The other day a reader named Kayley K wrote me an email with a couple of questions on my writing of The Guardians of Time Series. Kayley read the first three books, The Named, The Dark and The Key when she was 13. It wasn’t until more recently that she was able to read the fourth book, The Shadow. After answering her questions, I told Kayley I’d be happy to hear her thoughts on The Shadow, and she wrote back the next day with an awesome review. It was good not just because Kayley enjoyed the book and thought it was terrific, which is always awesome for an author to read, but good for how well she understood the story. She called it an emotional roller coaster, which it was for Ethan, but Kayley’s analysis of my writing and of the story that unfolded, was succinct and excellent.

Thank you, Kayley K, for allowing me to put our correspondence up on my public website and thank you for loving my books.

Below, you can read through the emails Kayley and I exchanged, which includes Kayley’s thoughts on The Shadow. If you would like to add your opinion or start a discussion on The Guardians of Time Series, especially on The Shadow, or any of my books including The Avena Series and Old Magic, I would be pleased to hear it, and answer any questions you might have.

First Email from Kayley K:

Hello! I’m not meaning to interrupt anything you may be doing, but I’d love to just tell you that your young adult series The Guardians of Time is one of the top favorites in my list of books. I recommend it to everyone. It was highly captivating and extremely well written. I applaud you for this masterpiece. Sometimes I wish it never ended. When I first read it, I was about 13. I’m an avid reader and I loved these books so much. They were unique.

I’m not meaning to drone on about it, but I do have two questions:

1. Where or even what inspired you to write this book/series?

2. Also where did you find the patience for it?

Kayley K.

Hi Kayley

It was so lovely to receive your email telling me how much you loved The Guardians of Time Series. I’m guessing you’ve read the fourth book by now; the one called The Shadow. I would be happy to hear your thoughts on that too. Now to answer your questions:

1. What inspired me to write this series?

Well, I had just finished Old Magic, my first book, and it was so well received with a dozen countries buying the translation rights that I wanted to write a more in-depth story where my characters were able to time travel to places significant to history. I guess you could say Old Magic inspired me to write the Guardians of time Series. I loved reading books that combined history and romance, so I kept that in mind while I started researching. From the outset I knew I wanted to write a series about a girl, her brother, and a boy she liked. The story unfolded from there with chapter-by-chapter breakdowns, which is how I write my first drafts.

2. Where did I find the patience?

The patience? Sometimes I think writing is in my blood. When I set out to write this series, I had three young children. I had a job too, teaching office studies to adults, and computers to senior high school students. I also ran a house. But I was determined to find the time. The more I wrote, the more important it became to keep going and finish it. I recall working early in the morning to late in the afternoon, and sometimes back again after dinner or after my children had gone to sleep.

Hi Marianne,

Your 4th book The Shadow was definitely an emotional roller coaster. Ethan seeing Rochelle as someone else in a whole 180 personality, which was an excellent way to show his devotion to her in many ways, and finding out who Rochelle’s birth mother is completely blew me away. It was heart wrenching in Book 3 when Rochelle was proclaimed as dead only to find out . . . (spoiler removed) The way you had this planned out was marvelous and so devious in some ways.

Isabel and Arkarian; it was well known when they met they would be together, of course the little drama inside her head when she went home with him was absolutely relatable in many ways! I live for their relationship and it’s by far my favorite romance but also Ethan and Rochelle’s was definitely a heartbreaker for a decent amount of time. 

Jesilla… she definitely could have turned her good to combine peace with The Guard, but it was a whole turn of events. Her character wanted to be kindhearted but to feel less like her fault for her mother’s death. That I feel like was a trauma response. Blame on oneself for the death of another. It’s sad the way it played out but a full understanding of how the events caused . . . (spoiler removed) but I do feel bad for Dillion. It almost feels like a repeat of what happened to Rochelle. 

Overall, The Shadow was a highly captivating book, with timely events. It was a perfectly paced read. I can’t wait till the next book comes out. I’m ready to find out what The Guard does to save people and the future from the new upcoming event that Isabel has seen. 

Kayley K.

Hi Kayley

I was like you with books. I was eight when the Librarian allowed me privileges only the older students were allowed. I ended up becoming a Librarian two years before other students were allowed. I’ve loved reading since I selected Oliver Twist and took it home from the library. It moved me and took me away to the dark and poor streets of London. And I’m Australian, so it was quite a leap. I sense you have an amazing connection with books, the way you can analyze them, and the joy you get from them is well deserved.

Marianne 

The following is a letter I received from a reader named Julia. Thank you, Julia, for writing these beautiful comments about The Guardians of Time Series, for putting it into letter format, something I rarely see these days, and for mailing it to me.