Tracy Falbe's Blog, page 78

What do fans of medieval fantasy get out of it?

Photo by David Ball, shared according to license.


I think very few modern readers can relate to laboring on rustic farms until marauders come and kill their guardians. And I'm sure it's the rare fantasy reader who actually gets to study with a swordmaster before facing supernatural beasts. Despite an obvious lack of real connections with the audience, the longstanding approach to fantasy storytelling that sets the action in a medieval-style world enjoys enduring popularity.

In such a setting...

I'm not the only one thinking about Halloween already

Yesterday, my husband told me that it was too early to put up Halloween decorations. I suppose I can concede that point, but it's not too early to start planning. Like me, other Halloween enthusiasts are gearing up for Halloween too.

One blog I follow called The Domestic Witch announced today a Halloween blog party. This online celebration will make her blog a hub for participants who post on Halloween or Samhain subjects. Because I had been planning to write on some Halloween subjects in Oct...

A brief history of my five years of selling ebooks

When I started publishing my writing, I did not plan on becoming an ebook seller. I was focused on how to get my books printed, set up a website, and list them in Amazon. Then I noticed an option on a menu in Adobe InDesign. I used that software to design my books, but it also had a choice that said "make ebook". This produced a PDF file with a resolution suitable for screen viewing and a clickable table of contents.

I remember looking at the "make ebook" option and thinking, "Who would want ...

Spartacus: A favorite movie with an interesting history

If I had a time machine, one of the many things I would do is stop in 1960 so I could watch Spartacus on the big screen. This spear-and-sandle epic based on the novel by Howard Fast is one of my all-time favorite movies.

What do I like so much about Spartacus?

- Directed by Stanley Kubrick
- Starring Kirk Douglas (love that man!)
- The Roman Empire
- Passionate script
- Great acting
- Lavish spectacle with thousands of extras
- Lots of man flesh
- Multiple dramatic scenes that reduce me to tears
- And...

What is Devil's Night?

Growing up in Michigan as I did, I have always regarded the night before Halloween as Devil's Night. True to its name, Devil's Night is a time of uncivil nonsense in which pranks are pulled. Doorbells ring. Bags of dog poop blaze. Toilet paper sails over the branches of mature hardwoods. Eggs in abundance crash against parked cars, leaving an unpleasant gooey mess for undeserving morning Angels. My Grandmother, who grew up in Chatham, Ontario remembered Devil's Night with a fond smile. When I...

Original Conan adventure by Robert E. Howard free ebook

Robert E. Howard was a pulp writer in the 1930s and sadly committed suicide in 1936, the year in which Red Nails was published in Weird Tales. Although the term pulp writer might not get your literary panties in a bunch, Howard is widely regarded as an extremely talented writer. Check out the high level of ongoing devotion at the Cimmerian if you need confirmation beyond my opinion.

I recently found the story Red Nails at Gutenberg.org and dressed it up with some cover art and formatted it nic...

Herne the Hunter - Born of Celtic myth and living on as a good ghost story

Tellers of tales about English forests have perpetuated chilling accounts of a phantom man-stag sounding his horn and riding with his ghostly hounds in the Windsor Great Park. With deer antlers rising from his red-eyed skull, Herne the hunter rides a black horse and glows with the spectral power of a restless shade.



1840s depiction of Herne the Hunter by George Cruikshank

Many versions of Herne the Hunter have entertained and frightened the folks throughout the centuries. A stable of monarchs f...

Classic Character profile - Ned Land from 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas

"Complaining doesn't have to do good, it just feels good! And if these pirates--I say pirates out of consideration for the professor's feelings, since he doesn't want us to call them cannibals-- if these pirates think they're going to smother me in this cage without hearing what cusswords spice up my outbursts, they've got another think coming! Look here, Professor Aronnax, speak frankly. How long do you figure they'll keep us in this iron box?" -- Ned Land the Harpooner

Characters are the...

Dark fantasy author Anna Kashina talks about her new novel Ivan and Marya

Recently I favorably reviewed the fantasy book Ivan and Marya by Anna Kashina. While corresponding with the author, she agreed to an interview. Please enjoy her comments about creating this engaging story based on folk tales from her native Russia.



Anna Kashina was born in Russia and moved to the United States in 1994. After publishing a novel and a short story collection in her native Russian, she switched languages and is now writing in English. Her fantasy works have been published in the ...

Devil's Lair - Medieval fantasy by David Wisehart

Writer of novels and screenplays, David Wisehart kindly published an interview with me at his Kindle Author blog. I'm very grateful for the nice post he put together about my fantasy series. Readers who use the Kindle store would benefit from following this blog. So many works are produced for Kindle ebook readers, and blogs such as these offer convenient places for people to discover little-known novels.

David Wisehart's own novel Devil's Lair promises to be a great read. It has two 5-star r...