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):
Ten-year-old twins Joe and Jemima Lancelot have no idea why their parents have disappeared, but a mysterious old book which had belonged to their father holds the answer… and so begins an unusual quest to discover the truth. Together with Max, their remarkable Tonkinese cat, and Charlie from next door, the children embark on an epic adventure, travelling back in time to the lost city of Atlantis. Once there, however, they soon run into problems. Can they save the people of Atlantis from the disaster which is about to destroy their land forever? And will they find their way back to the safety of their own time before it’s too late?
The Buzz
"Shadows of Atlantis is a well-written story with a collection of likable main characters, a solid plot line, snippets of educational facts about a historically important location and event, and, is filled with mystery, magic, and suspense. This book grabbed me at the prologue and had me hooked until the end." ~ Mother Daughter Book Reviews, 5 Stars
"... Shadow of Atlantis is an imaginative tale that will draw children in right from the get go. The characters are deftly and warmly established, and Wendy shows a sure touch in enabling these characters to interact in a fun but believable fashion, each playing their own part in the plot's development...." ~ 5-Star review from John C., Amazon US
"The author makes the legend of Atlantis (and also the story of the Minotaur in the second book) so accessible to kids and in such an imaginative way. My daughter loved the children's characters and also the comical, lovable cat Max and his ability to help the characters out during times of strife! We will be looking out for future books from this author for sure. A really enjoyable adventure for kids and highly recommended..." ~ 5-Star review from A. Bradshaw, Amazon US
"This story will draw any young reader in will keep them entertained and engaged. It is sometimes hard to find books that will keep children interested, often their subject matter is trivial and insubstantial, this is not true of The Shadow of Atlantis. My daughter can't wait for the next adventure..." ~ 5-Star review from Annaliese M., Goodreads
Purchase
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Great Deal!!
*** You can buy the all 6 books (electronic copies) in the series (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, and The Shadow of Camelot) for only 99 cents each from Amazon between October 14 and 28, 2013. Get hooked on this great series NOW by clicking on the Amazon button below. ***
About The Author, Wendy Leighton-Porter
Dividing my time between homes in England and South-West France, I live with my husband Simon and our two beautiful Tonkinese cats. I spent 20 years as a teacher of French, Latin and Classical studies, but now write books for children instead of teaching them.
The Shadow of Atlantis is the first book in a series of 15 planned time-travel stories, featuring 3 children and, unsurprisingly, a rather special Tonkinese cat. Having recently completed number #7, The Shadow of the Norman Arrow (coming soon!), I’m currently working on the eighth book in the series.
As I take my young readers on a magical mystery tour through the past, I’m also hoping that my love of history, myth and legend will rub off on them too. Personally, I’m enjoying the journey so much, I don’t ever want it to end! Why not come along with me for the ride?
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The Shadow of Atlantis Blog Tour Schedule (2013)
October 14October 15
October 16
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October 18
October 19
October 20
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October 22
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October 27
October 28
*** The Shadow of Atlantis Blog Tour Giveaway ***
Prize: One winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash
Contest runs: October 14 to November 5, 11:59 pm, 2013
Open: WW
How to enter: Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by author Paul Hewlett and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions - feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com. a Rafflecopter giveaway
I’d like to welcome Wendy to my blog to give us the background to the series. Hopefully, any questions you may have had will be answered here!
1. Where did your three characters and Max come from? Did
you wake up one day and they were in your head, or did you think about writing
a book series and then create them?
As far as the three children are concerned, I have absolutely
no idea where they came from! I knew that I wanted one of my central characters
to be a girl – and I’d had her name planned long before I even knew what I was
going to write, but more about that later on. Once I’d decided on the idea of a
time-travel adventure series, I knew my young heroine would need company and so
I invented a twin brother, knowing they’d already have a naturally close bond
which would be reinforced by the shared experience of losing their parents.
Charlie came along later as a useful addition to the group dynamic; a brilliantly
clever lad, his knowledge proves immensely valuable to the youngsters during
the course of their adventures.
And what about Max, you ask? Well, he’s been in my head for
a long time, for Max is an incarnation of my own precious Tonkinese, Bertie.
Tonkinese cats form deep bonds with their owners and they’re exceptionally
talkative! I just knew that Jemima had to have one for her loving and loyal
best friend. Max would do anything for Jemima and vice versa.
2. Have you always wanted to write and especially for kids?
I’d always wanted to write a book one day but, with a busy
teaching career, I never seemed to find enough time. When I gave up teaching I
found myself in the enviable position of being able to indulge my own interests
at long last. Writing for children seemed the logical step after so many years
spent in the classroom and, ever the teacher, I hope that my books are a little
bit educational as well as being fun.
3. Your themes are historical and mythological—is this a
childhood influence or a later passion?
History and mythology have always fascinated me from an
early age—Greek myths and legends have timeless appeal and are wonderfully
exciting stories. I devour any books about history, both fiction and
non-fiction, and I’m never happier than when there’s a great documentary on TV to
do with history or archaeology. Although my love of these subjects started when
I was young, it has continued to grow over the years and, of course, teaching
Classical Studies for such a long time merely served to fuel the flames!
4. Jemima and Joe are confronted right away in book one with
the disappearance of their parents. This is quite a dramatic start to the
series—why? (The folks could have gone to Tibet on sabbatical for a year)
The Shadow of the
Yeti,
huh? Now there’s a thought … Seriously though, if Mr and Mrs Lancelot had just
gone away on a planned trip, then there would be no quest! As it is, the first
book opens with their mysterious disappearance and I hope that my readers are
inspired to read on and find out what has happened to them. Once the twins
discover the truth, they are drawn time and time again into the hunt to find
their mum and dad, desperately following the trail. Their missing parents are
the thread which binds the stories together and keeps the children journeying
into the past until the series reaches its conclusion. Will the youngsters ever
find what they’re searching for? Well, you’ll just have to keep reading if you
want to know the answer to that one.
5. The kids are plunged into some serious events—destruction
of Atlantis, facing the Minotaur, then the Trojan War (where I am in the
series). You also include elements that other writers might steer clear of such
as death (Theseus’ father) and devastation/death/cruelty/violence (Troy). I
find this interesting because the kids are only eleven. These are huge themes.
Your take on this?
I agree that there are some tough subjects in my books, but
I couldn’t see any way of avoiding them given my choice of stories. I’m sure
many children will have come across some of the myths and legends before and I
felt I couldn’t leave out some of the major events, such as the death of
Theseus’ father or the mortal combat between Achilles and Hector in the Trojan
War. I avoid gratuitous violence; I think it’s unnecessary—after all, I’m
writing fun adventure stories and not tales of horror designed to frighten my
young readers out of their wits. That said, I don’t think I should change or
sugar-coat certain things when they’re vital to the story or if they concern
facts which are already well known.
6. I have just read Shadow
of the Trojan Horse and I found a huge turning point (did I imagine it?).
In the previous two books, the kids were able to actively ‘do’ something to help,
although historical forces proved almost insurmountable. In Trojan Horse, I
found they had to accept really sad things; they couldn’t save people that Fate
had decreed must perish. Is this part of coming of age for them?
This follows on from the previous answer really. The
children have to come to terms with some pretty dreadful things, such as the
deaths of Paris and Hector, as well as the destruction of Troy itself. They
soon realise that, although they must try
to help people to the best of their ability, they have to accept the harsh
truth that they will not always succeed and sometimes core historical events
cannot be altered. The important thing for them is that they do their best,
even in the most demanding situations. This is really brought home to them in The Shadow of the Trojan Horse and they
start to question their reason for being there in the first place. However,
let’s not forget that their plan almost
worked – if only Max hadn’t made a fatal error …
7. Your books are a mixture of historical and mythological.
The books that touch on real events—end of Pompeii and Herculaneum (Shadow of the Volcano); Tutankhamun (Shadow of the Pyramid); the figure of
Arthur (Shadow of Camelot)—hint at
fascinating themes. Are these also events/figures that sparked your interest?
I freely admit that I’ve chosen topics which interest me
personally for my series. I love history and taught Classical Studies for many
years, so many of my titles were obvious choices for me. You’re right that it’s
a bit of a mix of real historical events and mythology, sometimes blurring the
line between the two, because I firmly believe that most legends are probably
based on a long-lost truth. However, I hope that my choices will interest my
young readers too. After all, everyone has heard of Atlantis, the Trojan War,
Tutankhamun, and Camelot, haven’t they?
8. Let’s talk about Max. He deserves an interview all of his
own. Is/was there a real-life Max?
Oh yes, indeed, let’s talk about Max, one of my favourite
subjects. The real-life inspiration for Max is my own cat, Bertie, as I have
already said, and we love him dearly. He befriends everyone who comes to the
house and, owing to his impressive size (8.5 kilos, but not fat, just huge!)
and devastating good looks, people fall totally under his spell. He really is like
a big, cuddly teddy bear, just as in the books; an endearing gentle giant.
Rather like Max, Bertie isn’t at all brave. In fact he’s never tried to hunt or
catch a single thing; that’s definitely something of a relief, because with his
size and strength I dread to imagine what sort of wildlife he might bring home
otherwise. When I’m
writing any scene which involves Max, it’s always Bertie’s
face I visualise and, in fact, many of the things people say about Max in the
books are comments people have actually made about Bertie, especially with
regard to his size. Just as I adore Bertie, I am completely in love with Max
and swear I can even hear his voice in my head as I’m writing the things he
says. Although he may sound a little pompous at times, I try to make him funny
and hope that he injects an element of humour into the stories.
 |
| Please note the Athena charm on Bertie/Max's collar! |
9. Max is the kids’ mentor, guide, and voice in their heads.
And yet, despite his wisdom and machinations to help, sometimes he makes a hash
of it. (His role as Hermes in Shadow of
the Trojan Horse) Is this Max’s human side, or is he also coming-of-age?
Max is the first to admit that he’s about as courageous as a
big wobbly jelly, but he often finds himself thrust into critical situations
where he just has to do something to
help. The poor creature tries his best and sometimes what he manages to achieve
is simply amazing, considering he’s just a cat. I’m not sure that his “human
side” would be the right way of describing it, but he certainly shows that he
has feet of clay (or should that be paws of clay?) and is not Supercat! I have
plenty more exploits planned for him, some of which will be successful, whereas
others might not. I like the idea of unpredictability and I don’t want him to
turn into some sort of superhero who overcomes the odds every single time; he
has his weaknesses, as do we all, and I see him as more of an unwilling,
bumbling hero who occasionally gets it right, sometimes by accident, but who
also makes mistakes.
10. I liked the message of the reality of violence in the
Trojan War. This was subtly conveyed and not through an adult voice. What is
the overriding message of the series? What do you hope young readers will take
away from each book?
This is a theme which will crop up more than once in the
series. I thought it was important for the children to work out for themselves
the reality of violence and to learn that war is not glorious. In particular, I
wanted to Joe to come to that conclusion for himself, because he’s the one who
tends to be rather gung-ho and excited at the prospect of seeing warriors and
battles. I’m sure that TV and electronic games these days can desensitise
youngsters to the horrible realities of violence, but when Joe witnesses combats
and battles for real he is deeply shocked and recognises the true ghastliness
of it all.
I didn’t really plan for my series to have a message as
such. I set out to write what I hoped would be fun adventure stories with a
little mystery and magic thrown in for good measure. I really hope that my
readers will enjoy the books for the sake of the stories alone, in an “I can’t
wait to find out what happens next” kind of way, but I’ll consider my job well
done if they also come away with the knowledge that history can be fun and
exciting.
11. What comes after the end of the series? Any ideas in the
pipeline?
For the moment my head is full of this series and that’s
what I’m focused on right now. I’m currently working on book number 8 and I’m
planning for there to be 16 in total, so there’s plenty to keep me occupied. I
do, however, have an idea for a ghost story that I’d like to write afterwards.
There’s a house in the village where I live which is supposedly haunted by the
ghost of a child and I’d like to create a story based on that, but it might be
a while before I get round to it.
12. Is there anything I have not asked that you would like
readers to know?
As I mentioned earlier, in my answer to the first question,
I already had my young heroine’s name planned before I even conceived the idea
of the Shadows from the Past series. One
of my hobbies is genealogy and I’ve managed to trace my family back several
hundred years. I find the thrill of following a trail, solving the clues and
uncovering my ancestors’ lives absolutely fascinating. One day I came across my
5 x great-grandmother who was born in 1721 … and she was called Jemima
Lancelot. I thought that was a wonderful name and decided, there and then, I
would use it for my heroine if ever I wrote a book. I headed back to my family
tree for the names of all my English characters, so Joe, Richard, James and
Isabel Lancelot, Charles and Ellen Green, and even good old Mrs Garland are all
related to me back in the dim and distant past! I guess it’s a good way of
“keeping it in the family”!
Thanks for a wonderful interview, Wendy, and you have an
avid fan already (me!) as I will eagerly devour each book in this wonderful
series. Catch my review of the fascinating first book in the series, The Shadow of Atlantis here and The Shadow of the Minotaur here.
2 comments:
Thank you for another great interview Fiona. I loved hearing a bit more about the real life Max and enjoyed the discussion about how to deal with death and violence in middle grade books. You can't altogether avoid these themes if you write to include historical and/or mythological elements. I think Wendy does a great job in dealing with this in the books. Thanks for taking part in the Shadow of Atlantis Blog Tour. :)
Lovely interview, Fiona. Shed lots of light on things I'd been wondering too. You're ahead of me in the series!
Oh, Max gets interviewed tomorrow... on my blog :D
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