Originally posted by Renee Scattergood:
Welcome to this week’s Friday Author Spotlight! Today I have Tracy Falbe visiting with her fantasy novel, Journey of the Hunted. She has also shared an article about writing fantasy in a historical setting. But first, she wanted to share a little about herself:
I am the author of 10 novels, including The Rys Chronicles and Rys Rising epic dark fantasy series and the historical fantasies Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale and Journey of the Hunted: Werewolves in the Renaissance 2.
I was born in Michigan in 1972 and grew up in Mount Pleasant. It’s called the “Mountain Town” but there is no mountain and it’s debatable about whether it’s pleasant. They say it’s a party town and based on extensive research as a young adult I can concur.
Because I always had the childhood fantasy of running away and joining the circus, I moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1995 and lived there until 1997. Those who only stay a week are wimps, but I will say that it’s the second year in Vegas that wears you down. Then I realized the pioneers were trying to get to California, so I moved to Chico, in Northern California, and lived there until 2009.
While in Chico, I earned a journalism degree from California State University, Chico. My wandering has circled back, and I’m currently living in Battle Creek, Michigan, and for now, my existence within the post-apocalyptic Rust Belt is suitably fascinating.
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About the Book
The folklore beliefs of the 16th century Renaissance come wildly to life in the werewolf hero Thal. Created by the infamous sorcerer Sarputeen, Thal now battles the dark servants of Tekax, wizard to the Turks and nemesis of Sarputeen. While escaping the Holy Roman Empire, Thal discovers more about his werewolf powers as he struggles to reach a refuge shrouded in mystery.Get it Today!
Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Falbe Publishing
Keep reading for a guest post by the author:
Writing Fantasy in a Historical Setting
by Tracy Falbe
History offers vast realms of inspiration. When crafting the novel Journey of the Hunted, I drew upon the folklore and mythologies of Early Modern Europe. By making these magical beliefs real, the historical setting of the 16th century Holy Roman Empire easily supported a fantastical tale of werewolves and sorcerers.
A historical setting, however, demands that an author respect the facts of history. The social, political, and religious strife of Early Modern Europe provided me with ample building blocks for complex world building.
The narrative of Journey of the Hunted starts in 1561 Bohemia. The people of this period were afraid. Printing technology was spreading new ideas more rapidly than ever before. Those who craved change continually confronted the guardians of the status quo.
Foreign threats worsened social anxieties. The Ottoman Turks had made considerable conquests in the 1530s and claimed much of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Holy Roman Empire was on constant guard against this hated enemy.
The 16th century was also a time of rising populations in Europe. More land was being cultivated. Capitalism was taking its modern form. Advances in technology in the 14th and 15th centuries had expanded mining operations. A larger flow of gold, silver, and copper from the mountain mines financed exploration and infrastructure. The Fugger family of Augsburg arose as one of the most influential forces in Europe. The family controlled a vast fortune based on mining and banking. Their wealth paid for the wars waged by Holy Roman Emperors.
The broad strokes of this historical canvas presented me with a land where one age of history was shifting to the next. The stable and largely rural populations of the Middle Ages were giving way to population growth and urban development. More resources had to be extracted from the land as cities grew or were rebuilt after incessant wars.
While researching the route of this fictional adventure, I often read about destroyed churches and burned towns. I mention details in the novel to illustrate the conflict that had been wrenching the land. The warmongering or princes and priests would eventually culminate in the horrors of the Thirty Years’ War.
Although the people of Europe at this time noticed their rising population with concern, my view from the future let me imagine a Europe with hundreds of millions fewer people. Deep old forests with few trails still existed, but civilization was biting more deeply with every passing year. Many timbers were needed to build the palaces, homes, mills, and ships demanded by an expanding economy.
The wild places had no defenders, and the ravenous economies and war machines of Europe plundered them at will. Emerging nation states in conjunction with their chosen religious institutions took strict command of the social order. These forces aggressively stomped out old ways of viewing the world. A connection to Nature became a connection to the Devil in the eyes of priests and kings alike. This brutal time forged our modern age.
Thank you for publishing my guest post about writing fantasy in a historical setting.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! :-D
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