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Traci L. Slatton's Blog, page 4

October 29, 2017

From the HuffPo: Review of HEAL Documentary

This is a recent piece on the HuffPo, a review of the HEAL Documentary by Kelly Noonan Gores




When I was 15 or 16, I developed asthma. My mother took me to a doctor who duly prescribed medication.




I took the medication for a few days. I hated it. The drug made my insides race. Perhaps I was breathing better, but it didn’t matter. The trembling and hyper-adrenalized feeling, the out-of-control, careening-downhill sensations eclipsed the benefits—for me. There was a moment, and I still remember it vividly, when I decided, I will not have asthma.




This was no ordinary frisson of will. It was a moment of translucent intention. I felt no emotions, just a laser line of unadulterated purpose, and I felt it in every angstrom of my being.




The asthma left my body. I stopped taking the medication. That illness has never returned.




This was a visceral, undeniable experience of the power of the mind-body connection. It stayed with me.




Years later, in graduate school, I took up meditating. I experienced esoteric phenomena that is written about in many ancient texts but isn’t part of the usual discourse of our culture. I perused every book I could find on the topic, from the Vedas and The Yoga Sutras to The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying and A Course in Miracles. Eventually I picked up books about spiritual healing.




After graduate school I started having babies. I also attended a four year hands-on-healing school and opened a practice as a spiritual or energy healer. The basic premise of this form of healing is that the human being is a psychosomatic unity—mind-body-spirit-psyche are indivisibly one—a concept well articulated in John Pierrakos� ground-breaking work Core Energetics: Developing the Capacity to Love and Heal (Pierrakos, John C. Core Energetics: Developing the Capacity to Love and Heal. Core Evolution Pub., 2005.)




Affect one part of a human being and you affect the whole; that is, affect the body and you affect the mind, spirit, and psyche; affect the spirit, and you affect the body, mind, and psyche. This is a powerful iteration of the mind-body connection that I experienced so powerfully as a teenager.




During the decade that I practiced energy healing, I saw miracles. I had especially good results with women who wanted to conceive. Fertility in women has many roots in the mind-body connection. A number of women came to my healing table and then went home and got pregnant. But not all of them.




Healing isn’t curing. Not every woman who came into my healing room seeking a resolution to her infertility was able to conceive. There is a great mystery at the heart of everything, and the body isn’t solely a machine in the Newtonian model where if a biochemical lever is depressed, or if a current is introduced, a result is generated.




This is a lengthy introduction to the screening I attended last night of the film . A new documentary from , produced by , this documentary explores the new-old field of the mind-body connection and the impact of that connection on illness. It also surveys a few modalities of healing that people can utilize during their journey of healing from a serious illness.



I spoke with Adam before the screening. He’s a serious, friendly, poised man with a background in meditation. Longtime meditators emit a palpable peacefulness and I felt that as I stood beside him. He said, “The intent of this film is to empower people, that’s the through line.�




Lovely Kelly Noonan Gores told me something similar. “There are options in the treatment of illness, I want people to know that. I want people to have the information.�




The film follows a few people as they engage, poignantly and bravely, with the spiritual and psychological dimensions of healing. One is Kelly herself, the healthy seeker whose fascination with this rich topic is the engine of the story. Eva, however, experiences harsh dermatologic outbreaks. There’s also Liz, struggling with cancer and chemotherapy.




Luminaries in the field speak on the topic of the mind-body connection. , , , and touch on the spiritual dimensions of healing and wellness. , a Cornell University trained psychiatrist, discusses her foray into integrative and wholistic medicine as a result of her own illness.




Of particular interest for me was , author of The Biology of Belief (Lipton, B. H. The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc., 2016.). Dr. Lipton works with epigenetics, a science of understanding why some genes are turned on and others are turned off. This field has all the potential to empower people far beyond a simple biological destiny.




Author spoke of her miraculous remission from cancer. She was healed within hours of death.




The film is inspiring and informational. Quietly yet dramatically, it presents possibilities and alternatives. People who already know the field will enjoy the fresh presentation, and people new to these concepts will find themselves intrigued and uplifted. ±á±ð²¹±ôÌýapproaches the great mystery that I encountered as a healer, and it doesn’t shrink. It blossoms like a rose opening.




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Published on October 29, 2017 15:52

July 12, 2017

The Oceana Beach Club Hotel: A Review

The Oceana Beach Club Hotel in Santa Monica


Oceana Beach Club Hotel


Never before have I posted a review of a hotel on my personal blog. But I had such an enchanting experience at the beautiful Oceana Beach Club Hotel in Santa Monica that I decided to write about it.


Please note: I have in no way been compensated for this review.


It’s true I showed up at the Oceana feeling off, trembling with the remnants of a stomach bug that had had its slithery way with me.


It’s true I had a mediocre experience with a supposedly nice hotel prior to finding the Oceana on a third-party booking site that offered an excellent deal.


Notwithstanding, the Oceana surpassed all expectations. From the moment I arrived, I was graciously welcomed by the kindly staff and soothed by the cheerful, elegant surroundings. The gentlemen in the valet parking booth treated me with good-humored kindness. Mason and Jordan and the other guys were lovely!


It was hours before official check-in time, but the lady at the front desk phoned housekeeping to see if there was a room available. She was apologetic that none was yet ready and offered to call my cell phone as soon as one became available. She offered suggestions for lunch if I wanted to walk out into sun-drenched Santa Monica.


Sometimes when I book through a third party for a discount, I get treated like an ugly stepchild. Not at the Oceana Beach Club Hotel. I was treated with courtesy and respect.


Best of all, the room was gorgeous: spacious and peaceful with lovely furnishings. I walked in and my spirits lifted. There is something about being surrounded by luxury close to the sea that soothes and elevates you!


The Oceana provides bicycles for guests to ride, and I rode extensively. I pedaled to Whole Foods and to YogaWorks nearby on Montana Ave. My second and last morning, I rode along the beach just after sunrise. ‘Glorious� suggests light emerging…and it was such a ride.


I ate one meal at Tower8, the hotel restaurant: lunch. A grilled chicken panini that was sumptuous. Having eaten little in a few days, I devoured it. But even if I hadn’t been off my vittles, I’d have enjoyed this well-made sandwich.


The pool was appealing though I didn’t use it. The ambiance was fun and bright and posh.


The location of the Oceana, on Ocean Avenue overlooking the beach, was spectacular. It’s easy to get to the boutiques on Montana and the shops on the Third Street Promenade.


I recommend the Oceana, and I give it 5*.



Ìý



Ìý


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Published on July 12, 2017 05:36

June 1, 2017

In the HuffPost, International Conference in Shared Parenting 2017


This week I took the train to Boston to attend the International Conference in Shared Parenting. This conference gathered together specialists in post-divorce child development from all over the world. I sat down with a very lovely Dr. Holstein to discuss the Conference, and I wrote about my experience in the .


:



…Despite advances in recognizing fathers� fundamental rights to be equally involved in their children’s lives, the problem of not implementing that right continues within the legal system. At the same time, there’s a growing awareness that relegating one parent, whether father or mother, to second-class citizen parent status is not in the best interests of the child, when neither parent is actually abusive. There is a growing understanding that, post-separation, children need both parents to be fully present in their lives for optimal wholeness.




I sat down with Dr. Ned Holstein, the founder and chairman of the board of the , at the in Boston. The National Parents Organization has a mission to preserve the bond between parents and children. To that end, at this conference, the world’s most renowned child development experts in the area of post-divorce parenting have gathered to share their research results. How do children fare with and without shared parenting post-divorce?�


“Court practices haven’t kept up with the growing research evidence on the benefits of shared parenting, so our intention was to gather all the world experts in one place at one time to compile the evidence that needs to be recognized as a basis for changing what our current practices are in the courts,� Dr. Holstein told me. “Based on the work of world experts at our conference today, ‘Best Interests of the Child� means shared parenting for most children.�


Read the whole post .


International Conference on Shared Parenting 2017



International Conference Shared Parenting


Ìý


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Published on June 01, 2017 10:11

April 24, 2017

The Year of Loving: On Sale for a Limited Time

The Year of Loving On Sale for a Limited Time


For a limited time, The Year of Loving is On Sale for $.99!


Buy it .


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Published on April 24, 2017 11:15

April 3, 2017

Yoga Teacher Training

Yoga Teacher Training


A few months ago, a long time friend came for dinner. She’s an American living elsewhere. She’s brilliant and amazing and full of knowledge, an expert in her field.


But she has forgotten how to listen.


She talked over my husband and me and couldn’t hear any of our ideas or opinions. Now, this lovely lady is a wonderful person in a thousand ways. She’s a repository of information about the fascinating field of the esoteric, because she has studied metaphysics for decades. Her whole life, really. But there was this thing missing from the way she related to us and it was receptiveness. Her vast knowledge has become a bulwark through which no one else’s thoughts and experiences could penetrate.


That dinner made a big impression on me. I don’t want to be like that: ossified behind my own learning. I want to be open and flexible and receptive. I want to hear other modes of thought, other people, even when I have education and experience that contradicts what they think. Even when it’s hard to listen, which it can be, because I’m an opinionated person with a great deal of education.


I thought of this dinner when I signed up for Yoga Teacher Training at ; as the body goes, so goes the mind. A flexible, open body will yield a flexible, open mind.ÌýI was also thinking of the next three decades of my life. I don’t want to teach yoga but I do want to invest in the training to nourish my body and to create flexibility, strength, and stamina for the next thirty years.


The program at Three Sisters Yoga is meticulously thought out and the teachers are terrific: warm, engaged, present. But already I have encountered opposition to my own internalized systems of thought. Because Yoga considers itself a Science, and I studied and used a different system that also considers itself a science. I studied Healing Science for 4 years at the Barbara Brennan School of Healing (BBSH). I had a practice as a healer and saw clients for a decade.


The BBSH was a pivotal, seminal experience for me. It is integral to who I am as a human being and to my writing. Most of my characters are healers in one way or another.


This thing about wholeness haunts me.


I seldom speak of the BBSH now. When I was at the school and for years after I graduated, I went around talking about it a lot. It was amazing: there existed other people like me who were attuned to the subtle worlds! Who perceived the subtle worlds! I was newly out of the closet as an energy sensitive and exulting in the liberation.


But I got tired of head-blind non-healers projecting weirdness onto me–as if it isn’t our birthright as souls taking on flesh to see, hear, feel those other, primary realms.


Also, there’s a lot of acting out at the school. The BBSH doesn’t always act in integrity. Graduates and teachers of the BBSH don’t always act in integrity. It was upsetting to me that when someone questioned the school, the school’s response was to squash that person and to decree, “You’re in resistance.� Translation: you’re bad.


There was a point at which almost all of the teachers with open hearts were either fired or chased out of the school. I did not respect that.


The founder of the school Barbara Brennan sued people over her healing techniques, an action which lacked integrity. In the field of science, scientists throughout history have built upon one another–that’s what leads to progress, to the slow and meticulous accumulation of scientific knowledge. Newton didn’t try to own gravity. But Barbara wanted to own her healing techniques, some of which had been developed by other people. She had a paranoid streak which she never owned but which was clearly visible to anyone not submerged in the cult of her personality.


Nor has the BBSH been open and honest about what’s going on now with Barbara: she’s institutionalized with Alzheimer’s. Students and graduates deserve to know this. Barbara Brennan isn’t just a private figure; she’s also a public figure. She put herself on the world stage with schools in Europe and Japan. She has forfeited some of her right to secrecy.


I had a lot of problems with the conduct of Barbara and the BBSH. Nonetheless, I remain grateful to both. Barbara’s vision was extraordinary, both her high sense perception and her larger sense of the possibilities for healing techniques in the world. The BBSH was a left brain mystery school. It was a gift and a blessing for someone like me, who has a good working intellect as well as access to the subtle realms.


Barbara herself was extraordinary as a human being. Before enrolling in the school, I attended a lecture she gave. I walked up to her to have her sign my program, and as I approached her, my energy bumped up. She had that affect on me. She smiled at me and her eyes got dreamy as she gazed at me. She wrote, “Traci, Keep letting out your love, beauty, and sweetness.�


In my sophomore year at her school, Barbara read my field in front of the class. She said, “One day everyone will know that you have a secret, private inner world full of butterflies.�


As someone who has spent a lifetime with a secret, private inner world full of butterflies, I was shaken, startled, and freed to have her see me and validate me.


I owe Barbara a debt of gratitude. Also, I used BBSH healing techniques effectively in my practice.


This circles back to Yoga Teacher Training and my desire to remain open and flexible because already some of the Yoga precepts that are taken as “true science� butt up against my training and experience as a healer.


Can I stay open and flexible and allow divergent schools of thought to live in me simultaneously? It will be a challenge. Of course, it’s only fun if it’s a challenge–and I love to have fun.


Yoga Teacher Training


Ìý


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Published on April 03, 2017 04:52

March 28, 2017

Glowing Reviews of THE YEAR OF LOVING

Glowing reviews of The Year of Loving


Two great review sites recently put up excellent reviews of my latest novel .


The first site is . What a cool title for a book enthusiast’s site, and what a terrific model for her children! She’s publicly proud to be a Booknerd. Kudos to Mrs. Mommy.


,



This book is a realistic romance that will have you guessing and touches on many areas…love, motherhood, life, struggle, romance, friendship, betrayal and so much more. ÌýThe main character is raw and harsh, but also funny and smart. ÌýThis book is one that romance readers will certainly enjoy.



The other review was posted by reviewer HCharju on a big review site called . I like , a lively, appealing site with great integrity and great reviewers.
Ìý
HCharju selected as a Top Pick and wrote a beautiful review, saying,

The rawness of this story pulls at your heart and fills you with so many conflicting emotions. Her first ex-husband, and the father of her children is such a hateful and petty man. The way he turns the children against her and lets them do whatever harmful thing they want makes me want to strangle him. I would think his current wife would get tired of all the court cases and BS but she seems to be of the same ilk as he is. The second husband doesn’t seem too bad, just a little narcissistic and immature–Pretty much a perfect rebound guy, but not great husband material. It does sound like he has an awesome talent which leads me to believe that he will be going places.


The struggle with the daughters is heartbreaking. I’m not sure how things will end there but, I felt bad when Sarah tried so hard with no positive response.


Whenever I finish a novel, I email HCharju and ask respectfully for her to review my new book. She’s a thoughtful reader and a reviewer who sees to the heart of a story. I’m lucky to have discovered her.




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Published on March 28, 2017 04:21

March 17, 2017

Chris Strickland’s Story: My Article in Parent Survival Magazine


Chris Strickland is a lesbian mom in Mississippi who was a target parent for parental alienation. Her story was complicated by the fact that she wasn’t listed on the adoption papers for her older son nor on the birth certificate for her younger son. She and her partner married in Massachusetts, and their marriage wasn’t legal in Mississippi.


Chris got caught in the lag between marriage in one state and her marriage’s recognition in her home state, where she and her wife were raising their kids. Then her wife left her for a man.


In a few months, her wife moved with the kids and the new man, and Chris didn’t see her sons for almost fourteen months. The former wife told the kids to stop calling Chris “mom.�


Parental alienation is the severing of a child’s bonds with a parent by the other parent, and it is unutterably cruel. Dr. Amy Baker has done a lot of work in the subject and she says, “It’s when one parent gives the child permission to break the other parent’s heart.�


What results is a child who refuses, without good reason, to see a parent, called the target parent. If the child grudgingly sees the target parent, the target parent is, in the child’s mind, the lesser parent. The target parent’s feelings do not matter: the child has been trained to believe that. The child often is coldly cruel to the target parent.


Often the alienating parent is personality disordered: a narcissist, a borderline. Anyone who has worked with or studied these disorders knows how difficult they are to deal with.


Parental alienation isn’t an accident. The alienating parent uses a number of strategies to accomplish the divide between a parent and her beloved child. It’s not just about badmouthing the target parent, and often an alienating parent can claim that they don’t do so. There are other, subtler forces at work, such as when the target parent is from a different ethnic, educational, or socio-economic group. To whit: “You dad isn’t Catholic like us,� or “Your mother didn’t go to college and isn’t French like us.� Alienating parents use identity against the target parents.


Alienating parents do whatever they can to destroy the target parent’s moral authority with their children. “Your mother’s rules don’t apply at my house,� is a classic line that an alienating father uses.


Parental alienation devastates the target parent. It does the same to the child, though the child probably won’t recognize it until he or she is much older–maybe not until his or her 30’s. Children who have been alienated this way often suffer from self esteem issues and terrible anxiety. The parentectomy she pursues to please the alienating parent leaves her scourged with anxiety, and the child doesn’t know that coming back into rightful relationship with the target parent is a crucial step in healing the anxiety.


I also wonder about a child’s relationships when they have been taught by the alienating parent that the target parent’s feelings don’t matter. This is a setup to create broader heartlessness and even narcissism in the child: other people exist only to serve the child, and other people’s needs don’t matter; when someone asks for their needs to be honored, the child sees them as a bad person.


I , and her complicated case took her all the way to the Mississippi Supreme Court.


Chris Strickland's story


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Published on March 17, 2017 04:33

March 4, 2017

Paranormal Romance Guild: Scamming Authors Who Pay in Good Faith

Paranormal Romance Guild Scamming Authors


I have been a member of the Paranormal Romance Guild for several years. As in author who is both traditionally and independently published, I seek always to publicize and promote my novels. This is imperative because I can write the best books in the world but if no one knows about my books, no one will buy them.


It isn’t always easy to promote a book. There are many book PR sites and companies that promise a lot and deliver little. I scour the internet for opportunities to introduce readers to my novels. Readers are usually glad to have found my books–I get a lot of good reviews online and I receive regular complimentary emails about my books. Anyone can check or to see what I mean.


So several years ago I discovered the Paranormal Romance Guild, probably through a book publicist. They started running reviews of my novels, especially my dystopian novels , , , and Blood Sky.


In 2011, a PRG reviewer submitted for a Reviewer’s Choice Award, and I rallied my family, friends, and readers to vote for Fallen. Fallen Won! Yay!


I started paying for membership to the site. It wasn’t a lot but it was something, and there were two tiers, and I budget carefully for book promotion. I bought the membership in good faith that my awards, books, and reviews would stay live. That’s what I’ve been paying for. I’ve been paying every year. I’ve been paying in good faith.


A month ago, the founding member of the PRG who was also a former board member and webmaster sent out a disturbing email. This email spoke of her experience of being unceremoniously dumped from the PRG, a book review site that she had helped to build.


She had devoted a great deal of time and energy to the PRG over several years and they arbitrarily dumped her.


Her email made me uneasy. Of course there were two sides to the story, but it seemed that she had been treated unfairly. I will copy her email to the bottom of this post.


Then a few days ago, I, a paying member of the PRG, discovered that the reviews of my award-winning books had been stripped from their new site.


I emailed to inquire and was told that this was a decision by the PRG. There was a lot of condescending hooey from the PRG in the emails that followed.


The bottom line is that the “new� Paranormal Romance Guild arbitrarily cut the reviews of my award-winning novels without even telling me that would happen–despite the fact that I am a paying member of several years.


This is a way to scam authors. It’s bait and switch: taking money and then suddenly changing the terms.


The Paranormal Romance Guild has behaved disgracefully.



***


Letter from the founding member dumped from the PRG:


Many of you know me fairly well by now. I am a founding member who helped create PRG 7+ years ago. I was webmaster, a former President & VP, and a board member, who worked all these years as though PRG was my 2nd job, even though for most of the time I was an unpaid volunteer. My largest fault has been that I work too hard and want things done right � because I believe that if we expect authors to pay for membership, they deserve a site that is done well and looks professional. I have taken great pride in all that I’ve done for PRG.


I have just been informed that I have been unceremoniously removed from my roles in the organization today. After 7 years of hard work (and friendship, I thought) I was not given a phone call for discussion of this major change, nor was the Board of Directors given opportunity to vote as they properly should have. This decision was made by President Kelly Abell & VP Fred Feeley because they have “decided to go in another directionâ€�. I was not given an opportunity to speak on my own behalf about this important change and the Board was insulted by having this decision made for them as though they are incompetent for the roles they were elected to and their opinions are worthless. I did not even receive a professional email informing me of this executive decision until 10 hours after I was unexpectedly locked out of the PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award preparations I was working on for all of you.Ìý


I have only ever wanted what was best for PRG. Our recent webhost problems were beyond my control, but I had prepared a new website and worked hard to ensure our members would experience minimum interruptions in service. A webhost change may ultimately be deemed necessary, but as elected WebMaster I had hoped to be part of the conversation and transition, rather than stepped over and kicked to the curb. Our elected Officers and Board Members are supposed to have opportunity to voice their opinions, and changes are supposed to be voted upon as a group � because we created a community founded upon group spirit. Please be aware that apparently, that is no longer the case in PRG.


I am disappointed that the organization I worked so hard to help create and grow over the years has so mishandled this transition. For all the times I dropped everything to quickly help members and co-workers with problems, or help with emergency site changes and review postings…for all the times I put my own writing career aside to help better PRG, this is an extremely unfair and cruel turn of events. In 7 years of emergencies and last minute projects, I have never let PRG down. However, PRG has let me down terribly.Ìý


I have many wonderful memories from my time with PRG and have made great friendships that will continue on. I do not know what new direction The Paranormal Romance Guild will be taking in the future, but I wanted to let you all know that I will not be taking part in it, because for an organization to treat a hard working, loyal, founding member this way is disgraceful.


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Published on March 04, 2017 18:55

February 26, 2017

Two New Reviews of THE YEAR OF LOVING

Two New Reviews of THE YEAR OF LOVING


The last several news cycles seem to have been dominated by politics. It’s been hard to get some traction with my new novel .


But early this morning a gracious email arrived from a blogger whose reviews I really enjoy. Her name is Jen Thorpe and she writes for . She said she wanted to capture the emotional quality of the story without giving away too many details about it. The was attached.


What a great review! She wrote, in part:


The Year of Loving is what I would describe as a romance novel with a drama rolled into it. There are some hot sex scenes to look forward to. Some situations are presented in quirky, amusing, ways, which made me giggle. (The “meet cute� at the start of the book had me laughing!)


In addition, the book includes some painful moments, any of which could set the reader off on a “good cry�. The story runs the range of emotions, which makes the book feel a bit like a sample box of chocolates. We all have our favorites, but the ones we tend to avoid are good, too.


This was a really fun and thoughtful review. I especially loved the comparison to a sample box of chocolate, and anyone who’s read the novel will get the sly humor�.


also featured THE YEAR OF LOVING on their . I was really happy to see that� is a quality review outlet.


The review read:


Critique: A deftly crafted and compelling read from beginning to end, “The Year of Loving� clearly showcases author Traci Slatton’s genuine flair for storytelling. While very highly recommended, especially for community library Contemporary Romance & General Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that “The Year of Loving� is also available in a Kindle format ($4.99).


I appreciated the inclusion of the business of book selling!


So two new reviews of , excellent ones!


Two New Reviews of The Year of Loving


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Published on February 26, 2017 05:35

February 12, 2017

Recent Author Events and Book Reviews

Recent Author Events


I’ve enjoyed getting out and promotingÌý and my other novels, too, of course.


Book Club

Early in February the hosted me at a dinner downtown. What a great group of women! They asked meaty questions and offered insightful comments about The Year of Loving. They reminded me why I am a novelist.


That’s right, books are the keepers of soul, and novels enrich people’s lives! Novels entertain, amuse, provoke, incite, and open the doors to the mind. I was touched and honored to sit with this thoughtful, kind group of readers. Also, the food at Gloo was delicious.


Book Blog Reviews

Two book review blogs posted excellent reviews of .


is run by whom I’ve known for a few years from other blogs. She reads and writes with keen intelligence. I love her well-written, deeply observant reviews. She serves as one of my ‘test� bloggers; if she doesn’t get what I’m trying to do, then I haven’t done my job as a novelist. She’s that good.


Layna started with these words: “Traci L. Slatton is one of the most underrated authors I have come across. I have yet to read one of her works that I didn’tÌýthoroughly enjoyÌýandÌýThe Year of LovingÌýis no exception. It was beautifully written and evoked a wide range of emotions.â€�


In conclusion, she wrote, “The book is written in such a way that you really connect with all of the characters, whether you like them or not. I had to keep reading to know what happened next in Sarah’s life, even if that meant I lost a little (a lot) of sleep in the process. Truly a great story and a must read!�


Layna’s review prompted me think–which a good review does. I had to ask myself, Why am I an underrated author? Because I think Layna is on to something. I sent her a note saying so, and thanking her for the review. Seems like I have some work to do within my own consciousness�



Also,ÌýÌýpublished a review. What a treat to find a new review blog! Gina R wrote the review:


On the surface, we have a woman (Sarah) caught between ages, pulled two ways by desire, and struggling to make all the pieces fit one big puzzle in an effort to reach happily-ever-after.ÌýÌýAt its heart, it’s a story of one woman truly finding her way back to herself.


Did I agree with all her choices?Ìý No…in fact, I was actually very surprised by the endingâ€� I was thinking something completely different, but then again, that resistance to fit what I think, or what anyone thinks for that matter, is what makes Ms. Slatton’s character that much more real.ÌýThe way Sarah struggles to deal with her friend’s illnessâ€�, the constant battle between her and her daughters (let’s now even mention the ex) to find some common ground let alone agreement on pretty much anything, and even the yoyo not-a-relationship status she puts herself and the two contenders in, all add up to one independent, not-perfect-but-still-trying-mightily woman that will capture your attention, if not your heartâ€�


I enjoyed and the openness with which Gina related her experience of the novel.


The Year of Loving Book review


Library Event

In addition, just yesterday I did an author event at the . It was good fun, with attendees who asked probing questions about THE YEAR OF LOVING. The lovely librarian Ms. Gomila helped out in various ways. A great experience!


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Published on February 12, 2017 05:35