Tracy Falbe's Blog, page 49

Epic fantasy by Tracy Falbe in the Apple iBookstore

My fantasy novels have been well received in the Apple iBookstore, and I consider the iTunes based audience to be an important market for my work. 

Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I has maintained a 4.5-star rating for years, and my newer work Rys Rising: Book I recently received a glowing 5-star review.

The great news for readers is that you can start either of my fantasy epics for free.

The Harvest / La Cosecha reveals lives of child migrant farm laborers

 
U. Roberto Romano, director, cinematographer, producer


I know I have to write about a documentary when I can't stop thinking about it. The Harvest or La Cosecha is a riveting documentary that concerns all people because we all eat the food harvested by migrant laborers.

The Harvest focuses on three underage people who work in the fields alongside their families and travel from job to job. Twelve-year-old Zulema works with her mother, grandmother, and younger siblings in Michigan, typically picking cucumbers, apples, and strawberries. Sixteen-year-old Victor is based in Florida and often works in the tomato fields. He carries 25-pound buckets of tomatoes all day long and moves 1,500 pounds of tomatoes in a day. Although Victor looks as strong as a tug boat, he laments that he can't keep up with the grown men and that the work is hard. Despite the hardship that includes triple-digit heat, he moves gracefully up and down the rows with a serene face and a heavy bucket on his shoulder. He works so hard because he sees that his family needs the money and his heart compels him to help provide. Soft spoken and devoted to his family, Victor projects all that is good in a man. He does not ask much of the world but longs simply for a secure job that pays him well enough to live and lets him do his work calmly.

Fifteen-year-old Perla in Texas bares her feelings to the filmmaker about what it is like to be told "to go back to Mexico" when she was born in the United States. Tearfully she confesses her misery about not being wanted in what is truly her own homeland. Her rejection was exacerbated by the death of her 16-year-old brother who was shot and denied treatment at a local hospital and bled to death. Her agony deepens because her parents' health is failing after too many years of hard labor, and she is tortured by worry for the future. Perla also explains how difficult it is for her to go to school because she is always traveling with her family. She has been held back a grade because her grades from one school did not reach a new school, which means she can't advance. It appears to be a hopeless cycle for her although she remains determined to someday lift herself out of her grinding poverty. But the migrant life owns her. Just when she is looking forward to being able to stay home, things go bad and she must seek work in the fields. Stoically she accepts her heartbreak and packs her bags.

Young Zulema with her lingering aura of childishness drives home the exploitation of child migrant farm labor. When she bites into an apple while high in a tree on a ladder with a heavy bag over her shoulder, she made me think of every time I've handed an apple to a child. The wonder of a child picking a fruit in Zulema's case is replaced by hunger in the middle of a grueling day. Everyone turns a blind eye to the children working in the fields. Zulema explains how she gives the name of someone else for the payroll. Nobody cares.

Heartbreakingly, at the end of the documentary when Zulema is asked about her dreams, she says, "I don't have any dreams."

I watch documentaries like these to keep me motivated. I grow a lot of food for my family and I go to U-pick farms to get fruit in quantity and then preserve it. I also shop the farmers' markets and get food from local producers. I believe that these activities reduce my contributions to large agribusiness commodity systems that pay workers poorly and profit from exploiting children in the fields.

A few weeks ago I took my family to a local orchard to pick apples. It was a lovely day and my young kids had a nice time. They picked apples for about half an hour. It's fun if you don't have to do it all day for weeks and then be out of work when the harvest is over.

When my family was done picking apples, my husband and I admonished our boys to consider the people in the fields who had to pick food for everybody.

The Harvest La Cosecha is a touching film. It left me really caring about the young people featured in it. Next time you're at the store and the prices of food seem high, think about how only a tiny fraction of that pricepoint compensated the backbreaking drudgery of people leading lives on the margins of society.

Cover Reveal for Love Lost: Rys Rising Book IV

Love Lost the conclusion of the Rys Rising series will be published on October 15th. Until then I will be working on formatting it for ebook readers. In the weeks and months following October 15th Love Lost will become available at many retailers worldwide and also be published in hardcover and paperback.

To join my readers' list so you can receive notification of Love Lost's publication, go to the page Love Lost: Rys Rising Book IV by Tracy Falbe and use the form on the right side.

Six chapters of The Goddess Queen fantasy audiobook now available

The production of The Goddess Queen audiobook continues at its slow but steady pace. Chapters 5 and 6 are now available and I'm expecting to have Chapters 7 and 8 available about this time next month.

Despite the need for patience, I am very happy with how the recording is progressing. Andrew Wetmore is doing a wonderful job with the novel. His voice is clear and pleasing, and he even claims to be enjoying the story as he reads it. I'm so relieved to hear that because wouldn't it be a grinding chore to read a novel you didn't like?

For fantasy fans who'd like to support this recording project, you have at least 3 hours of action packed fantasy audio available for download as mp3 files.
Available Now:Episode 1 of The Goddess Queen: The Rys Chronicles Book II.

Chapter 1 Fierce Loss

Chapter 2 The Proving Ground

$1.50 Add to cart Chapters 1 and 2 The Goddess Queen

You will recieve 2 mp3 files. Each is about 30 minutes.

Checkout with Paypal and download instantly at Payloadz. Multiple currencies accepted. Available worldwide. 

In Chapter 1 Fierce Loss, Dreibrand grapples with the pressures of his impending fatherhood.

In Chapter 2 The Proving Ground, Dreibrand joins King Taischek on a royal hunt and Shan recklessly draws out the Kezanada.

Episode 2

Chapter 3 Dueling Mercenaries

Chapter 4 Protege

$1.50 Add to Cart Chapters 3 and 4

You will recieve 2 mp3 files. Each is about 30 minutes.

In Chapter 3 Dueling Mercenaries, Dreibrand gets caught in mortal combat without his armor and the Kezanada Overlord disables Shan with enchanted weapons.

In Chapter 4 Protégé, Queen Onja decides that the eastern world must pay her tribute. She grooms a young rys to serve as an ambassador to the Atrophane Empire and begin its subjugation.

Episode 3

Chapter 5 A Lesson of Kingship

Chapter 6 Faychan

$1.50 Add to Cart Chapters 5 and 6

You will recieve 2 mp3 files. One is about 30 mintues. The other is close to 40 minutes.

In Chapter 5 A Lesson of Kingship, Miranda gets a new sword and Shan admits to King Taischek that he was lucky.

In Chapter 6 Faychan, Dreibrand endures personal attacks from Prince Kalek and then meets a high ranking Kezanada face-to-face.

The Goddess Queen continues the epic started in Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I that is a complete audiobook. Visit the fantasy audiobooks page at Brave Luck Books to listen to samples from both audiobooks. 

Two compelling paintings by Caravaggio added to my stock art collection

This week I added a pair of sensuous and dreamy pieces of art by the 16th century Italian painter Caravaggio to my stock art catalog. Spend a moment enjoying and comparing The Musicians and The Roman God of wine Bacchus by Caravaggio. 


Obviously Caravaggio was using the same model for both of these works of art. I suspect he had a crush on the young man who appears quite at peace with his life of wine and pleasure.

I've been slowly building a catalog of royalty free vintage and fine art images. I get most of my images by browsing through vintage books and art prints that I obtain at estate sales and auctions. To view larger images of these fine pieces of art, visit my stock art catalog where you can purchase high resolution jpegs for your projects if you need to.

The Musicians by Caravaggio
Bacchus by Caravaggio

Emotobook excerpt from Lingering in the Woods by Cynthia Ravinski

 Lingering in the Woods http://amzn.to/HsxZWEBy Cynthia Ravinski
Why is it taking so long? Usko shivered again. The blankets didn’t warm him. They were soaked with sweat. He gasped, the air burned in his throat then ripped into his chest. Fever baked his bodydry, yet chilled him through.Snot incessantly ran from his nose. And hishead throbbed as if a horse had kicked it. If he’d had the strength, he would have smiled.
He’d deliberately insulted Kipu in a ritual the last dark moon. Noteven his mother, with all her power, could drive away a curse from the goddess of disease. Yet it was taking so long, his body slowly wasted. If the disease didn’t take his life soon, he’d perish from weakness instead.
Another cough rackedhis chest. He gagged. The phlegm that erupted from his throat slid out of his mouth and dripped onto his stringy beard. It had never filled out. They said he’d never be a true man,that the sparse, reddish wires that grew from his chin provedthat he’d never be like the rest.
“My boy,” Satu said as she clutched her son’s arms. Kneeling beside his bed, her raven hair flowed over her shoulder, the tips brushing the floor. “Why aren’t you curing yourself? Don’t leave me here alone. It’s almost winter. You have the power.” Her voice carried on ina squeaky wail, heryouthful face contorted as she sobbed.
Usko knew she only cared for herageless looks, but they wouldn’t keep her warm come winter. Let her reap what she’s sewn. “Mother,” he coughed. His tongue so dryhe could hardly rasp, “Remember what I asked.”
Her face smoothed and she withdrew to pace the small space of herhut, her shadowgrowing and shrinking, caught in the dance of the fire. She began singing. He knew the song. It wasn’t just a humble tune. She was trying to sing him out of hisillness with a magical rune song against fever.It was too late for that, and he just wanted her to stop her noise. But he said nothing lest shechange runes to lend his body strength. That was thelast thing he wanted.
This discomfort was temporary, and nothing compared to what his mother’skind had done to him. Two decades he’d lived here in exile, kept from his father, forcedto live with this woman. No one else welcomed him with anything but curses and stones. Demon spawn they’d called him. And the spirits of his father’s line called to him. As soon as his body rotted, he’d be reborn into his father’s kingdom. Walking with the rest of his kind, he’d find his place.
His mother’s song faded in the middle of a verse. Good. She’s finally realized there is no hope.
Darkness crept over him, thefire dying. He just needed to be patient. He’d discover so many secrets. It couldn’t possibly last more than another night.
“Usko? No. Nooo!”
Has mother gone outside? What could she need now? He didn’t care anymore. Numbness spread through his body as his blood ceased to flow. Yes. Gray flickering blurred his vision. Vitality seeped out of hishusk and he slippedaway from the small cottage on the taiga.---Satu had gone far enough. She stoppedthe horse undera scrub pine. It was suitable for Usko’s interment. No spirits had claimed this grove,and the tribe-folk never came out this far.
She worked quickly. This task needed finishing beforedark. Over and over again, she buried thehead of her shovel in the rocky dirt. When her hair tangled about the shovel, she pushed it back. When sweat ran outof her hair and down her temple, she wiped it away with the back of her hands, smearing dirt across her cheeks.
She dug anddug. Never mind that he’d asked to be left in the sun. Theplace for her boy would be far from the ground that good folk walked.---Finally, dirt-smearedand itching with sweat, she judged the hole would hold safe the body of her son. The sky lightened and blushed. The sun traveled too fast this day. Widdershins she circled the grave,while she sang a rune. She floated linden leaves down into the grave,making a bed on which to lay her enchantment. She dug into her pouch, a pinch of thedried grit of a distant sea; she tossed it on the leaves. Sung andseasoned, the pit was readyto accept its ward.
She turned to the sledge. He still had a damned smile on his waxy face. He lay in his furs, bow slung over his shoulder, quiver full. She’d folded a handful of cloudberries into a cloth and tucked it into his belt. At any moment he could spring up tohunt for her dinner,but his eyes were wide and dull. He thoughthe’d gotten what he wanted, freed his soul of its human limitations. How sanguine of him.
She frowned. He’d left her to face winter alone. She stroked the posy at her belt; its power warmed her fingers. She’d show him what he got for leaving her alone.
Like Adj, Usko’s demon father, the spirits of the land had abandoned her. Neither the spirits nor he would ever give her the comfort she wanted. She was truly alone and if the runes were right, a long, cold winter came her way.

“Ingrate,” she snarled and spat on his face. “You left me alone.” She grabbed his ankles and dragged him from the sledge. “You were all I had here.” She kicked him into his grave.He thudded into his new home, face up. Oh well. Too much trouble to climb backdown there to twist him around. She clutched the posy and began circling the occupied grave. Winding a red cordround the stems, she sang the names of her chosen plants. Blessed thistle and green juniper sprigs for purification, betony with its purple blooms and birch twigs todispel evil, and nightshade and willow switches to make Usko forget his life. Reaching the end of song and cord, she twisted the knot. Reaching over the hole, its thorny twigs bit into her hands, as her son had bitten into her life. Good riddance. With a rustle, thebundle landed on his chest. He’d had his chance to stay with her. Now she’d be sure he never went anywhere again.
No one but her would know his remains were here. She coveredhim with the forest’s floor, returning it to the way it was before she’d come.
You’ve just reada sample of the Emotobook Single, Lingering in the Woods. Written by Cynthia Ravinski. Illustrated by Loran Skinkis. Edited by Alexis Jenny.
Lingering in the woods is available at all major ebook reatailers includingAmazon http://amzn.to/HsxZWE and iBooks http://bit.ly/K7ioxP
This post continues my Magic Appreciation Blog Tour. My last post was at The Summer Sleeper. http://bit.ly/R1cOyw

Biography
Cynthia Ravinski writes Emotobooks, among other things. From her coastal northern setting she wrenches language into stories. She’s been an athlete, a co-pilot, and a world traveler. She’s basked in the light of great poets, and has been educated to high degrees at UMaine Farmington and Seton Hill University. To say she is obsessed with drinking tea is an understatement.
Find Cynthia Ravinski at her Blog www.cynthiaravinski.comOn facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaRavinskiAuthorAnd twitter @CynthiaRavinski

What are emotobooks?

Emotobooks is a new term created by Ron Gavalik, founder of Grit City Publications. The concept of a graphic novel that illustrates the story as it is told through the written word is well known. Emotobooks don't seek to illustrate the physical dimension of the narrative. They seek to illustrate the emotion and thereby heighten the experience of the narrative.

Intense conceptual pieces of art are inserted into the emotobooks at important points in the story to add significance and clarity to the narrative experience.

I present the concept of emotobooks because Her Ladyship's Quest is having a guest on Friday, September 21st. Author Cynthia Ravinski will be sharing an excerpt from her emotobook-style story Lingering in the Woods.

Please come back at the end of the week to read the excerpt and see its complementary piece of art.

To learn more about emotobooks go to Grit City Publications. 

Just released! Chapters 3 and 4 of The Goddess Queen audiobook

Four chapters totaling about 2 hours of audio for The Goddess Queen: The Rys Chronicles Book II are now available. If you've read or listened to Union of Renegades, you can now continue listening to the epic. Buying the episodes as they are released will greatly support the audiobook production. I'm also happy to report that I should be able to release chapters 5 and 6 in about a week. Then more 2-chapter episodes will be produced every month until the audiobook is complete.

The Goddess Queen audiobook

Voice talent provided by Andrew Wetmore.

Listen to a sample from the opening of The Goddess Queen.

If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element
Select the episodes you need and checkout with Paypal. The mp3 files will be available for immediate download after payment through my service Payloadz.

Episode 1 of The Goddess Queen: The Rys Chronicles Book II.

Chapter 1 Fierce Loss

Chapter 2 The Proving Ground

$1.50 Add to cart Chapters 1 and 2 The Goddess Queen

You will recieve 2 mp3 files. Each is about 30 minutes.

In Chapter 1 Fierce Loss Dreibrand grapples with the pressures of his impending fatherhood.

In Chapter 2 The Proving Ground Dreibrand joins King Taischek on a royal hunt and Shan recklessly draws out the Kezanada.

Episode 2

Chapter 3 Dueling Mercenaries

Chapter 4 Protege

$1.50 Add to Cart Chapters 3 and 4

You will recieve 2 mp3 files. Each is about 30 minutes.

In Chapter 3 Dueling Mercenaries Dreibrand gets caught in mortal combat without his armor and the Kezanada Overlord disables Shan with enchanted weapons.

In Chapter 4 Protégé Queen Onja decides that the eastern world must pay her tribute. She grooms a young rys to serve as an ambassador to the Atrophane Empire and begin its subjugation.

Follow this blog or bookmark The Goddess Queen fantasy audiobook page at my website to monitor the release of future episodes. 

The Elephant in the Living Room is a shocking documentary

Review of documentary The Elephant in the Living Room directed by Michael Webber
As someone who frequently browses the documentary category, I skim a lot of weird titles. Some subjects are so strong that the title is thought provoking enough and watching has to be delayed until I’m mentally ready, but I was recently hooked by the unexpected title The Elephant in the Living Room. It is an expose on the widespread and little known realm of exotic animal keepers.
Exotic animals is a broad category that includes:
TigersLionsBearsWolvesCougars Chimpanzees and monkeysBurmese pythonsAny lethally poisonous snakes and reptiles, like gaboon vipers, one of the most dangerous in the world
It is not abnormal for these dangerous animals to escape. And don’t be surprised if that escaped 600-pound predator is hungry, perhaps even starving, because you know it's hard to keep a tiger in meat on a regular Joe’s wages.
The keepers of these animals sometimes get killed.
The keepers of these animals sometimes kill their pets. This is a sad result but I can easily imagine how someone could be driven to such an action. Imagine your beloved tiger kitten growing up and now you have to fear for your life. Wow, how do you sleep at night living with that?
The keepers of these animals sometimes release the exotic animals into the wild to get rid of them. Who knows how many exotic poisonous snakes have slipped away into the grasses over the years? Burmese pythons are now endemic in Florida. No matter how many are killed or removed, the pythons are now thriving in that environment.
The main narrator of the film is Tim Harris a public safety officer for city of Oakwood near Dayton, Ohio. He has a history of keeping lions and admits to being attracted to this world, but he firmly believes in the necessity of the law enforcement interventions that he participates in.
I was most struck by his statement when he said. "You don’t have to go India to see a tiger. You don’t have to go to Canada to see a cougar. You don’t have to go to Africa to see a viper. You can see it right here, Anytown, USA." 
Think about that one for a while and let it sink in.
I have to wonder if there is something like a lion or wolf or tiger within miles of my house, and I don’t mean at the zoo. This possibility firmly reinforces my belief that you just don’t know what’s in the woods at night.
The Elephant in the Living Room succeeds as an outstanding documentary because of its deeply emotional portrayal of one keeper of lions. His love for the lions is immense but cannot be reconciled with the harsh fact that he cannot provide them with humane shelter. Throughout the documentary the Officer Tim Harris works through several emotional negotiations with the lion keeper as he insists that the situation cannot continue. The lions had already gotten loose and terrified people in the community. The animal control officer works valiantly to find a sanctuary for the animals and convince the owner to give them up. The man clearly should not be attempting to house lions. He’s in ill health and has modest resources. His emotional dependence on the lions as pets is wrong, yet I had only empathy for his absolute love for his kitties. And they WERE kitties to him.  Women are stereotyped as cat lovers, but I say don’t get between a man and his cats.
The Elephant in the Living Room reveals an astounding reality going on throughout the United States and likely other countries too. The subject matter is presented intelligently. I consider this a top shelf documentary because I think about it almost every day. 

Thanks for the 5 star review at iTunes for Rys Rising

I was pleasantly surprised last night to see that Rys Rising: Book I had received a 5 star review in the iTunes store.

In case the image is too small for you to read, it says:

"I couldn't put this one down until it was finished. Whole book is free to advertise this powerful fantasy fiction author ... I will now buy her other books."

Thank you for sharing your glowing opinion. I'm glad my novel was able to entertain you so well. 

Rys Rising on iTunes