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Author Roberta Trahan

~ Murder, Mayhem, and Mystical Mystery

Author Roberta Trahan

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The Week in Review

04 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by robertatrahan in The Week in Review

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47North, Amazon Publishing, Apub, Author, Blogging, Blogging Tips, Book Marketing, Fantasy, Roberta Trahan, Social Media Marketing, Week in Review, writing life

This week was exhilarating, and exhausting. BUT, I accomplished all of the goals I set for myself, AND was able to track some measurable results from my efforts. Here’s a brief recap:

  • Got this week’s Marketing Monday post up – late, but better than never. Next week’s is already in the can and will be uploaded early!
  • Consulted with a very successful author friend who gave me some solid, specific suggestions on my new project. This was hard, because it’s always hard to ask others for help, but she was very gracious and her guidance has already paid off!
  • Asked three other successful author friends to help me with some promotion. I felt I could do this because a) I’ve been supportive of their careers and b) we’ve traded these kinds of favors in the past. A trusted writing community is essential, so if you don’t have one yet, start building.
  • Launched a new project – my Writing in Real Time endeavor, a serial novel released in episodes, for free on my blog. This is a controversial thing to do, but my number one goal right now is to build an audience for my work. It’s been five years since my first book was published, and more than two years since the sequel. Since then, my career has stalled. I need to feel inspired again, and interacting with readers can do that for an author. But first, I need readers! Here’s the link to the first episode (read and share!): Blooded – Episode One: Leap of Faith
  • In support of the serial novel project, I made a directed effort to raise my public profile – I spent some $ on boosting likes on my FB page, and invested a big chunk of time in social media. This is where I’m seeing those measurable results I mentioned. I’ll be talking about this in more depth on an upcoming Marketing Monday.
  • Got some writing done, too!

Whew, right?!! I don’t know if I can keep up this kind of pace every week, but I’m going to try. For now, it’s wine o’clock somewhere…

See you on Marketing Monday!

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Why I Couldn’t Care Less About the Bookseller Wars (Amazon v. Hachette or whoever)

24 Saturday May 2014

Posted by robertatrahan in Deadlines & Other Demons

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47North, Amazon, Amazon Publishing, Author, Fantasy, Hachette, Lilith Saint Crow, MacmIllan, Publishing Wars, Roberta Trahan, The Dream Stewards, The Keys to the Realms, The Well of Tears, The Writing Life

Here’s the thing. Big retailers have been sparring for dominance in the American consumer marketplace since I don’t know, pretty much since the inception of consumerism. They have leveraged their market reach to force suppliers and manufacturers to give them deeper discounts and bloated themselves with profits until they get so big they burst, split in two, or fall afoul of anti-trust laws. Whatever.

I’m an author. My job is to create content that attracts, interests and affects people. I’m still working on how to do that in such a way that enables me to make a real living. And that’s just part of my job. I know there are some big name bestsellers reaching out directly to their readers in a fit of frustration and concern over their own bottom line. From where I sit that looks more than a little unprofessional.

We authors know, or should know, what we’re getting into when we sign on with a book publisher. It’s on us to worry about the business back channels, dear reader, not you. It’s not your job to worry about whether or not my publisher or the booksellers are being fair to me, and it’s not your job to shout the rallying cry against corporate bullying or stage a boycott or trouble yourself in any way about who is doing what to whom in the Gargantuan Publishing Industry Free for All that’s currently grabbing headlines.

Besides, there are no innocent parties here. Sure, authors get their pockets pinched when publishing companies and booksellers go to battle. It’s unfortunate, and as individual business people. we authors need to take these things into consideration when contemplating how to bring our work to the marketplace. But it really has nothing at all to do with you, dear reader. Except in one very important way.

Are you able to find the book you want? Is it available to you in the mainstream marketplace – maybe not at your first stop, but somewhere in the neighborhood? Odds are it is. And that’s good enough for me. It’s probably good enough for you too. If that ever changes, then we’ll be having a whole different kind of conversation.

But for now, I’ll just keep working on becoming the best writer I can be. And you just keep on reading. Deal?

Happy Release Day, Anne Charnock!

24 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by robertatrahan in 47North Authors

≈ 4 Comments

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47North, a calculated life, Amazon Publishing, anne charnock, Author, dystopian, Fantasy, Roberta Trahan, sci-fi

A very happy release day to my fellow 47North author Anne Charnock! Her dystopian sci-fi novel has been re-issued by 47North and is NOW AVAILABLE!!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A Calculated LifeACalculatedLife

Late in the twenty-first century, big business is booming and state institutions are thriving thanks to advances in genetic engineering, which have produced a compliant population free of addictions. Violent crime is a rarity.

Hyper-intelligent Jayna is a star performer at top predictive agency Mayhew McCline, where she forecasts economic and social trends. A brilliant mathematical modeler, she far outshines her co-workers, often correcting their work on the quiet. Her latest coup: finding a link between northeasterly winds and violent crime.

When a string of events contradicts her forecasts, Jayna suspects she needs more data and better intuition. She needs direct interactions with the rest of society. Bravely—and naively—she sets out to disrupt her strict routine and stumbles unwittingly into a world where her IQ is increasingly irrelevant…a place where human relationships and the complexity of life are difficult for her to decode. And as she experiments with taking risks, she crosses the line into corporate intrigue and disloyalty.

Can Jayna confront the question of what it means to live a “normal” life? Or has the possibility of a “normal” life already been eclipsed for everyone?

~ ~ ~

Now available on Amazon.com – click on the book cover to purchase!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

AnneCharnockAnne Charnock’s writing career began in journalism; her articles appeared in the Guardian, New Scientist, International Herald Tribune, and Geographical. She was educated at the University of East Anglia, where she studied environmental sciences, and at the Manchester School of Art. She traveled widely as a foreign correspondent and spent a year trekking through Egypt, Sudan, and Kenya.

In her fine art practice, she tried to answer the questions What is it to be human? What is it to be a machine? and ultimately she decided to write fiction as another route to finding answers.

Anne is an active blogger and reviews fiction for the online magazine Strange Horizons. She contributes exhibition reviews and book recommendations to the Huffington Post. She splits her time between London and Chester and, whenever possible, she and her husband, Garry, take off in their little campervan (unless one of their two sons has borrowed it), traveling to southern Europe and as far as the Anti-Atlas Mountains in southern Morocco.

To connect with Anne, visit her online:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACalculatedLife

Twitter: https://twitter.com/annecharnock

Website: http://www.annecharnock.com

Giving Thanks

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by robertatrahan in Deadlines & Other Demons

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A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Arthurian Legend, Author, author marketing, Fantasy, fantasy fiction, historical fiction, Medieval Recipe, mystic origins, Roberta Trahan, Thanksgiving, writing life

I’ve been remiss in my postings here – deadline for Book Two of The Dream Stewards (THE KEYS TO THE REALMS) is looming, and I am spending every spare moment on the manuscript. However, I do plan to take a break for the BDOF (big day of feasting) and will return to my blog schedule on Sunday with news and other updates.

In the meantime, I wish all of you a harvest of blessings this week – and to those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving, a bounty of food, fellowship and merry-making with family and friends.

And, just for fun, a couple of things to keep you entertained until I return:

First, here is a link to a  medieval roast fowl recipe from the folks at A BOKE OF GODE COOKERY – as it happens, turkeys were not introduced to Europe until the 16th century, so this recipe calls for for a swan. Any large bird will do. Please note that the original recipe (in Old English) is quoted first, followed by a contemporary translation – just in case you’d like to give it a try:  Roasted Swan with Chaudon

Next, for your viewing pleasure, I give you a holiday favorite: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Awen à Bendition!!

Origins of All Hallows Eve

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by robertatrahan in The Dream Stewards, The Goddess In Me

≈ 1 Comment

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47North, all hallows eve, Amazon Publishing, Author, Celtic Lore, Celtic Tradition, Fantasy, fantasy fiction, historical fiction, mystic origins, Novel Writing, Roberta Trahan, samhain, Wales, writing life

Samhain (Scots Gaelic: Samhuinn) literally means “summer’s end.” In Scotland and Ireland, Halloween is known as Oíche Shamhna, while in Wales it is Nos Calan Gaeaf, the eve of the winter’s calendar.

The origin of Halloween lies in the ancient Celtic religious celebration of Samhain (summer’s end). One of the two greatest Druidic festivals (Beltane is the other), Samhain marked the end of the light half of the year and the beginning of the dark half.

As with other holidays of the Celtic year, October 31 marked a mystical time when the usual barriers between our world and the Otherworld thinned and stretched allowing contact between human beings and the fairy folk and/or the spirits of the dead.

ImageThroughout the centuries, pagan and Christian beliefs intertwine in a gallimaufry of celebrations from Oct 31st through November 5th, all of which appear both to challenge the ascendancy of the dark and to revel in its mystery.

With the rise of Christianity, Samhain was changed to Hallowmas, or All Saints’ Day, to commemorate the souls of the blessed dead who had been canonized that year, so the night before became popularly known as Halloween, All Hallows Eve, or Hollantide. November 2nd became All Souls Day, when prayers were to be offered to the souls of all who the departed and those who were waiting in Purgatory for entry into Heaven.

Samhain is the Celtic new year celebration. Beginning on the evening of October 31 (the Celts counted their days from sunset to sunset, just as the bible does), the festival would last three days (perhaps longer).

In the country year, Samhain marked the first day of winter, when the herders led the cattle and sheep down from their summer hillside pastures to the shelter of stable and byre. The hay that would feed them during the winter must be stored in sturdy thatched ricks, tied down securely against storms.

Those destined for the table were slaughtered, after being ritually devoted to the gods in pagan times. All the harvest must be gathered in — barley, oats, wheat, turnips, and apples — for come November, the faeries would blast every growing plant with their breath, blighting any nuts and berries remaining on the hedgerows.

Peat and wood for winter fires were stacked high by the hearth. It was a joyous time of family reunion, when all members of the household worked together baking, salting meat, and making preserves for the winter feasts to come. The endless horizons of summer gave way to a warm, dim and often smoky room; the symphony of summer sounds was replaced by a counterpoint of voices, young and old, human and animal.

Fire is a central element in all the Druidic celebrations. All hearth fires were put out and new fires lit from the great bonfires. In Scotland, men lit torches in the bonfires and circled their homes and lands with them to obtain protection for the coming year.

In early Ireland, people gathered at the ritual centers of the tribes, for Samhain was the principal calendar feast of the year. The greatest assembly was the ‘Feast of Tara,’ focusing on the royal seat of the High King as the heart of the sacred land, the point of conception for the new year. In every household throughout the country, hearth-fires were extinguished. All waited for the Druids to light the new fire of the year — not at Tara, but at Tlachtga, a hill twelve miles to the north-west. It marked the burial-place of Tlachtga, daughter of the great druid Mogh Ruith, who may once have been a goddess in her own right in a former age.

At all the turning points of the Celtic year, the gods drew near to Earth at Samhain, so many sacrifices and gifts were offered up in thanksgiving for the harvest. Personal prayers in the form of objects symbolizing the wishes of supplicants or ailments to be healed were cast into the fire, and at the end of the ceremonies, brands were lit from the great fire of Tara to re-kindle all the home fires of the tribe, as at Beltane. As they received the flame that marked this time of beginnings, people surely felt a sense of the kindling of new dreams, projects and hopes for the year to come.

The Samhain fires continued to blaze down the centuries.  In the 1860s the Halloween bonfires were still so popular in Scotland that one traveler reported seeing thirty fires lighting up the hillsides all on one night, each surrounded by rings of dancing figures, a practice which continued up to the first World War. Young people and servants lit brands from the fire and ran around the fields and hedges of house and farm, while community leaders surrounded parish boundaries with a magic circle of light. Afterwards, ashes from the fires were sprinkled over the fields to protect them during the winter months — and of course, they also improved the soil. The bonfire provided an island of light within the oncoming tide of winter darkness, keeping away cold, discomfort, and evil spirits long before electricity illumined our nights. When the last flame sank down, it was time to run as fast as you could for home, raising the cry, “The black sow without a tail take the hindmost!”

Even today, bonfires light up the skies in many parts of the British Isles and Ireland at this season, although in many areas of Britain their significance has been co-opted by Guy Fawkes Day, which falls on November 5th, and commemorates an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the English Houses of Parliament in the 17th century. In one Devonshire village, the extraordinary sight of both men and women running through the streets with blazing tar barrels on their backs can still be seen! Whatever the reason, there will probably always be a human need to make fires against the winter’s dark.

Samhain was also a significant time for divination, perhaps even more so than May or Midsummer’s Eve, because this was the chief of the three Spirit Nights. Divination customs and games frequently featured apples and nuts from the recent harvest, and candles played an important part in adding atmosphere to the mysteries. In Scotland, a child born at Samhain was said to be gifted with an dà shealladh, “The Two Sights” commonly known as “second sight,” or clairvoyance.

At the heart of the Celtic Otherworld grows an apple tree whose fruit has magical properties. Old sagas tell of heroes Imagecrossing the western sea to find this wondrous country, known in Ireland as Emhain Abhlach, (Evan Avlach) and in Britain, Avalon. At Samhain, the apple harvest is in, and old hearthside games, such as apple-bobbing, called apple-dookin’ in Scotland, reflect the journey across water to obtain the magic apple.

Later, Christian elements came into play, as All Hallows’ Day (all Saints’ Day) and All Souls’ Day contributed their own unique traditions to the core, such as trick or treating (collecting “soul cakes” on All Souls’ Day) and dressing up in frightening costumes as protection against evil spirits. It bears noting that at no time, either in the druid religion nor in the Christian, was Halloween connected with the devil or devil worship.

(adapted from Holiday Traditions by Mara Freeman, www.celticcallings.com)

My Mother, Myself: From Whence A Writer Comes, or Gifts My Mother Gave Me

11 Friday May 2012

Posted by robertatrahan in The Goddess In Me

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Author, Daughters, Mother's Day, Mothers, My Mother Myself, Nancy Friday, Novel Writing, Roberta Trahan, witers, Writing, writing advice

It was the best of times, and the worst of times.  I had just experienced the terror-laced exhilaration of my first national publication and   received acceptance to the three most prestigious journalism schools in the nation. I was about to step into womanhood in the age of feminism and seize the destiny I had envisioned for myself — and unwittingly outstrip my mother’s hard earned successes. This was, after all, exactly what she had raised me to do, but it was also a source of contention between us that I could not understand. Why was this woman who had worked so tirelessly and selflessly to provide me opportunity, and who had quietly nurtured my writing dreams, so mad at me all the time?

When Nancy Friday’s now-iconic but then controversial book “My Mother, Myself – The Daughter’s Search for Identity” came out in the late 70’s, I was the same age my daughter is now. I can still recall my mother’s embittered lambasting of the book and its message, and her refusal to not only read it but also to discuss any idea it put forth. The fact that I had read it was heretical. Even then, however, I understood she felt threatened by the very idea of turning a critical eye on herself  – because in opening that particular Pandora’s box she would have no choice but to reflect on her relationship with her own mother. We never did discuss that book.

Suffice it to say, mothers and daughters in my family have a long history of conflict and estrangement – something my mother and I were eventually able to overcome, and a pattern I hope I have successfully avoided repeating with my own daughter.

This season of motherhood has me pensive and moody, more sensitive than usual to the bittersweet memories it evokes and the invaluable bonds it symbolizes. It is a singular time in my life, to be sure. As I come into the realization of my lifelong dream, my daughter is on the verge of her own journey – and sadly, my mother has long since come to the end of hers.

As I contemplate the nature of mothers and daughters today, a question a friend of mine asked keeps resonating in my thoughts — How did you know you were a writer?

My mother told me.

Not in so many words, mind you.  My mother was never able to speak of encouragement or praise when I was growing up. Such sentiments were expressed in scribbles on bits of scrap paper left on my desk, or by the receipt for the prom dress we couldn’t afford taped to the fridge, and in a handful of unexpected surprises.

It was she who read my third grade teacher the riot act when he accused me of plagiarism, bought me my first typewriter, renewed my subscription to Writers Digest every year until I was 30, and insisted I send my verse to my great-uncle, the poet laureate, whom I had never met.

It was she who first believed in me, and this was the most important gift of all.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

Coming Up for Air — But still treading water

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by robertatrahan in The Power of Prose

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Anne R Allen, Author, author marketing, Colin Falconer, fantasy fiction, historical fiction, Lucky 7 Meme, Novel Writing, Roberta Trahan, Rosanne Lortz, Sara Ramsey, Sophie Perinot, Stefanie Sloane, Stephanie Dray, Teresa Frohock, The Well of Tears, women writers, Writing

It’s been a long few weeks of reviewing and revising as the manuscript works its way through production — and closer to debut. The official release date for THE WELL OF TEARS  is September 18, 2012.  Even as I write the date here I can hardly believe it.  The long wait is nearly over!

Still, I confess I’ve been struggling with the burden of balancing the many demands of the journey, which is ironic considering how well I knew what to expect. Honestly, I’d thought myself fully prepared. No one was more surprised than I to discover that there really are only 24 hours in a day. So, I am once again renewing my commitment to you all, dear readers. Weekly posts will resume, beginning now!

I’ve Been Tagged!!

The charming and talented Colin Falconer, one of my favorite historical authors and perhaps the most entertaining blogger on my list, has tagged me for the Lucky 7 Meme (see his post: http://colin-falconer.blogspot.com/2012/04/ive-been-tagged.html). It works this way:

1. You go to page 77 of your current WIP
2. You go to line 7
3. You copy down the next 7 lines, sentences or paragraphs and post them, as they’re written.
4. Finally, you tag 7 authors, and let them know they’re tagged.

For my part in the Lucky 7 Meme, I’m posting an excerpt from my current work, THE KEYS TO THE REALMS, which is in the early draft stage. This sequel to THE WELL OF TEARS is slated for publication in early 2013.  Both are books of the Dream Stewards series, historically based fantasies which center on the reign of Hywell dda, a 10th century Welsh king of whom little is known but whose reign left a lasting legacy. In the world of my creation, this mysterious king came to his great power with the aid of an obscure order of mages knows as the Stewards, charged with ensuring his success:

—

“Let him in, they you may leave.” Alwen allowed her second to help her on with the heavy, intricately adorned indigo velvet mantle of the Ard Druidh and seated herself in the ancient throne set upon a small dais that centered her chambers. “It is best I receive him in private.”

Glain nodded her assent but her grey eyes clouded with unspoken protests.  She had found it difficult to find much to like in their new resident. A concern Alwen shared and was looking to overcome.

“Leave the aleberry pot in the coals, will you?” Alwen tipped her head toward the hearth in the adjacent parlor and offered the girl a reassuring smile. “These visits tend to go better if he is assured his confidences will be kept, and after a cup or two of the spirits.”

Glain stifled a smile, still reluctant to relax into the familiarity that Alwen encouraged. “He tends to drink too much.”

“Take care, Glain. The king of the prophecy is due your respect, however begrudging it may be. He comes to us because the Fane is his only safe refuge, a place where he might find some relief for his worries.” Alwen’s wink coaxed a full grin from the girl. “But yes, he does.”

The sentry’s firm double rap on the outside of her chamber door signaled her visitor had arrived. Glain placed two silver cups on the hearth and set the pot to warm as requested, ushered in the king-to-be, and then made a discreet exit.

Hywel stood once again in Alwen’s presence, but this time at her request. Circumstances that clearly annoyed him. but he had come, nonetheless. His glower might well have shriveled any one else, but Alwen knew her power. Still, he was an unnerving enigma — every bit as regal as he was ruthless. She gestured toward the hornbeam and hazelwood desk beneath the double transom window on the far wall, and the more ordinary chair that stood behind it. “Sit, so we may speak plainly.”

—

And now, the 7 authors I’d like to tag (in no particular order):

Anne R. Allen

Sara Ramsey

Stephanie Dray

Sophie Perinot

Stefanie Sloane

Teresa Frohock

Rosanne Lortz

Thanks, Colin!!

Idyll Review for January: Miserere — by Teresa Frohock

30 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by robertatrahan in Book Reviews

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Author, Book Review, Books, Fantasy Book Review, Miserere, publishing, Roberta Trahan, Stehpanie Dray, Teresa Frohock

One of my resolutions for 2012 was to start posting reviews of books (other than mine) that I think are noteworthy. Once a month, I will post a new reading recommendation. We begin this month, with Teresa Frohock’s deserving debut, Miserere – An Autumn Tale.

An impressive first work by a talented author, this book was a compelling read. A well-imagined parallel reality provides an intriguing setting for the unfolding of potentially earth-ending events and a powerful quest. Teresa Frohock skillfully intertwines deeply spiritual themes (which could have easily become heavy-handed religious diatribe, but didn’t) into an action-packed yet emotional adventure that delivers a highly entertaining experience for the reader.

Night Shade Books, Trade Paper, ISBN 978-1597802895

The focus of the story is the soul-tortured hero Lucian, who frankly was the reason I couldn’t put this book down. Lucian’s journey toward forgiveness through reflection and painful self-discovery brought me to tears more than once. Lucian, more than any other character in the book, is so well drawn that he almost rises to walk across the pages. Equally as heart-tugging is the foundling, Lindsay, who becomes the catalyst for Lucian’s redemption. Rachael, the maligned object of Lucian’s desire, faces her own inner demons — literally and figuratively — with grace and courage that makes her both lovable and memorable. Add the evil dominatrix Catarina and you have the makings of a classic heroic journey set against an innovative (and also darkly dramatic) backdrop.

That said, I came away at the end of the book feeling like I had read an abridged version, which I suspect could be due to deep cuts and edits designed to meet a publisher’s page count. The result, whatever the reason, is the lingering feeling of having just scratched the surface of a deeper story.  Another 50 pages would have allowed for richer detail and deeper development of the secondary characters (especially love interest Rachel, and twin sister Catarina–the primary antagonist).

This is one of those very rare books where the editor in me was actually begging for MORE back story. The ending, though maybe rushed, a bit predictable and too sweet in the wake of the visceral punch of the rest of the book, did leave me wanting more. The artful world building and intriguing cast of characters are full of potential which I can only hope will result in a long-lived series. I look forward to whatever comes next from this author.

Next Month: Song of the Nile & Lily of the Nile (Novels of Cleopatra’s Daughter) by Stephanie Dray .

Best-selling author of the quasi-historical epic fantasy and post-apocalyptic science fiction. Dragon Seeker, Myth Maker, Coffeechocoholic & Antique Jewelry Hoarder.

THE KEYS TO THE REALMS (The Dream Stewards #2)

THE WELL OF TEARS (The Dream Stewards #1)

AFTERSHOCK (A Short Story)

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