Brain to Books Cyber Convention (FAIRGROUNDS) discussion

Welcome to the Fairgrounds and thanks for stopping by! Remember, to comment, you'll need to join the group first.

I'm Traci Loudin, lover of science fiction and fantasy, but even more when they mix! An example of this would be my favorite novel of all time, Dune by Frank Herbert. He mixes far future intergalactic travel with the magic of the Voice and prophesy.


My novel is no space opera, but it does cross the boundaries between science fiction and fantasy with aliens, fallen alien artifacts, futuristic technology, mixed with shapeshifters and mutants in a post-apocalyptic world.


No one survived the apocalypse unscathed—human or alien. Now, the mutated survivors hoard ancient technology, wielding weapons they barely understand from a bygone era. A dark force is rising... The Last of the Ageless.

Read the first 3 chapters!



More info to come as the fair begins.

Here I am answering this year's fun interview questions!

1 - What story has recently inspired/moved you?
I absolutely fell in love with Naomi Novik's Uprooted just recently! You can see my review here.

I love the way the characters influence and change each other for the better. Both main characters learn something new about themselves. The protagonist learns not to be afraid of the magic within herself, while the Dragon learns that not even he knows everything about the way magic works and what they're up against.


I'm really not doing it justice AT ALL... Just do yourself a favor and pick it up!


2 - Characters begin with their strengths and weaknesses. Many authors reflect their own strengths and weaknesses in their characters. What are some strengths and weaknesses that you relate to, and how have these traits influenced your characters?

I'm sure most of my characters carry some aspect of myself within them. Dalan is naive and wants to believe everyone has some good in them. Nyr is skeptical, selfish, and ruthless. Korreth is determined and unwilling to give up. I'll stop there, lest I reveal too many weaknesses. ;)


3 - What did story mean to you as a child?

It meant my parents reading books to me from a very young age.

It meant exploration through the deep, dark recesses of the library. I always wondered what was upstairs...

It meant an exciting escape to fun places that challenged me to think outside my own experiences and see the world in a new light.

Sooner or later, of course, all that input begged for an output. I've been writing science fiction and fantasy since I was 10. My first story was about a couple kids who discover the monsters in the forest are really just people in scary suits. I like to think it was way better than M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.

Australian author Belinda Crawford interviewed me on her blog about the antiheroine in my book, The Last of the Ageless: A Post-Apocalyptic Adventure.

Nyr lives in a morally gray, post-apocalyptic world. She can partially shapeshift to gain the claws, fangs, and fur of a tigress, as well as some of the big cat’s less friendly personality traits. Growing up in the Hellsworth Tribe, she learned that compassion is for the weak, and that the only way to survive in this world is to fight, take what you can, and leave nothing for others to use against you.

She’s a member of a smaller clan that scavenges for booty along the perimeter of the Hellsworth Tribe territory, until her lust for bounty lands her with a mysterious artifact that separates her from her clan before the novel begins. From there she begins her transition from more of a villainous character to more of an antihero.


On Belinda's blog, I answer more questions about Nyr and antiheroines, like:

What drew you to writing Nyr in particular?
What do you think is the value of the antiheroine?
What examples do you think Nyr provides readers?
What traits do you think make an antiheroine great?
Who are some of your favourite antiheroines?


Read the Interview

There's something about scifi and heavy metal that go so well together... I know a lot of science fiction fans who love metal, as do I.

A while back, I wrote up a blog post about music videos with scifi and fantasy elements in them. There's a little steampunk, technomagic, giant robots, ray guns, Matrix-like worlds, and more in these music videos.

Since my favorite genre is metal, this playlist mainly consists of rock and metal (so… content warning ), but I branched out a little.

Read the blog post picking out the scifi and fantasy elements in each video or go straight to the YouTube playlist.

Ever wondered what my voice sounds like? Or how to pronounce my name?

Charlie Hoover is a well-known name on Google+, where he asks the Geek Question of the Day. And I got to be on the very first episode of his new podcast! At the beginning of each of his weekly podcast episodes, he highlights some community members’ answers to the GQotD.

Here's a blog post preview highlighting the questions and topics we chatted about.

Listen to the podcast on SoundCloud

Time for some AGELESS TRIVIA!

Did you know?

My original working title was... Future Generation. Pretty bland, right? That's why I changed it!

In the very earliest drafts (back in the Future Generation days), the entire storyline involving Korreth, Jorrim, and Soledad didn't even exist!

Korreth's name was originally Sorreth, but I wanted to differentiate it from Soledad.

I had originally named the alien in the story Ri'twau. He was a male at the time. During revisions I decided to make him female instead. Then I changed her name to Ti'rros, based on my raid healadin from World of Warcraft (who was named Tirros).

I had to give up World of Warcraft (and all other video games... Age of Empires was my weakness) to get serious about my books!

Like what I'm writing? Check out the Ardent Alliance on Patreon, where you can get short stories before they're published, previews of my work in progress, bonus scenes, YOUR name in MY book's acknowledgements, and backstage info on my writing process and anything else you'd like to know.

Right now Ardents can download desktop backgrounds and screensavers of The Last of the Ageless cover art!

Saved post (so I can post later!)

Saved post (so I can post later!)

Map Categories: #Fantasy #ScienceFiction
Authors, learn how to set your own categories for your booth in the backstage area!

Thank you, CC! I meant to do this the other day. You rock!

"Last of the Ageless" sounds interesting. Looking forward to picking up a copy. Have a great #B2BCYCON!

Thanks for stopping by, Anthony! I hope you enjoy. It looks like we have a lot of similar tastes, so I added you as a friend. :)

Do you tend to prefer ebooks or paperbacks? The ebook is $2.99 currently, and you can preview the first three chapters on any device now: www.traciloudin.com/ReadAgeless

The majority of my reading tends to be physical books, but I do have an e-reader as well.

Great looking cover on Last of Ageless Traci. :-)

Last of Ageless sounds good. I'll be adding it to my to-read list :)

That's cool, Anthony. I used to read on my tablet, but phones these days are so big now that I primarily read ebooks on my phone. And paperbacks here and there.

Thanks for the compliment, David. The fantastic Rebecca Frank did the cover.
Find her at RebeccaFrank.design if you're interested!

Thanks, Rainne! I hope you enjoy when you get a chance to read it. I know everyone's TBR is so long these days, mine included!

Hi Traci! Your book looks really interesting. I also write fantasy and science fiction. I will have to check your book out.

Thanks for stopping by my booth, Ashley. So cool that you published before you even went off to college. :) I've checked out your page and added you as a friend!

I also like the hybrid of fantasy and science fiction. As a writer, I just find it more fun. In which direction does your sci-fi influence lie? I prefer the grit when they have advanced tech, not the flashy settings.

Hi Rebecca! I agree it's more fun that way.

The Last of the Ageless is set in Earth's future. The apocalypse happens a few decades from modern day, so even though it's the apocalypse, they have stuff like solar-powered weaponry, energy blasters, etc. left over from before the apocalypse. We've also got force fields, batteries, cybernetic parts, and other Ancient technology being hoarded by a select few. There are also aliens! So it's a good mix of scifi.

And on the other hand, with fantasy, we have mutants who can shapeshift into birds and whatnot, a dragonfly as animal companion, mysterious necklaces, and telepathy of every stripe. All contained in one long, 410-page standalone novel. :) If enough people like it, I may eventually follow up with a series.

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that you can get all 4 short story prequel stories to The Last of the Ageless FREE when you sign up to my New Releases Newsletter. You can decide how often I email you.

Get the Stories FREE

Traci, liking the prequel short stories so far. :) You've definitely piqued my interest.

Awesome! Happy to hear that, Anthony. Sounds like you'll enjoy the novel, then. Let me know!