Broken

Interview on Karen’s Book Blog

Posted on:September 24, 2014February 12, 2015

Lovely Karen Banes, an editor and author herself, hosted me on her blog. She sent a list of thoughtful interview questions that I really appreciated.

Here are two of them:

KB: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

TS: The belief in an external, hierarchical, patriarchal God is one of the greatest sources of evil in human civilization. It is my firm belief that God as love is internal, inclusive, merciful, and non-gendered.

KB: How much of the book is realistic?

TS: As I said before, I researched this era in Paris thoroughly. Many of the details are accurate, such as the way Parisians were always hungry during the occupation. Several documents said that Parisians ate only about 800 calories per day at this time. Also, over a million French men had been taken into compulsory work service in Germany, so the Resistance drew on women, high school students, and the elderly. At one point, Alia the protagonist, who is a fallen angel, is walking down the street wearing a jaunty red hat. There are references to those red hats as a kind of subtle rebellion; French fashion continued during occupation.

Read the interview here and check out Karen’s informative books here.

blogs · book promotion · book reviews · Broken · special · writing

BROKEN Blog Tour starts today!

Posted on:September 18, 2014February 12, 2015

Whirlwind Book Tours put together a blog tour for BROKEN, and today is the launch. I’m excited!

Today an excerpt from BROKEN appeared on two blogs, The Pen and Muse and Cajun Book Lover.

Here’s the whole schedule:

Sept 18th
Cajun Book Lover – Excerpt
The Pen Muse – Excerpt

Sept 19th
The Gal in the Blue Mask – Review & Interview
Rolo Polo Book Blog – Guest Post

Sept 20th
Mythical Books – Guest Post
Books N Pearls – Excerpt

Sept 21st
Deal Sharing Aunt – Review

Sept 22
If These Books Could Talk – Guest Post

Sept 23rd
Karen Banes Blog – Interview

Sept 24th
Chick Lit N Lipstick – Review & Excerpt
Examiner – Spotlight

Sept 25th
Yeah Books – Review

Sept 26th
Samantha LaFantasie – Excerpt
The Readers Hollow – Interview

Sept 27th
Strands Simply Tips – Interview

Sept 28th
The Serious Reader – Review

Sept 29th
The Dark Phantom WordPress – ExcerptSept 30th
Best Between the Lines – Review
My Bookish Life 9/30 Excerpt

Oct 1st
Drunk on Pop – Review

5 star review · art · Broken · gratitude · happiness · special

Quote for the day, and a Beautiful review of BROKEN

Posted on:September 16, 2014February 12, 2015

I have been savoring this quote for a week or so, since reading it on FB. I can’t verify that it was truly written or said by Hemingway. I love it nonetheless, and yes, I identify–and I’ve got the aching wounds to show for it.

Ecco:

The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed.

~Ernest Hemingway

Meantime, Amazon Hall of Fame Top 100 Reviewer Grady Harp wrote a breathtakingly lovely 5 Star review of BROKEN on Amazon.com. He wrote in part:

Traci L. Slatton takes risks, she knows she takes them, and they turn out in her favor. She is at once a poet, a painter of words, a sculptor of characters what extend beyond the credible so far that they seem intensely real. Reading a Slatton book is not so much a story experience but rather an experience in ways of thinking. It is not so important to understand this bizarre story before reading it because Slatton unveils each strange corner, opens each window into light in a way that can only be called art.

Check it out on BROKEN’s Amazon page. I am very grateful to Mr. Harp!

authors · blogs · book promotion · book reviews · Broken · gratitude · paranormal · special

BROKEN and a Guest Post on THE READING CAFE

Posted on:September 11, 2014February 12, 2015

I am so fortunate to have become acquainted with some of the most generous-spirited book review bloggers going. Sandy at THE READING CAFE is one of those smart, kind, thoughtful people. She accepted BROKEN for review and asked me to write a guest post, and then she sent the review and post to Twitter Heaven, doing a wonderful job of spreading the word.

Her efforts on my book’s behalf are most appreciated!

And I liked her review, which was clear and incisive. She wrote, in part:

Traci L Slatton is an amazing writer whose storylines are infinitely detailed with both fact and fiction; fantasy and reality. Her style of writing is intense; the historical research impressive; and the overall premise is a flight into the fantastic and uncoventional.

My guest post is about “Writing Historical Romances, Accuracy and History.” I mention,

Winnowing down the horrific German occupation of the City of Lights this way provided an opportunity for me to deeply relate my characters to very specific events. Alia, an angel who fell from heaven, experiences the oppression of the time personally and with great intensity. She and her beloved friends suffer through food shortages, lack, loss, and sacrifices in minute detail.

Many blessings and much gratitude to Sandy and THE READING CAFE for the support for BROKEN!

5 star review · book promotion · book reviews · Broken · special

Launch Day of BROKEN and a 5 Crescent Review

Posted on:September 5, 2014February 12, 2015

Today is the day: BROKEN is released into the wild.

And just in time, here’s a glowing review from LUNAR HAVEN REVIEWS:

I really enjoyed reading this novel. Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down until the very end. I really enjoyed reading about the fallen angel Alia and how she lived her life as a human. She sacrificed so much in the name of love. This story was had many elements to it. Sometimes it was fun and care free, other times it was sexy with steamy romance and a lot of the time it was suspenseful and it left you wondering when were the hidden Jews going to be found. I highly recommend this book and although it is not something that I would normally pick up and read, I can’t describe how much I love this book. Thanks again Traci for writing such an amazing novel and I can’t wait to read more of your works!

Read the whole review, and a guest post by me on “Seven Things I’ve Learned Since Becoming a Writer” here, on the vibrant Lunar Haven Reviews and Designs site.