Unusual Historicals: Author Interview & Book Giveaway: Tracy Falbe

23 February 2014

Author Interview & Book Giveaway: Tracy Falbe

This week, we're pleased to welcome author Tracy Falbe with her latest novel, WERELORD THAL: A RENAISSANCE WEREWOLF TALE. The author will offer a free paperback copy of Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale to a lucky blog visitor. This giveaway is restricted to the United States. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments of today's author interview for a chance to win. Here's the blurb.

Thal is wanted for Devil worship and shape shifting but still boldly walks the streets of 16th century Prague. Jesuits hunt him. Mercenaries fear him. Musicians sing his praise, and women are captivated by his alpha swagger.

Born of a witch and a sorcerer, he is summoned when his desperate mother casts the werewolf spell before facing torture and execution. Burdened with her magical call for vengeance Thal seeks the men that killed her. His hunt is complicated when the Magistrate’s stepdaughter Altea Kardas crosses his path. Horrified that her community is burning women to death, she can confide her doubt and fear only to Thal.

He desires her greatly but knows he will bring ruin upon her. Across Bohemia and beyond people who are different are labeled heretics in a restless world hobbled by tyrannical ignorance. The Renaissance has thrown the Holy Roman Empire into turmoil. Printed books are spreading radical ideas. Firearms are triggering a new age of warfare. And the human spirit is shaking off obedience.

Thal embodies the ancient magic of the pagan past. He challenges a world conquered by a spiritual system that denies the flesh and forgets the Earth. And he awakens within Altea recognition of these truths. She believes any risk is worth loving him until she becomes the bait in a trap set by Thal’s enemies.

**Author Interview with Tracy Falbe**

What made you choose Renaissance Europe for the setting of Werelord Thal?

I have been fascinated by Renaissance history my whole life. The incredible art of that era drew me in first. It’s an age uniquely inspired. Nothing in our time comes close to the feeling and technical quality of Renaissance art. When I initially started college at Central Michigan University I was a history major. This is where I took classes about the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, and witchcraft. I was taught that the institutions of our modern world began to take shape in the Renaissance, like nation states, global empire and commerce, printing, and widespread literacy along with the technological beginnings of industrialism. Learning about witch hunting was especially horrifying to me because it was a systematic assault by religious and secular powers on civilians, mainly women.

In my novel the transformation of Thal between man and werewolf beast is meant to be complemented by the social transformations during the Renaissance. Thal however is in balance with his human and natural animal powers. He has control. Society on the other hand is flailing and out of control and the beasts of oppression and warfare are primed to burst loose and ravage the world.

After writing eight epic fantasy novels, why did you choose a real world historical era for your ninth novel?

For a long time I had wanted to write a novel inspired by European witch hunting. After writing eight epic fantasies where I was the world creator, I decided to increase the challenge as a writer and work in a historical setting where I had to do research and be guided by reality in the presentation of the culture and world. I must say that when I blended historical Bohemia with its lush castle-filled landscape with witchcraft and werewolf folklore I found a perfect fantasy playground in which to write a story.

What are your writing habits?

Since deciding to be a novelist in 1997, I have written almost daily. There of course were some dry periods when I was having babies or doing freelance writing, but I always strive to write every day. I need this creative outlet to stave off depression. Writing makes me feel relieved and happy.

Now that my kids are in school I try to get about a thousand words written during the day and then another thousand at night after the kids go to bed. Of course I don’t always meet these quotas. Sometimes I’m researching, deciding next steps, or editing.

What types of people read your novels?

I always struggle with this one. Business advice always says to know your target market and write for your audience. For the life of me I can’t determine if there is a demographic that fits my fiction. Over the years I’ve had numerous readers communicate with me. They are men, women, sometimes older than me, sometimes younger, various races and ethnicities, from the

United States

or other countries. I guess this is why I am an independent author because I can’t be marketed as the novelist for “30-something professional women” or “teenage boys” or what have you. I write thoughtful fiction full of action and deep themes for those who want to look. I always include magic because I love to write from a place of spiritual and metaphysical reflection.

What are your hobbies?

If there were a hundred hours in the day, I would fill them with projects. Many things interest me. I’ll probably die with a dozen unfinished projects cluttering my house and a pie in the oven. Baking is a primary hobby for me. I also enjoy gardening. I grow a lot of food in my yard and I study permaculture. Bicycling and boating my warm weather activities. I love the water.