Traci Harding

[Jax]

I know a few people have read her books but thought I'd start a new thread about them over here, she's an Australian author and in some of her books you can kinda tell ;) :D others are based on celtic stuff I think - she's very into ancient mythology, you can read blurbs of her books on her site :D - this is her newest book; Book of Dreams (http://www.voyageronline.com.au/traciharding/books/dreams.htm)
others are;
Alchemist's Key (http://www.voyageronline.com.au/traciharding/books/alchemist.htm) Really cool story I read rather quickly
Ghostwiting (http://www.voyageronline.com.au/traciharding/books/ghostwriting.htm) (I haven't read this one)
The Ancient Future trilogy (http://www.voyageronline.com.au/traciharding/books/ancient.htm) very very captivating!
Celestial Triad (http://www.voyageronline.com.au/traciharding/books/celestial.htm) Kind of a sequel trilogy to the Ancient Future set

I love all the ones I've read, and her husband did the cover art for all or almost all of them, my books are in NZ so I can't just go and check :roll: - enjoy!

[Jax]

Wow I saw the newsletter for Traci's site last week sometime and was a bit googoo as this is part of what she wrote:
After Trazfest I was approached to write a set of four children’s tales for ages 8 – 11 years, with a well-known publisher, and I decided to write some tales about the realm of Trazling.

Those who frequent the realm often will already know a little about this, but for those who don’t, here is what happened.

The day after I arrived home from our wonderful weekend at Trazfest, my agent called me to ask if I would be interested in writing some kids books. Immediately I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to write ‘the Tales of Trazling’ that you all have been saying I should write since our realm came into being. I was so inspired by all the wonderfully talented and spirited folk that I met at Trazfest, and now that I was able to put character and faces to some of the names of the citizens in our realm, I had a huge cast to choose from! Although not all the characters that I am using in the tales I have met – so if we have not met, then that does not necessary mean that you will not find yourself in ‘the Tales of Trazling’. I did however note who Sarah gravitated towards at the festival, and as these tales are starring a twelve-year-old Princess Sarah, I thought it appropriate to involve those people whom Sarah greatly admired or made some special connection with. If they had been based on who John connected with, then Nehue would have won hands down – you ought have seen the look on my son’s face when he saw an Egyptian Goddess coming towards him! But I digress.

The first two of these tales I have already completed – Book 1 is called ‘the Enchanted Dragon’, Book 2 ‘Hiero & Blackheart’. Book 3, will be about the ‘the Rouge Zooga’ and Book 4 shall be ‘The Shi-Elf.

So, having pitched these tales to my agent, who loved the idea, I was talking on the phone to Chez the night afterward, whereby she directed me to a post that Whirls had made on Trazling, stating that she was
thinking about writing some short tales about Trazling! It seemed to me that we had the same little muse whispering in our ears, so when I confessed to the proposal I’d made, poor Whirls got a little intimidated – very understandable – as when I get excited about an idea, it just sort of steam rollers. In any case, I had a chat to Whirls about how I felt the universe was trying to tell us something. To cut a long story short, our lovely Gossip girl agreed to be my official research assistant for ‘the Tales of Trazling.’ And I have vowed to aid Whirls develop any tales that she might be inspired to write in future. The universe works in strange ways, as I really did need an assistant on this one! Thanks Whirls!

LATE NOTE : it seems that these Tales were not right for the project I was approached about, but I shall be pitching the idea to others – so for the moment this whole project is on hold – but this could prove
beneficial in the long run as I can see the great potential of the project and we may have a greater chance of seeing that realised if we bide our time.

Should we find a publisher willing to take a chance on this concept – I fully intend to accredit all these books as a Trazling Community Project, and I am trying to incorporate as much of your creativity into them as I can. For example, a poem that Blackheart wrote for Princess Sarah, worked it’s way right into Book 2. And Hiero’s artwork, which has been an incredible inspiration for these tales, I have been pushing to get it used for the covers. My agent is very excited about our young Hiero’s ability and Hiero has been working very hard to make a go of this opportunity. I must say I am incredibly impressed by not only her talent, but her high level of professionalism and enthusiasm, which is why I have a very special announcement to make in this newsletter – see the section I have entitled ‘the Queen’s Announcement’ in the Trazling News section of this Newsletter.

Thus, anyone who pops up in one of these tales, will hear from Whirls, who will be sending out the ‘unedited’ copies of whatever tales your Trazling alias is involved in, along with a release form for you to
sign after you have read and are happy with your role in the story - this simply confirms that you give the okay for me to use your alias and are not going to take me to court etc.etc.

Chez and I have had thoughts about setting up a kids Trazling site, so that they can explore the castle, and perhaps leave posts for their favourite Characters – YOU LOT! How much fun would that be for a kid! So much more exciting and less daunting than speaking to an author I would imagine.

I am just gobsmacked at this authors willingness, friendliness and friendships with her fans on her website, I know Anne used some of us as characters in /one/ of her stories, but this is amazing!! To base a set of children's books on the people she's met, with input from some of them... wow! Almost wish I'd visited there more often ;) LOL
She's coming to Perth for a visit, but I don't think I'll go, as I'll have no dosh, I /may/ be working, and I'll definitely feel out of place with all the people she already 'knows' being there!
If you want to see more look here (http://www.voyageronline.com.au/traciharding/community/newsletter/default.cfm) but you may have to register to see it, I'm not sure.

[Ez]

The Ancient Future was the first fantasy trilogy I ever read. I had greatly disliked fantasy before that (for no actual reason, I'd not read any. I thought it was all Star Trek-y) but a friend from school made it sound like a cool book so I read it.
I love Maelgwn...I have a habit of falling in love with book characters, and he is one of them.