Author Interview: Wendy Leighton-Porter #author

About the Book

Title: The Shadow of Atlantis (Shadows From the Past, Book 1)

Author: Wendy Leighton-Porter

Year Published: 2012

Publisher: Mauve Square Publishing

Pages: 196

Recommended Age: 8+

Summary (Amazon):

Let’s meet Wendy Leighton – Porter the author of Shadow of Atlantis:

When did you decide to become an author and what impact has this had on your life?
When I gave up my teaching career after almost 20 years, I suddenly found that I had the time for something I’d always wanted to do, and that was to write a book. My husband, Simon, is also an author and he really encouraged me to get started. I knew from the outset that I wanted to write for children, but I had no idea just how much I would love it. Now I can’t imagine not writing. Even when I’m not sitting in front of my computer, I’m thinking and planning (I often get my best ideas when I’m in the bath and should really keep a notebook there to jot them down – it would probably get a bit soggy though!). I try to spend at least a couple of hours each day on my actual writing. And also, when the opportunity arises, I really enjoy going into schools as a visiting author to talk to the pupils; their participation and enthusiasm always make it such a rewarding experience.

Writing is addictive – love that you have such great support from home!

Tell us about your latest work and what motivated you to write it:
When I decided that I’d like to write stories for children, I knew right from the start that I wanted to create a whole series of adventures and I’ve already planned where and how the series will finish. The Shadow of Atlantis is the first step in a journey through time, made by my characters in the quest to find their missing parents who are lost somewhere in the past. I chose a list of myths, historical events and periods in time which I thought would make interesting stop-off points for my young time-travellers. Atlantis seemed like a great place to begin as everyone is fascinated by the legend of that mysterious ancient city.

The first journey was pretty exciting, must read the next one!

What are your future aspirations as an author?
I shall continue to work on my Shadows from the Past books for the foreseeable future. The series will ultimately comprise 16 adventures and as I’m only on number 8 I think that will keep me busy for a while. I know that I’ll feel somewhat bereft when I finally get to the end of the journey; I’m becoming rather fond of my central characters and will be lost without them. But I plan to carry on writing for the Middle Grade age group and already have the grain of an idea for a ghost story.

Always hard to actually complete a series, the characters are a big part of your life!

Where do your ideas come from? What experiences or aspects of your life influence your writing?
They always say “Write about what you know”, don’t they? Well, I don’t actually have experience of time-travel, although I wish I did! However, as a former teacher of Classical Studies, I have a real passion for anything to do with the ancient world, myths and legends, and indeed history in general. I hope that my books are exciting adventures, but I’d like to think I’m also helping my young readers to discover that history can be fun and that they might learn a few things from my stories, perhaps without even realising it – once a teacher, always a teacher, I guess!
My books also feature a rather unusual character – a very large Tonkinese cat called Max, who has the ability to speak, thanks to a magic charm he wears on his collar. I don’t have too far to look when I’m writing Max’s scenes, as he’s based on my very own large Tonkinese cat, Bertie. The only difference is that Bertie can’t speak … or maybe he could, if I could just find him a magic charm to wear!

Stitch wants to meet Bertie!

What do you do to improve yourself and a writer?
Read, read, and read some more! I’m a real bookworm and always have several books on the go, both fiction and non-fiction. When I’m reading a novel, I tend to be quite critical, looking at the way the story is written; the style, the use of language, even the punctuation, and I’m quick to admire things that are done well. I also make a big effort to read lots of books within my own genre of Middle Grade fiction – it’s important to keep up with what else is being published and to take inspiration from my fellow writers who are producing quality work … and there is a huge amount of really good stuff around at the moment – the future of children’s fiction is looking rosy!

Writing for children is getting better and better!

What are the names of your books?
The Shadow of Atlantis
The Shadow of the Minotaur
The Shadow of the Trojan Horse
The Shadow of the Pyramid
The Shadow of the Volcano
The Shadow of Camelot
The Shadow of the Norman Arrow (to be published in November 2013)

Tell us a little bit about your next WIP
I’m currently working on the eighth book in my Shadows from the Past Series. It will be entitled The Shadow of the Two Princes and tells the story of the notorious English king, Richard the Third, who is believed to have killed his two nephews in the Tower of London, in order to usurp the throne in 1483. I was very excited by the recent discovery by archaeologists of the long-lost skeleton of King Richard, buried under a car park in Leicester. Looking at his bones, the archaeologists realised that Richard had suffered from a severe spinal deformity, something which had long been speculated but never proved. I’m really looking forward to writing this one, but it might turn out to be quite a scary adventure when my time-travelling heroes must risk their own lives to rescue the princes!

Where can people contact you?
There is a contact page on my Author’s Website – http://www.wendy-leighton-porter.com and people can also leave me messages on my Facebook Fan Page – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wendy-Leighton-Porter-Writer/495026190556289?ref=hl

My books are available from Amazon.com, both in Kindle format and in paperback versions:

Thanks Wendy for joining Stitch Says – remember to hop over and join in the fun on the blog tour. Stitch Says will be posting a review of The Shadows of Atlantis very soon. In the mean time – keep reading, keep writing!