About Traci Slatton
Traci Slatton was born into a Navy family. She grew up in Great Lakes, IL; Norfolk, VA; Olathe, KS;
Millington, TN; and Groton, CT. She knew at the age of 6 years old, after reading her first 'big
book,' that she wanted to be a novelist.
Traci has published dozens of poems, short stories, and articles in magazines and literary
journals. She greatly enjoyed researching Edgar Cayce, quantum physics, and Rupert
Sheldrake's morphic fields for PIERCING TIME & SPACE. For the historical novel IMMORTAL
(Slatton's debut novel, blending alchemy and the supernatural in an historical novel that sweeps
a mysterious young orphan from Renaissance Florence across nearly two hundred tumultuous
years), she inquired deeply into the art and life of the Italian Renaissance, a period when thinkers
like Pico della Mirandola, Leonardo da Vinci, and Marsilio Ficino were engaged in questioning
the nature and relationship of science, art, and the soul.
For more information about Traci Slatton, please visit her website at www.tracilslatton.com.
Traci Slatton was born into a Navy family. She grew up in Great Lakes, IL; Norfolk, VA; Olathe, KS;
Millington, TN; and Groton, CT. She knew at the age of 6 years old, after reading her first 'big
book,' that she wanted to be a novelist.
Traci has published dozens of poems, short stories, and articles in magazines and literary
journals. She greatly enjoyed researching Edgar Cayce, quantum physics, and Rupert
Sheldrake's morphic fields for PIERCING TIME & SPACE. For the historical novel IMMORTAL
(Slatton's debut novel, blending alchemy and the supernatural in an historical novel that sweeps
a mysterious young orphan from Renaissance Florence across nearly two hundred tumultuous
years), she inquired deeply into the art and life of the Italian Renaissance, a period when thinkers
like Pico della Mirandola, Leonardo da Vinci, and Marsilio Ficino were engaged in questioning
the nature and relationship of science, art, and the soul.
For more information about Traci Slatton, please visit her website at www.tracilslatton.com.
Traci Slatton -- July 12, 2008
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Post Meeting Write-up
very entertaining. Very enjoyable speaker and a genuinely nice person.
Ms. Slatton arrived at Borders, set up her beautiful poster, and then proceeded to shake hands
and introduce herself to each person present, and then did the same as people arrived. She
even had mini-posters for the audience. Her discussion was just as open and direct, and a lot
of fun - you have to thoroughly enjoy someone who tells a story about taking a tour in the
Vatican, asking the tour-guide if anything ever gets stolen, finding out you get searched on the
way in - but not on the way out, then thinking about how fun it would be to "borrow" a few
trinkets! Her deciding what would fit under her jacket was delightful and had us thinking along
the same lines.
Traci talked about her personal procedure for writing - in her own words: "stinky yoga clothes
for inspiration, " a quiet environment, having "rushes of inspiration then moments of (at this
point Ms. Slatton put her finger to her teeth and stared blankly - too funny), and dealing with the
fact that "every page is agony." Her personal path to publication was discussed, as was the
difficulty writers face in today's market.
Traci then moved on to her book, Immortal. Characters in the story were discussed at great
length, particularly Luca and DaVinci. Ms. Slatton talked about her penchant for outright stealing
of ideas and how surprised she was that no one has said anything! Her animated actions
while telling this were great. We learned about the movie deal with Twinstar Entertainment -
any suggestions for casting can be forwarded to Traci - and her ideas about how she'd like the
movie to turn out and not turn out. Currently in the running for producer: the producer of
Braveheart & the producer of HBO's Rome series - pretty cool.
Ms. Slatton talked about wanting to write intelligent books but not literature because "literature
is the crap nobody reads." Hysterical and true. This led to a discussion of quality books and
writing, Dan Brown, real vs. "real" in fiction, and educated readers. Oh, and did I mention how
she wants to be an art thief? You get to wear a black jumpsuit, have cool gadgets and be in
museums alone at night. Gotta love her dark thinking. She's also a fan of Nikola Tesla.
Continuing on the honest & open path, Ms. Slatton revealed her strong dislike of "reality TV" and
how it is the "beginning of the end of Western Civilization. " Much applause followed. She
followed this up by stating how it's very sad that no one wants to make value or judgment calls
any more, and if you dare to, you're labeled. You might be labeled as intolerant, racist,
insensitive or a host of other unfair things simply because you called a situation for what it is.
Everything is excused away and the only thing still "taboo" in our society is serial killers (and
even some of those are garnering sympathy, case in point - the serial killer character Dexter is
being made "likable and real"). People do bad things - lie, cheat, steal, and other assorted bad
things - and have people who make up excuses for the bad behavior. When do people take
accountability for their actions any more? It's sad and destroying our culture. She finished this
little side step by saying, "the end of Western civilization - you heard it here first."
The presentation ended with Traci giving us some details on the upcoming sequel to Immortal
and how a recently viewed movie, Lars and the Real Girl, gave her some inspiration for the
sequel. The audience is looking forward to both the sequel to Immortal and the movie
Immortal! Great fun. (Ann-Marie)
We started the Whispers portion with Master Todd reading a scene from Drinking Midnight Wine
by Simon R. Green. Master Gene then read a Shakespearian sonnet. I read the opening
passage from our guest speaker Traci Slatton's novel IMMORTAL, Todd then followed with a
scene from a new book he had, Jhegala by Stephen Brust, then I finished up with a scene from
HARRY POTTER & THE SORCERER'S STONE (in honor of this month's theme-Pottermania!!!).
We took a little break after that during which our speaker arrived with her husband and a visual
aid in tow. After waiting a bit for some late arrivals, I started the meeting proper & introduced
Traci, who told us about her background as a physics student, then a healer, which led her to
write her non-fiction book, Piercing Time & Space, which is about Morphic fields of intelligence
that surround us. She spent most of the rest of the time talking about her first novel Immortal,
which is about an street orphan named Luca Bastardo who comes to work with the young
Leonardo DaVinci and finds love at the same time. She also discussed her writing process as
well as her experiences with publishing & getting the book optioned as a movie. Along the way
she made some "rants" against Reality TV & the Lost art of Storytelling.
She finished up just before 10:00 p.m. and signed some books & posed for pictures. It was a
fun night & I assume the fun continued at the Stateline Diner in Mahwah. (Steve)
Next month, Face The Fiction welcomes mystery author, Dave White as he discusses his
books When One Man Dies and The Evil That Men Do. Join us at the Ramsey Borders, 235
Interstate Shopping Center, Ramsey, NJ again. If you want to participate in Whispers From
Beyond, pick a favorite passage from a favorite genre book and come to the store by 7pm to
read it to the group.
very entertaining. Very enjoyable speaker and a genuinely nice person.
Ms. Slatton arrived at Borders, set up her beautiful poster, and then proceeded to shake hands
and introduce herself to each person present, and then did the same as people arrived. She
even had mini-posters for the audience. Her discussion was just as open and direct, and a lot
of fun - you have to thoroughly enjoy someone who tells a story about taking a tour in the
Vatican, asking the tour-guide if anything ever gets stolen, finding out you get searched on the
way in - but not on the way out, then thinking about how fun it would be to "borrow" a few
trinkets! Her deciding what would fit under her jacket was delightful and had us thinking along
the same lines.
Traci talked about her personal procedure for writing - in her own words: "stinky yoga clothes
for inspiration, " a quiet environment, having "rushes of inspiration then moments of (at this
point Ms. Slatton put her finger to her teeth and stared blankly - too funny), and dealing with the
fact that "every page is agony." Her personal path to publication was discussed, as was the
difficulty writers face in today's market.
Traci then moved on to her book, Immortal. Characters in the story were discussed at great
length, particularly Luca and DaVinci. Ms. Slatton talked about her penchant for outright stealing
of ideas and how surprised she was that no one has said anything! Her animated actions
while telling this were great. We learned about the movie deal with Twinstar Entertainment -
any suggestions for casting can be forwarded to Traci - and her ideas about how she'd like the
movie to turn out and not turn out. Currently in the running for producer: the producer of
Braveheart & the producer of HBO's Rome series - pretty cool.
Ms. Slatton talked about wanting to write intelligent books but not literature because "literature
is the crap nobody reads." Hysterical and true. This led to a discussion of quality books and
writing, Dan Brown, real vs. "real" in fiction, and educated readers. Oh, and did I mention how
she wants to be an art thief? You get to wear a black jumpsuit, have cool gadgets and be in
museums alone at night. Gotta love her dark thinking. She's also a fan of Nikola Tesla.
Continuing on the honest & open path, Ms. Slatton revealed her strong dislike of "reality TV" and
how it is the "beginning of the end of Western Civilization. " Much applause followed. She
followed this up by stating how it's very sad that no one wants to make value or judgment calls
any more, and if you dare to, you're labeled. You might be labeled as intolerant, racist,
insensitive or a host of other unfair things simply because you called a situation for what it is.
Everything is excused away and the only thing still "taboo" in our society is serial killers (and
even some of those are garnering sympathy, case in point - the serial killer character Dexter is
being made "likable and real"). People do bad things - lie, cheat, steal, and other assorted bad
things - and have people who make up excuses for the bad behavior. When do people take
accountability for their actions any more? It's sad and destroying our culture. She finished this
little side step by saying, "the end of Western civilization - you heard it here first."
The presentation ended with Traci giving us some details on the upcoming sequel to Immortal
and how a recently viewed movie, Lars and the Real Girl, gave her some inspiration for the
sequel. The audience is looking forward to both the sequel to Immortal and the movie
Immortal! Great fun. (Ann-Marie)
We started the Whispers portion with Master Todd reading a scene from Drinking Midnight Wine
by Simon R. Green. Master Gene then read a Shakespearian sonnet. I read the opening
passage from our guest speaker Traci Slatton's novel IMMORTAL, Todd then followed with a
scene from a new book he had, Jhegala by Stephen Brust, then I finished up with a scene from
HARRY POTTER & THE SORCERER'S STONE (in honor of this month's theme-Pottermania!!!).
We took a little break after that during which our speaker arrived with her husband and a visual
aid in tow. After waiting a bit for some late arrivals, I started the meeting proper & introduced
Traci, who told us about her background as a physics student, then a healer, which led her to
write her non-fiction book, Piercing Time & Space, which is about Morphic fields of intelligence
that surround us. She spent most of the rest of the time talking about her first novel Immortal,
which is about an street orphan named Luca Bastardo who comes to work with the young
Leonardo DaVinci and finds love at the same time. She also discussed her writing process as
well as her experiences with publishing & getting the book optioned as a movie. Along the way
she made some "rants" against Reality TV & the Lost art of Storytelling.
She finished up just before 10:00 p.m. and signed some books & posed for pictures. It was a
fun night & I assume the fun continued at the Stateline Diner in Mahwah. (Steve)
Next month, Face The Fiction welcomes mystery author, Dave White as he discusses his
books When One Man Dies and The Evil That Men Do. Join us at the Ramsey Borders, 235
Interstate Shopping Center, Ramsey, NJ again. If you want to participate in Whispers From
Beyond, pick a favorite passage from a favorite genre book and come to the store by 7pm to
read it to the group.