Traci L. Slatton's Blog, page 13

US Review of Books reviews BROKEN

The US Review of Books published a wonderful review of BROKEN:

“I come from a world of light, to which I will never return.”

Broken is the story of an angel’s journey when she chooses to take on human form during one of the most prolific yet horrendous periods in France’s history. Assuming the life of a poet under the name Alia Mercer, she claims that she is “an angel who threw herself away” so she could satisfy the lusts of the flesh. Aware that evil is about to overtake Paris and the Jewish race, the archangel Michael reminds her that she is an angel who just “lost her way” and has at her disposal one act of grace. It is up to Alia whether she will use this powerful healing moment or not.

Multi-novelist Slatton, has created a riveting story set within a dystopian society. Entering the earthly realm in Paris during the summer of 1939, Alia narrates her new life encircled by friends who are among the Golden Age “free thinkers” of existentialism and surrealism. Slatton incorporates into her storyline a rich host of notables that once frequented the cafes and bars of the Montparnasse district—such as writers Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, and artists Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, to name a few.

Aside of Alia, Slatton focuses her characters on Alia’s closest acquaintances that have Jewish backgrounds—Pedro and Josef (her choice of lovers), Josef’s sister Suzanne and her daughter Cecile. Slatton’s use of contrast includes a complex mix of Alia’s graphic love jaunts and the lively parties with her elite friends that are often juxtaposed with the realities of impending war and genocide. In particular, Slatton’s contrast between Alia’s selfish thoughts and Cecile’s innocence are poignant, especially when Alia makes desperate attempts to protect her Jewish friends against Hitler’s enforcement to collect Jews. A wonderful balance of characters, history, and religious thought, Broken is earmarked to be an epic dystopian novel.

–written by Anita Locke

RECOMMENDED by the USR

Writing Eros in BROKEN

[This short article originally appeared on If These Books Could Talk Blog. ]

I’ve been married with children for my entire adult life, so, technically, I don’t know anything about sex. (Or, perhaps, birth control….) It’s true, I’ve had two different husbands, but I think it’s fair to say that I fall under the vanilla category.

As smooth, satisfying, and delicious as vanilla is, sometimes, as an author, I need something more tangerine, or more pungent. Luckily I have a good imagination, and a husband who’s willing to experiment with me. In the name of art, of course.

Broken, set in occupied Paris from 1939-1942, is the story of a fallen angel who struggles to save her friends and lovers as the Nazis exert ever more lethal control over the city. The angel Alia falls from heaven because of a personal loss which shocks her out of unity thinking. As soon as she falls, she is beset with sensual desire, with temptation, with the lust that is embedded in flesh. She throws herself into the cornucopia of carnal delights offered by Paris on the eve of the second world war. Paris in 1938-1939 was a feast of entertainment, parties, and revelry, with many intellectuals, writers, and artists openly living a licentious lifestyle.

But I imagined that Alia didn’t start out completely human. Broken is also the story of her journey into her own humanity. So the sex scenes in this novel document her incarnation. They aren’t just gratuitous titillation. Alia begins the novel with a free-wheeling, casual attitude about sex and lovers because she hasn’t yet fully identified with her body. It’s a plaything for her, it’s not herself. So I thought of these early sex scenes in the vein of sex-as-frivolous-fun.

Sex changes as she begins to care for the bullfighter Pedro and the musician-mathematician Josef. Her heart is part of her body, too—her heart goes along with what her body embraces.

Alia also has a horrifying experience of sex used against her. She is manipulated into gratifying a Gestapo agent, and it sickens her. But sex as a power play is part of the human condition, so as an author, I chose to include it.

Finally she comes to be a partner with one man, and she experiences deep intimacy with him. The eroticism they share ripens. It’s based on a heart-connection as well as sensual pleasure. It’s not just about ecstasy anymore, it’s also about love; Alia has become fully human, fully identified with her physical being. She has experienced the full range of sexuality as she has evolved into the woman who would make the ultimate sacrifice for her beloveds.

Interview on Karen’s Book Blog

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.

My New HuffPo Piece: Five Questions You Must Ask Your Protagonist

…Before Writing Your Novel…

Here’s my latest piece on the Huffington Post, some advice for writers.

The first question is, What do you do, and are you good at it?

Find the article here.

BROKEN Blog Tour starts today!

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 - ReviewSept 22

If These Books Could Talk – Guest PostSept 23rd

Karen Banes Blog – InterviewSept 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 – Excerpt

Sept 30th

Best Between the Lines – Review

My Bookish Life   9/30   Excerpt



Oct 1st

Drunk on Pop – Review

Quote for the day, and a Beautiful review of BROKEN

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!

 

 

BROKEN and a Guest Post on THE READING CAFE

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!

Launch Day of BROKEN and a 5 Crescent Review

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.

Goodreads Giveaway of BROKEN

Enter to win, and good luck!

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Broken
by Traci L. Slatton

Giveaway ends September 05, 2014.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Insightful Review of BROKEN on Tynga’s Reviews

Stéphanie Leroux of Tynga’s Reviews wrote a thoughtful, fantastic review of Broken. Clearly she grappled with the story–she took it on and chewed it over and entered into a dialogue with it. I love those kinds of reviews. I love those kinds of readers. I took many risks with this novel and it thrills me when readers are willing to meet those risks head-on.

In part, she wrote:

Although the story was definitely not what I expect, it was truly original. It shocked me multiple times, brought me to tears, and provided good entertainment…

Traci L. Slatton took a huge risk by adding eroticism to some of the love scenes but personally I think it’s a great way to balance out the horrors of war. These opposites are strange because it’s unexpected but the love story does provide a way to escape into the story without being overwhelmed by the hostility of the occupation….

I enjoyed it, it’s not your everyday paranormal read. I have nothing to compare it to, and it’s hard to define it, but I guess that’s what makes it so stunning. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read.

Find the review here, on the lively Team Tynga’s Reviews blog.

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