Author Archives: Traci Hall

Traci Hall

About Traci Hall

With an impressive bibliography in an array of genres, USA Today bestselling author Traci Hall has garnered a notable fan base. She pens stories guaranteed to touch the heart while transporting the reader to another time and place. Her belief in happily ever after shines through, whether it's a romantic glimpse into history or a love affair for today.

Travel Bug

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Packing for Greece—what do you need to know when you leave the country?

So, I am beyond excited as I type this blog. I have never been to Greece before and it looks beautiful.
If you know me, you know that I love the beach, and the ocean. I feel a pull toward the water that feeds my spirit. I love history, and Greece is full of ancient stories. I can’t wait to see the cave houses for myself, to see the blue, blue water, to taste the local food and hear the conversation.
To imagine what it was like back then—way, way, back—and compare that with the modern beauty of Santorini, and Athens.

What to pack, what to wear, what kind of money to bring? I am grateful to be going with Aleka Nakis (Insiderstours.com) for a writing retreat. She is taking care of all the coordination of where we are supposed to be, how to get there, and she even sent a suggested packing list—where has this woman been all my life??
Thank you very much for that!!

We will need to use the euro, which we can get from an ATM. The weather will be 70s in the day, 60 at night. Walking shoes and flip flops. Local food—feta cheese the size of your fist, lol, and ouzo. What is that? Greece’s specialty drink.
https://drizly.com/liquor/ouzo/c196889

I have always loved being able to travel, and this is the farthest I’ve gone…yet. Who knows what the future brings?

Do you have the travel bug? What is your favorite place in all of the world?

XO

Traci

Airboat ride through the Everglades—hard pass on the frog legs

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I am so excited to write this blog today and share with my fellow South Floridians the amazing wildlife and nature trails we have in our backyard. I can’t remember all that our driver said about fresh water and salt water and Lake Okeechobee, but to be honest, my attention was on the alligators we saw everywhere. And blue herons, which seem to be a thing in my life that I plan on delving into later. Yellow snapping turtles you don’t want to mess with either, or the saw grass that is smooth if you touch it the right way, but can cut you to the bone if you do it wrong. Lots of dangerous beauty. 

I can’t believe that I’ve lived in Florida since 2001 and this is the first time I’ve done this—sure, we did other gator tours with the kids, so I’m not sure how we missed the airboat. I highly recommend it if you have the chance! At no time did I feel unsafe as the guides were fun and informed, and told us to keep our hands inside the boat if we wanted to keep our fingers, lol

Air plants, willow leaves that cowboys  used to chew after a long day to relieve pain, and the bulb of the lily plant the Indians (I can’t remember the tribe) could eat for nourishment. Our driver (Sam) had us whipping around the two foot-deep water between twenty-five to thirty miles an hour at one point—a blast! He gave us cotton for our ears to help with the giant fan behind us. I would do it again in a flash, I had so much fun. We passed a grove of mangroves and we were allowed to get out of the boat, into the clear water. I sank into the soft spongy mud but what a thrill.

We used Coopertown Airboats: http://coopertownairboats.com/

 

Have a wonderful day!

<3

Traci

Visit http://www.tracihall.com to get your free copy of Sandy Kisses!

Florida Romance Writer’s Cruise 2019

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I have been a member of Romance Writers of America since 2003, and I stay a member because I love my local South Florida chapter. I remember being at an RWA lunch and Nora Roberts told us to look around the room, and at that table, because these were the people who would be on this crazy writing journey with us.

She was right. These folks, not all of them women, have become some of my dearest friends in the fourteen years since that lunch. The cruise this year was smaller than normal in turnout but despite that, it was an amazing round of workshops and discussions on the ever-changing industry, and how other writers, both indie and published, are making a living in it.

Our keynote speaker was Jennifer Ashley, chosen because she is a successful hybrid author. It is my personal opinion that having a foot in both worlds is the way to go–get your traditional pubbed readers, and hopefully introduce them to your indie pubbed series. Everyone always wants to know how to reach more readers, and this is one of many ways. Victoria Pinder taught how to create ads that work without breaking the bank, and she highly recommends utilizing your author newsletter. Barbara Vey was there, and she offered pearls of wisdom on always being prepared to meet a reader. Embarrassingly enough, I was one of many who didn’t have our business cards with us during her talk. She is very pro-author, and is now offering a critique service on your author brand. I met wonderful indie author Jess Michaels, and her partner and husband, Michael Peterson. Tara September and her BFF Mandy talked with us at dinner about Instagram. 17 hashtags people. At least. We had editor Allison Carroll from HQN there, and she was interested in small town romance–check out the Harlequin website if you are interested–and Deb Werksman was very generous with her time and valuable advice. Melissa Jeglinski from the Knight Agency was there with her mom–who is just as cool as Melissa.

Christopher and I did our workshop, Champagne and Chocolate, and the language of love. We had a blast with the quiz from Gary Chapman’s Love Languages book. Turns out that we are compatible 🙂

In these days of most of our social interaction being online, it is so important to remember face-to-face too. We sang at the piano bar, ate two desserts, drank at Senor Froggy’s in Cozumel, and cemented old friendships as well as made new. You can’t give a cyber friend a hug like you can the person next to you after a fabulous workshop. That said, I hand out cyber hugs and kisses like crazy. The ladies at Authors Billboard are an integral part of my indie writing journey, and we are true friends. I’m just saying that if you have the chance to join a physical critique group or writer’s group, it has some benefits.

Three weeks ago, In the Dog House was released, and if you haven’t had your chance to read it yet, you can grab it here: https://www.amazon.com/Dog-House-Traci-Hall-ebook/dp/B07MYX7596/

Don’t forget to enter March’s contest: https://authorsbillboard.com/

Best of luck–and happy reading,

Know Your Audience

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Knowing your audience before you start writing can save time and as a very busy writer, I am usually all about that 🙂

I am thrilled to announce the new release of In the Dog House, which used to be titled Just For You, and used to be about a divorced military dad who’s ex went into rehab, and he has to suddenly come home to a sullen ten year old the ex had kept from him. He does it, gladly, but is a fish out of water.  The love interest is a local dog trainer/psychologist who had given up a child for adoption when she was just a teen, after getting pregnant when her mom died, and she’d spent time in an out of foster care before her great aunt takes her in. Wonderful angst, wonderful conflict.

Too angsty. The story is now about an uncle in the military who comes home on leave when his sister, who was in a horrific car accident, is put into a medically induced coma. He has to take care of his nephew, who he knows from occasional vacations and Skype calls. Emma still gets to be a psychologist, but never had a baby underage and out of wedlock.

It has taken me a long time to be able to write the above paragraph without gritting my teeth, and to find the humor in the situation. The original book was completely overhauled and I’m glad it got a new title—it needed a new title. It deserved a new title. Why was I willing to do it, you ask?

Because, I love, love love Jackson and Emma. I wanted their story of overcoming odds to be told, and to reach the widest audience, which meant putting in the time to tell the story in a way that ticks all of the “clean” romance boxes.

No cussing, no drugs, no deadbeat single dads, no teenage pregnancy. Oh—and I had to cut 15,000 words. The upside is that I know Emma and Jackson like they are roommates—which is kind of what our characters become; family. I know their story is solid. I hope you enjoy them too—I’ve included an excerpt:

available 2/11 In the Dog House:

Emma finished her wine on the back porch, looking up at the moon and stars. Stars always made her think of Jackson, their very hot kiss in the kitchen, the way they’d fit as if no time had passed at all. Her hand on his muscular arms, her hip to his, his fingers caressing her lower back. The musky scent of his cologne.

Just like that, desire for him had rekindled—but not a thing had changed between them. If anything, the chips were stacked even higher. Now, she had a business that needed to expand in order to save dogs, a doctorate her own professor wasn’t sure she wanted—and the stirring of her heartstrings when she thought of Jackson and the man he’d become.

She might not survive a second broken heart, and he would break it—just by doing what he needed to do, who he’d been raised to be, which was finish his career in the military. He would not choose her—again.

A shooting star whisked across the night sky, and she closed her eyes to make a wish.

I want true love with a man I can trust to pick me first. Which crosses Jackson Hardy off the list.

https://www.amazon.com/Dog-House-Traci-Hall-ebook/dp/B07MYX7596

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-dog-house-traci-hall/1130335742?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/in-the-dog-house/id1450181946?_bbid=15668&mt=11

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/in-the-dog-house-1?

Thank you so much for reading! Make sure to enter the Authors Billboard February contest– Are you interested in winning gift cards, print books, or free eBooks? To find out more details on this month’s contest, click here! https://authorsbillboard.com/

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xoxo

Traci