. And now, children are the only hope for our past.

Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen Psychic Mysteries…
Imagine a teenager possessing a psychic ability and struggling to cope with its freakish power. There’s no hope for a normal life, and no one who understands. Now, imagine being uprooted and forced to live in a small tourist town where nothing much ever happens. It’s bores-ville from the get-go. Until mysterious things start to happen.
Welcome to Fairy Falls. Expect the unexpected.

Sharon's novels are available here: MIRROR WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/young adult time travel adventure series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the award-winning teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, reading, researching, or revising, she enjoys anything arcane, ancient mysteries, and single malt scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her spoiled hubby, and a moody calico cat.

SPECIAL BONUS! Download the free PDF short story The Terrible, Mighty Crystal HERE

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Unraveling Memories From the Past

1/18/2023

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After Book 2 of the Brita Madison Paranormal Mysteries series, I toyed with the idea of its just being a book with a sequel instead of a series. However, a fan of the books hounded me until I succumbed to her protestations. I jest, of course, but her sincere pleas did encourage me to take on Book 3 – Unraveling Memories.

No spoilers, but after what happened at the end of Book 2, Brita Madison is ready to push back from the spirit realm, especially if it involves murders. For four years, this works out well. She and Sam Jenkins, her husband, have moved from Williams to Phoenix, Arizona. She and Linda Olivi, a charter member of their paranormal gang and now married to Roger Dawson, have been working on cases where family members were seeking closure related to a loved one. No chance of danger.

Unfortunately, the spirit realm manages to draw Brita into not one, but ... wait, no spoilers ... more than one murder through Roger Dawson, a state trooper. A detective friend of his, Nate Addison, is accosted by a ghost, much to Nate’s dismay, who wants nothing to do with this spectral nuisance. Roger reaches out to Brita, and once the vibrations lock onto Brita, things escalate. To make things worse after such a long respite, a ghostly nemesis from the past appears, threatening her family. Desperate, Brita reaches out to the spirit realm for help.

After her paranormal friends being warned of the appearance of the nemesis, one of them friends decides to join the fray in Phoenix in case her friends need backup. Plus, being an empty-nester now, she desires a taste of freedom from her somewhat boring husband, so it’s a win-win. After her arrival, the situation gets even more complex, but at least there are three of the paranormal gang on hand to deal with it.

If you haven’t read the other books in the series, grab your copies and start the journey with Brita as the learning curve for her paranormal abilities begins. Then continue on with Unraveling Memories as her world enlarges in ways she never thought possible. Book 4 of the Brita Madison Paranormal Mysteries series is in the hands of my muse at the moment. We’re hoping to have it for you by early 2023.

Available on Amazon.com
Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/Unraveling-Memories-Madison-Paranormal-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B07T91CWHC

Paperback:
https://www.amazon.com/Unraveling-Memories-Madison-Paranormal-Mysteries/dp/1075965926

Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Dannye-Williamsen/e/B004KEAFE8

Read reviews and/or descriptions at http://www.DannyeWilliamsen.com and http://www.SassyScribblerss.com/mysteries.html

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Honoring My Family’s Memory the Best Way I Know How

1/4/2023

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I’m a very lucky person. I’ve been extremely fortunate in having a wonderful family and happy memories that I treasure.

In my younger days, I could always rely on my parents to fill my needs – not necessarily all my wants – but I never had to go without food, clothes, or shelter. More importantly, their attention, love, and care never wavered, even when I was a pain in the arse.

It wasn’t until members of my family began to pass away that I realized just how much I took them for granted. On Christmas morning in 2006, I decided to honor their memories by writing a story with characters named after my father (Vernon), uncle (Gerald), and brother (Tom). A couple of years later, I added my mom (Allison).

They were gone but would never be forgotten!

Hence, Gerald and the Wee People became my attempt to cherish these special people in a way I thought would make them proud. Over two to three years, my original short story gradually expanded into a fantasy novel for kids ages nine and up. I was freelancing for a couple of newspapers at the time and worked on the manuscript during my “free time.” Needless to say, it was a slow process.

I’m a pantser, so the story remained an open slate for me, developing and coming together as I went along. It was pretty mind-boggling rereading a newly completed chapter and thinking, Gee, where did that come from? Where do I go from here?

I tried to use humor, adventure, and lots of dialogue to impress on the readers the merits of trust, friendship, and working together to achieve a goal. After Gerald and Vernon tumble into the world of the Wee People, they aid the residents in their fight against the misshapen ones while also trying to devise a plan to outsmart a forest god intent on destroying all life.

The boys encounter a mystical far-seer named Sheela, who decrees that the fighting will never end until the boys fulfill an ancient prophecy filled with many dangers and obstacles. Against their better judgment, Gerald and Vernon embark on a quest accompanied by Sheela and five other companions into the volcanic realm of Miach, the forest god. Their task: defeat the demented god and restore peace. However, not everything goes as planned.

Excerpt from Gerald and the Wee People
This time the illusion did not stop when he mentioned the forest god being up to his old tricks because this time, it wasn’t an illusion. The scorching walls blistered their hands. The hot air parched their throats. The sticky floor burned their feet through their shoes. A distant sound like the laughter they had heard earlier echoed through the cave’s passages.

Cian fell to his knees, crying out in pain as the scalding liquid burned his skin. “I can’t go on. Just leave me here to die,” he begged.

Tomas reached out to his brother to help him stand up. It was no use. Both of them were too weak and exhausted. In a weak voice he rasped, “You all go on. I’ll stay with Cian. I can’t go another step anyway.”

No one else said a word. The other boys were too tired to talk, too tired to walk, too tired to care.

This was not supposed to be happening. Gerald did not remember this from his nightmares. Something was wrong. He yelled to whoever was listening, “Did we take a wrong turn or something? Stop it, Miach, stop it! You want me. Leave my friends alone.”

His words just made matters worse. The scampering, unseen creatures came out of nowhere. They did not run past this time. Instead, they scampered back and forth, pinching and biting the legs and arms of Gerald’s companions. For some strange reason, though, the creatures did not bother him.

“Stop it, stop it now,” pleaded Gerald. “Please. I’ll do anything you want, Miach.”

Laughter echoed through the cavern as a voice inside Gerald’s head hissed, “Anything I want, huh?”
***
Be sure to get a copy of Gerald and the Wee People to find out how Gerald and his companions escape from Miach’s volcanic realm.

Available at Amazon.com
Print – https://www.amazon.com/Gerald-Wee-PeopleBookone/dp/
1480210617

Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JKMT0Q

Universal link - http://viewbook.at/geraldandtheweepeople

Amazon Author Page - https://www.amazon.com/Greta-Burroughs/e/B003N3F5AQ

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Mary Had a Little Turkey?

1/1/2023

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That’s a pretty strange name for an article, but it did catch your attention, right?

Back in 2019, I answered a call for submissions from Spider Magazine. The editor was looking for a Thanksgiving story suitable for early readers that wasn’t the run-of-the-mill Pilgrim’s first Thanksgiving saga.

So, I sent in a manuscript I was sure no one else would duplicate. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving passed, and I never heard anything back. After that disappointing rejection, I forgot all about the article.

A couple of years later, I received an email from Stacey, the editor of Spider, complimenting me on my wonderful children’s story and asking if it was still available.

I had no idea what she was talking about.

Stacey apologized for the delay in contacting me. It took a while for her team to fact-check my article. It seemed no one on her staff had ever heard of Sarah Josepha Hale except as the author of the poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

After reading the email several times, I vaguely recalled writing the article but had to dig through my ‘rejected articles’ file before finally finding it. Then, after reading the story, it dawned on me why I liked the piece so much.

Sarah Hale was a fearless activist/author/magazine editor. She spent 36 years writing governors, senators, presidents, and anyone else she could pester on why Thanksgiving should be a national holiday. Finally, in 1863 Abraham Lincoln passed a proclamation declaring the last Thursday in November as a “Day of Thanksgiving and Praise.” Mission accomplished!

That’s how “Mary Had a Little Turkey” came into being. Spider bought the piece and came up with the catchy title.

I wanted to tell you all about this in November but had to wait 60 long days after publication before announcing it. So now, here it is:

“Mary Had a Little Turkey” by Greta Burroughs, published in the November/December issue of Spider Magazine.

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:9e47ebab-9a9d-34a4-879c-e08158e52d05

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My Time Travel & Psychic Mysteries Journey [Sharon Ledwith]

Unraveling Memories From the Past

Honoring My Family’s Memory the Best Way I Know How

Mary Had a Little Turkey?

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