Tracy M. Joyce's Blog

Hi Folks,

Rada is up on NetGalley and Book Sprout for review until Feb 25th.

So if you want to grab your free review check out the links below:

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/boo...

https://booksprout.co/reviewer/review...

Great news!
Finally Rada: A Tale of Altaica is released and live on Amazon as an ebook. Other retailers will be live soon and the paperback will be available in the next week.
image:

Hi Folks,

Well, the garden here is going berserk and good country girl that I am I’m not letting anything go to waste – so it’s time for pickles, chutneys, relishes and now, with only a few jars left, the great glass jar hunt is underway!

Bookish update:

What’s in a name?

Ever since I started writing stories as a young child, names and their meanings have been important in my character creation. I always research the meaning of a name and often draw inspiration for the character from them and their sound. Usually, I use the Oxford Dictionary of Baby Names, but had to branch further afield on the net for more inspiration for Rada’s characters. (babynames.net proved useful as it offered separation of names based on ethnicity. I’ve no idea how accurate it is though! 😊 )

In Altaica I used, Indian and Arabic names for the Altaican population and for the refugees from Isaura’s land (Penidien) I used mainly Spanish names. In this case not only were the meanings of the names significant, but they served to accentuate the cultural divisions between the two.

With Rada, I’ve ventured back into Isaura’s homeland, but decided not to use Spanish names for the Zaragarians as, of course, they are from a different country and ethnic group. For them I’ve used mainly Russian and eastern European names. I imagine as their empire spreads and other races are brought under their dominion this will change for many lesser ranking Zaragarians. The elite will most likely, due to their racist views, maintain both bloodlines and their classic names. I try not to bring too many of our racial stereotypes with the ethnic names I use. ie I want the names to set my ethnic races apart, but still seem different to what we would expect. So, I might mix Arabic names with a culture that has more in common with tribes from the steppes. The idea is that I bring enough for people to “relate” to or envision, yet provide a twist.
The Zaragarians believe that whilst The Weaver (Bethsinidar) starts your thread in the great web of life, your name can influence your character and destiny.

Let’s look at our heroines:

Rada


Jadzia


Bubba

Update on writing:
Christmas and visitors have killed my writing progress, and mastering Altaica has slowed down, though I’m almost halfway through that. (It’s a long process!)
I had aimed for the audio book to be out for the new year, but am now aiming mid-Feb.
Cheers,

Tracy

Hi Folks,

If you've been wanting to read Altaica, then here's your chance to grab it for only .99c.

https://amzn.to/33fZUvE


https://amzn.to/33fZUvE

Happy New Year!
May it be better than the last one!

Hi Folks,

I started off wanting to give you something different to look at in this post and, well… I went down a bit of a “rabbit hole.”

This was meant to be a character profile on the Zaragarian Emperor Tikhon. (He is a main character in Rada and the Zaragarians are the bad guys Isaura and her friends flee from in Altaica.) I ended up creating a family tree, probably giving myself a nightmare for future book! Will I have to find stories for all these folks? Some I’m sure will pop up in Rada’s sequel. So, it’s kind of family tree / world building / …. I don’t know what. 😊



I hope you find it interesting. I’ve made annotations.

You can download Tikhon's family tree here: https://bit.ly/3qFc6zY

Enjoy!

Hi Folks,

Well here's some great news for all those binge readers who love Kindle Unlimited.

Altaica and Asena Blessed are both available on Kindle Unlimited!





Grab a cup of tea / coffee/ cocoa/ wine, sit back, put your feet up and enjoy your weekend with a good book. Maybe even these two ;-)

Cheers,

Tracy

Hi Folks,
Another month gone!

Exciting times are here for us in the state of Victoria – travel restrictions have been lifted after months of lockdown. I know many people who are going to be ecstatic to finally be able to catch up with loved ones.

My thanks to the many readers who responded to my last newsletter with very kind emails of support. They were lovely to receive.

The Altaica audiobook is in the mastering phase! Yay! Recording for Asena will start in a couple of weeks.

An updated and revised edition of Altaica will be released soon AND it will be on KU along with Asena Blessed. (Stay tuned!) What’s different about it? Two new maps, and a wee bit of extra text. The paperback edition will be out when I’ve had a chance to proof read it.



I'm pleased to announce that I'll be an exhibitor at this new virtual convention. You'll be able to get signed copies of my books AND the A3 colour prints of the Altaica maps. It's open world wide too!



With all the large pop culture conventions being cancelled here due to covid, some clever people have decided to organise this Con – inCONceivable, Nov 14-15. It’s shaping up really well and I hope it will continue each year and grow. Lots of authors are attending, comic / graphic novel artists, cosplayers there's panels and more.
inCONceivable launch video

If you’ve got the time check out the convention 😊 Tickets are free!
https://www.eventeny.com/events/incon...

Stay safe where ever you are.

Cheers,
Tracy

OZtober!



Hi Folks,

This month is all about promoting Australian authors of fantasy, sci-fi and horror!

The Oztober Promotion has run for the last few years and features discounted titles from Aussie authors.



Altaica is .99c until the end of October and Asena Blessed is discounted to $2.99. Please follow the link and check out what’s on offer. https://storyoriginapp.com/to/zNjBgVY

You never know, you might just find your next “favourite” author.

Cheers,

Tracy

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