Traci L. Slatton's Blog, page 5

The Portsmouth Review on THE YEAR OF LOVING

The Portsmouth Review on THE YEAR OF LOVING

Rebecca Skane at The Portsmouth Review is one of my favorite book reviewers. She writes elegantly and her reviews are thoughtful, salient, and relevant. I am a huge fan! I always send her a copy of a novel as soon as I finish it–immediately if not sooner.

Naturally I sent her a hot-off-the-press copy of THE YEAR OF LOVING. I waited eagerly and, yes, a bit anxiously to find out what she thought about it.

Yesterday her review appeared on The Portsmouth Review: 5 stars! Yay!

Ms. Skane wrote, in part:

Differing from most romances on a level of personal taste, there was no eye rolling. Sarah’s character development is thoroughly hashed out and delivered as a newly independent woman who wants to focus on herself and her children rather than potential suitors. But she’s human. And humans have needs. They also have faults. I found her character to be someone I could relate to and someone I would love to know in real life. She so desperately wants her independence, so much so that she won’t let Carl float her by buying more paintings after they start their tryst. I can completely understand this – she didn’t want to feel indebted, owned, controlled. Scott also threatens that independence when he drops his young children off without warning when he’s on call, and asks (no, TELLS) her to cook for him….

She finishes with, “The Year of Loving is a wonderful read for those who adore romance, intelligent women’s fiction, and steamy scenes. And as always, Slatton manages to turn any story into a literary piece with her sophisticated prose and keen eye for detail.”

Check out this terrific 5* review on The Portsmouth Review!

Also, note my upcoming author events: January 28 at 3 at the Hamilton Grange Library

January 29 at 8 pm on Mommy Interrupted radio with Kristi Beck WLINY

February 11 at 2 pm at the Riverside Library

February 16 at 9 pm on Authors on Air: The Librarian

[image error]

The post The Portsmouth Review on THE YEAR OF LOVING appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.

Upcoming Author Events!

Upcoming Author Events for Traci L. Slatton

Guess what? I will be doing some public events around New York City. How much fun is that? I love to talk about my books!

*I will present at the Hamilton Grange Library on January 28, 2017 at 3:00 PM. The Hamilton Grange Public Library is at 503 W. 145th street.

*I will be a guest at the Women’s Novels of New York Book Club on February 2, 2017 at 6:00 PM. I don’t yet know where that event will be, but it will be fun!

*I will present at the Riverside Library on February 11, 2017 at 2:00 PM. The Riverside Library is at 127 Amsterdam Avenue.

Stay tuned for more information!

The post Upcoming Author Events! appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.

IA&T is Back with Director Malcom Carter

Malcom Carter on IA&T

BlogTalkRadio show Independent Artists & Thinkers is BACK! On November 23, 2016 we will host Director/Producer/Writer Malcom Carter.

Are all things in the Universe really connected? How can we learn to see things differently? Join us as director, writer, and producer Malcom Carter talks about his new film THE CONNECTED UNIVERSE.

THE CONNECTED UNIVERSE is a fascinating and visually poetic journey of exploration of the connection of all things in the Universe. The film is Narrated by the legendary Sir Patrick Stewart.  It explores many intriguing ideas and features the science of Nassim Haramein and his search to understand the mechanism of connection of all things in the Universe.

The Connected Universe has a global message, and it’s the highest crowd funded documentary in Indiegogo history!  In its first two weeks of release it has been purchased by people in 104 countries  – over half of the countries in the world!

This film will INSPIRE YOU to CONNECT TO YOUR POTENTIAL… the potential of WHO YOU ARE and WHO YOU CAN BECOME.

Malcom Carter is an Award winning Filmmaker and director. Over the last 20 years his work has appeared on 544 television networks, in 155 countries, and reached a combined global audience of over 2 billion viewers. Malcom is passionate about using the power of film to make a difference in the world by communicating messages that matter. He has extensive expertise in creating compelling communications with global impact. He is also known for being able to work with visionary thought leaders and advanced thinkers to translate and synthesize their ideas in an understandable way to a wide audience.

This has lead to work with NASA think tanks, and with global humanitarian organizations.

Malcom is also known for creating cinematic, engaging, and emotionally compelling films. Films that touch the heart. Films that inspire and inform the mind. Focused on global messaging – Malcom is part of a global network of top film makers in over 40 countries that shares communication strategies, film techniques, and local contacts to truly enhance the ability to film affordably around the globe.

Malcom currently lives in Vancouver, Canada and was the Director of the Asian Winter Games for the International Olympic Committee of Asia (2011), he also is an advoccate for mental health and worked with Kaiser Foundation Films. Malcom is a member of the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers, Billion Minds Foundation Board of Governors, and various think tanks (NASA AMES, Colorado School of Mines, Talberg Forum).

Selected Awards: 25 motion picture award nominations (Best Director, Best Documentary, Best Promotional Film, Best Public Service Film, Best Music Video, Best Educational Film, Best Program Reflecting Cultural Diversity, Walter Klein Award, FREDDIE).

 

The post IA&T is Back with Director Malcom Carter appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.

TomeTender Giveaway and Great New Review of THE YEAR OF LOVING

TomeTender Giveaway!

The wonderful and lively TomeTender Book Blog is hosting a giveaway of 2 eBook copies of THE YEAR OF LOVING! What fun! It ends on November 25.

I really enjoy the reviews on TomeTender–they’re very well-written and thoughtful. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that TomeTender gave THE YEAR OF LOVING 5* and called my novel a “Must Read”!

Here is YOUR chance to win One of Two eCopies of THE YEAR OF LOVING
from @tracilslatton https://t.co/vNrjIPN4ss #giveaway #mustread pic.twitter.com/cDvzRb1ZGr

— Dianne (@DiiBylo) November 16, 2016

Also, the Romantic Fanatic Book Blog gave THE YEAR OF LOVING 5*!

Brave One wrote,

Great book with a main character that I’m not sure how she keeps going. A few time in this story I was waiting for her to give up, I think most people would with everything she was dealing with. I liked how the author kept me wondering what now!! Boy she didn’t let me down either. This book has great ups and big downs and yes I cried a few times.  The author makes this like a friend that you taking with and helping on this path. Great story!!

5* The Year of Loving, by Traci L. Slatton https://t.co/eNANf3oyWe via @RomanticFanBlog

— Traci L Slatton (@tracilslatton) November 16, 2016

Take a look for yourself, and good luck if you enter the Giveaway!

The post TomeTender Giveaway and Great New Review of THE YEAR OF LOVING appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.

Arrival, A Beautiful Movie

Arrival, a beautiful movie

The movie opens with a reverie about time and memory, set in a scene of love, the love a mother feels for her child, and loss. The images fade. Louise, a professor of languages, goes to her university to teach. The students are mesmerized by news on their laptops: twelve shell-shaped black space ships have landed around the world. This happens with slow and quiet dread, not with bombast. Louise is tapped by the military to try to communicate with the aliens.

There follows a thoughtful, absorbing story about the frustrations inherent in communication. Louise is tasked with finding out where they came from and most importantly, why they’re here. But the aliens’ language isn’t even sound-based–it’s written in smoke. The aliens produce feathery circular symbols.

While Louise is on the makeshift military base set up around a shell in Montana, she experiences memories of her beloved daughter, who has seemingly died of a rare, incurable illness.

The secret to the aliens’ language is its oneness. An entire thought complex can be seen at once; their language doesn’t begin and end over a period of time. In the way that language shapes thought, all time is one for the aliens.

And so Louise is feeling and inhabiting this oneness. The closing question is heartfelt and poignant, and one I’ve pondered: If you knew in advance everything in your life, how it would all play out, would you choose to do it anyway?

Losing a child is the hardest thing any parent can face. So if the parent knew beforehand about the loss, would she choose to have the child anyway, just for the journey of loving the child for however many years the child was with her?

A question worth pondering asked by a movie worth seeing.

The post Arrival, A Beautiful Movie appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.

Two Excellent Reviews of THE YEAR OF LOVING

Two excellent reviews of THE YEAR OF LOVING

Two of my favorite book review blogs posted reviews of THE YEAR OF LOVING, and they were great reviews.

Tome Tender Book Blog, whose tag line is “When it comes to books, who needs shelf control”–a sentiment with which I heartily agree–ran the most beautiful review yesterday. The review started off by saying “In two words I can give my recommendation of Traci L. Slatton’s The Year of Loving. READ IT!”

Well, those words are music to a novelist’s ears!

About the love triangle, Dii the reviewer wrote,

Two men want Sarah, one is far too young, self-absorbed in his own life, one is older, powerful and used to taking control of every situation. While both have their good sides, Sarah is not ready to commit to anyone until she can rein in her own personal issues. For anyone who has ever felt like it is you against the world, like your heart is being stabbed repeatedly with a rusty blade or like a cockroach under someone’s shoe, you will relate to Sarah in all her flawed glory.

It delighted me that Dii got that love triangle so perfectly.

Dii wrote with great compassion about the character of Sarah and her troubles with her daughters:

Traci L. Slatton has NOT created a Shrinking Violet in Sarah, or a woman who spends her energy wallowing in self-pity. Sarah is a strong woman, vital and oh my, her wickedly wry sense of humor is priceless! Her headstrong determination sometimes is her worst enemy, but hey, no one is perfect. I almost needed a leather strap to bite on when she tangled with her daughters and their callous attitudes when her concern WAS to be a good parent who tried to set high standards for them, knowing she was powerless to help them see that her boundaries were far healthier than their father’s “gifts.” Another connecting point for so many. Love her, hate her, Sarah is real, she feels, she tries to do what is right, no matter what, but she is a woman alone and she recognizes that, too, no excuses, no apologies.

It thrilled me to read this review because Dii had perfectly understood what I was trying to do with this story and its characters. It’s gratifying all the way into the mitochondria of my cells!

So check out this wonderful blog and the review here.

Sandy at The Reading Cafe called THE YEAR OF LOVING “realistic, revealing and sensitive.”

THE YEAR OF LOVING is a story of hardships and struggles; embittered exes, and troubled and rebellious teens caught between the destructive nature of battling parents. Traci L. Slatton writes a tale of one woman’s emotional journey into the abyss of relationship failure, financial strain, and an independent nature that comes across as complicated and unrelenting. The premise is intense; the characters are controversial and tragic. There are moments of heartbreak and grief; acceptance and moving forward; falling in love and letting go of the past.

She’s another one of those treasured readers who deeply understands a story, and she writes a thoughtful review. So read Sandy’s review here.

The post Two Excellent Reviews of THE YEAR OF LOVING appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.

Recent Sabin Howard Articles, Podcasts & Videos

My husband Sabin Howard has been getting a lot of press lately because of the World War I Memorial. Here are some recent Sabin Howard articles, podcasts & videos.

The Wall Street Journal ran a terrific article about him entitled “Conveying Horror and Heroism for World War I Memorial.” If you click here and hit the WSJ paywall, then google “horror and heroism Sabin Howard” and you can get into the full story from the google result. Weird process, but it works.

The article discusses Sabin’s process in his studio, where he photographs models in WW1 uniforms with his iPhone.

You can download the PDf of the article here.

Sabin also got some coverage from News12 The Bronx. A young reporter came to his studio and filmed for two hours. Here’s the brief “Best of the Bronx” Clip and the Extended Interview:





Finally, here’s a podcast that’s pretty good, from the Clark Hulings Fund for Visual Artists.

http://sabinhoward.com/Sabin_Howard%20Clark%20Huling.mp3

The post Recent Sabin Howard Articles, Podcasts & Videos appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.

Beautiful Santa Fe

There’s a friend to whom I used to send lengthy missives about my life. I fear I trespassed against my friend’s great kindness with these long notes. I have promised myself to stop.

But as George Orwell said, writing is thinking, and in the process of writing, I clarified things in my mind. My thoughts opened and organized themselves. It wasn’t so much self-expression as self-understanding. It was a useful process.

I caught myself contemplating how to explain to my friend about the enchantment of Santa Fe, as I drove out of Albuquerque toward this beautiful town.

As I left the airport city, the sky expanded. The blue deepened in intensity. My spirits rose of their own accord, responding to the unfettered freedom of that great expanse of the heavens.

It’s not just the sky—it’s the light of Santa Fe that’s so compelling. I love Cape Cod, too, for the light. In Truro, there’s a honeyed quality to the light, a lavender richness underlying the brilliance. In Santa Fe, the light is crystalline. The absolute clarity of luminosity is breath-taking.

Then there’s the landscape: the mountains, the rich red-brown of the earth, the piñon trees and the rocks and the desert and the forests.

Last time I was in Santa Fe, we saw a bear alongside the road. It was a medium-sized animal, maybe an adolescent, a grayish streak hurtling alongside the cars. I never knew bears could move so fast. I also saw a roadrunner streaking across the road: it looked like a tiny dinosaur.

Yesterday a friend took me hiking on Mt. Ataleya. She lent me open-toed Teva sandals because I hadn’t packed sneakers, and I went to lengths to avoid the cactus while scrambling up the trails.

Earlier in the day, I went to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, which I recommend. The gift shop is emblazoned with one of O’Keeffe’s wise sayings, which put me in mind of my own Sabin, who says the same thing: “Nothing is less real than realism.” It is magical here.

 

The post Beautiful Santa Fe appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.

Goodreads Giveaway of THE YEAR OF LOVING

Goodreads Giveaway of THE YEAR OF LOVING

On October 19 starts a Goodreads giveaway for THE YEAR OF LOVING. Enter to win one of 5 Signed Copies!

Art gallerist Sarah Paige’s world is crumbling. One daughter barely speaks to her and the other is off the rails. Sarah is struggling to keep her gallery afloat in a tough market when she learns that her most beloved friend has cancer. In the midst of her second divorce, two men come into her life: an older man who offers companionship and stability and an exciting younger man whose life is as chaotic as hers.

Sarah’s courage, humor, and spirit strengthen her, but how much can she bear, and what sustains her when all else falls away?

The contest runs in the US and Canada and it runs from October 19 to November 5, 2016.

.goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px;
font-style: normal; background: white; }
.goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; }
.goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink {
display: inline-block;
color: #181818;
background-color: #F6F6EE;
border: 1px solid #9D8A78;
border-radius: 3px;
font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: none;
outline: none;
font-size: 13px;
padding: 8px 12px;
}
.goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover {
color: #181818;
background-color: #F7F2ED;
border: 1px solid #AFAFAF;
text-decoration: none;
}

Goodreads Book Giveaway


The Year of Loving
by Traci L. Slatton

Giveaway ends November 05, 2016.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

The post Goodreads Giveaway of THE YEAR OF LOVING appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.

Announcing THE YEAR OF LOVING

Announcing THE YEAR OF LOVING

I am delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of THE YEAR OF LOVING.

Art gallerist Sarah Paige’s world is crumbling. One daughter barely speaks to her and the other is off the rails. Sarah is struggling to keep her gallery afloat in a tough market when she learns that her most beloved friend has cancer. In the midst of her second divorce, two men come into her life: an older man who offers companionship and stability and an exciting younger man whose life is as chaotic as hers.

Sarah’s courage, humor, and spirit strengthen her, but how much can she bear, and what sustains her when all else falls away?

THE YEAR OF LOVING is available on Amazon.com for pre-order. Publication date is October 10, 2016.

Look for a blog tour in November from Bewitching Book Tours!

 

The post Announcing THE YEAR OF LOVING appeared first on In the mouth of the serpent.