Events

 

The Field pub date is April 23, 2019! Here are some places that I’ll be signing books – come and see me!

Barnes and Noble Southlake Town Center

Southlake, TX

Friday, April 12th

6:00 to 8:00pm – Book signing

 

Barnes and Noble Preston Royal Shopping Center

Dallas, TX

Saturday, April 13th

2:00 to 4:00pm – Book Signing

 

Barnes And Noble Woodland Mall

Grand Rapids, MI

Friday, April 26th ~ 6:00pm

Local Authors Meet & Greet and signings

 

Dayton Book Expo

Dayton, OH

Saturday, April 27th ~ 11:00am to 4:00pm

David H. Ponitz Conference Center

 

SCBWI – Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

Chicago Marriott ~ Naperville, IL

Marvelous Midwest 2019

Friday, May 3rd- 5th

 

LAUNCH PARTY ~ Come One, Come All!

Saturday, May 11th

5:00pm to 7:00pm

The Garden Table

908 E Westfield Blvd, Broad Ripple, Indianapolis

Refreshments, Readings, Book Signings!

Kids Ink Bookstore to provide books

 

Barnes and Noble Greenwood Park Mall

Greenwood, IN

Friday, May 17th 5:00pm

Discussion and Book Signing

 

Schuler Books

Ann Arbor, MI

Saturday, May 25th 3:00pm

 

Women and Children First  Bookstore

5233 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640

Wednesday, May 29th ~ 7pm

Readings and Book signing

 

Barnes and Noble

Deerfield Square, Deerfield, IL

Saturday, June 1st ~ 12:00 to 2:00pm

 

Prologue Bookshop

Columbus, OH

Sunday, June 9th ~ 4:00 to 6:00pm

 

Barnes and Noble

Upper Arlington, OH

Saturday, June 15th ~ 1:00pm to 3:00pm

 

The Book Loft

German Village, Columbus, OH

Sunday, June 16th ~ 3:00 to 5:00pm

 

 

Butt In Chair

by with One Comment Writing

People are always telling me they want to be a writer or they have an idea for a book. They want to know how to do it. There’s a saying among writers – BIC – Butt In Chair. To be a writer you have to actually write! Obvious, right?!?! Those same people often come back to me again and again and say the same thing. The answer is always the same. Sit your fanny down and write!

I recently visited Creekside Middle School to talk with aspiring writers about What It Takes to Be a Writer.

Here are some highlights from the talk.

~Read – anything and everything.

~Observe – get ideas from people and places around you.

~Exercise your imagination – Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge.

~Create a Good Story Arc and a Memorable Hero

~Write – obvious, right?

~Revise – Your first draft is never your last draft. It probably sucks!

The most important thing, though, is to get started. Revising is a lot easier that writing the first draft, but you can’t revise a blank page.

THE FIELD is a One of a Kind Story

by with 2 Comments The Field

Amazing review of The Field from Chick-lit Café.

The Field by Tracy Richardson is an imaginative, engaging read about soccer, teenage angst, science and the supernatural. Readers will revel in this one-of-a-kind story.

Eric Horton is an exceptional soccer player and goalie. He has the ability to perceive where the ball is heading and is able to block it with uncanny accuracy. Eventually, he begins to question and perceive that this ability could be coming from a supernatural source. He is a good student and takes an AP class in Environmental Science, taught by a new teacher from France. Then, he is lucky and manages to go out with the French teacher’s beautiful daughter, Renee. The new physicist teacher convinces Eric and his friend Will to be test subjects for some scientific research he is conducting, and Eric soon discovers that he has the natural ability to communicate through telepathy and perform astral projections.

But, when things start to go wrong with his friends, Will and Rene, he begins to doubt himself. He must pull it together and use the gifts that he never knew he had. Eric has frightening dreams and forebodings that torment him, and they are beginning to come true. But, with the use of his recent source of energy and strength, he manages to take control, and perform supernatural feats.

The Field by Tracy Richardson is a fabulous book for teens and young adults. It is filled with intrigue, mystery and sweet romance. The author has a lot of scientific knowledge and it is apparent throughout this story. This a great read for those who think outside box, and desire to explore the idea of how everything in the universe is connected, and the possibility of the paranormal and supernatural, specifically from a scientific approach.

Tracy Richardson has created realistic and relatable characters that teens and young adults will connect with. Parents will get a clue from Eric’s character and mind, as to what is going on in a teenagers head. Richardson has a unique way with words, and had me feeling like I really knew and understood Eric. Her descriptive writing pulled me in from the very first chapter and kept me fully interested all the way through to the astounding conclusion. The plot is great, and the book is full of drama, mystery and romance.

The Field is thought-provoking, entertaining and completely different from anything I have ever read. Chick-lit Cafe recommends it to those who love science fiction, the paranormal and the mysterious universal connections between energy, humans and matter. Get yourself a copy, we are confident you will love it!

Order your copy today!

The Secret Life of Trees

by with 2 Comments EnvironmentIndian SummerScience StuffThe Field

I’ve recently been revising my novel Indian Summer to add more conflict and mystical experiences. The story is about how Marcie tries to stop development of an old growth forest on the lake where her grandparents live.

A few weeks ago I went to a film festival sponsored by the Indiana Forest Alliance and connected with the Development Director, Sandra Messner. We had a great conversation which sparked some ideas that I plan to incorporate into the novel. The Alliance’s mission is “to preserve and restore Indiana’s native forest ecosystem for the enjoyment of all.” The Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ mantra is that “for forests to be healthy, they need to be logged” which does not support preservation of our old growth forests. Sounds like a good start for some conflict to develop!

I also ordered the book, The Hidden Life of Trees – What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben, which arrived yesterday. I’m super excited to read it. The inside flap says,

“…trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers.”

This begs the question of whether trees are sentient beings. In The Field I explore the Universal Energy Field and Collective Consciousness as they relate to the interconnectedness of humans, but what about other living (and even non-‘living’) entities like animals and plants (or the Earth itself)? Are they connected? Do plants have feelings? There is another book that looks interesting on this subject The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Thompkins and Christopher Bird. In her book, The Intention Experiment, Lynne McTaggart cites experiments by Cleve Backster showing that plants react to human intentions.

Research is one of the best parts of writing. The idea that plants are sentient beings and have feelings and react to danger and human activity is super intriguing! Can’t wait to learn more and incorporate it into Indian Summer.

The Indiana Forest Alliance aims to preserve forests for the enjoyment of all. In Japan, the practice of ‘Forest Bathing’ is widely practiced. Spending time in nature is scientifically proven to improve your health. I’ve even read that some physicians are prescribing time in nature as treatment. This is one of the reasons that I incorporate environmental themes in my novels. The natural world is beautiful, awe-inspiring, priceless and feeds our souls. We must be the Earth’s caretakers, not exploiters.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

by with No Comment ReadingThe Field

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Field by Tracy Richardson

The Field

by Tracy Richardson

Giveaway ends March 02, 2019.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

Enter to win one of three signed Advance Review Copies of The Field!

Eric has a lot on his plate. Crazy dreams (or are they premonitions?) of a world on fire; an inexplicable connection to the new girl in school; a new supernatural awareness on the soccer field that is equal parts mystery and gift. Eric begins to question reality itself as more strange things unfold to shake his grasp on the world around him.

The Global Consciousness Project

by with No Comment Science StuffThe Field

In The Field Eric is connecting to something, some force, when he’s in the goal that gives him a sense of knowing where the ball is going to go before he possibly could. He doesn’t know what it is and struggles to control it. Through the vehicle of story and Eric’s struggles, I wanted to explore the idea that we are all connected by the same energy field, the same power, the same consciousness. Although it may seem like a metaphysical concept, there is real science to back it up.

Quantum physics has shown that at a subatomic level everything is connected. These tiniest of particles only have meaning in relation to other particles, linked by a dynamic web of interconnection, and once in contact with one another, they are always connected. This connectedness transcends time and space. This has been proven in numerous experiments.

What’s been difficult for scientists to determine is how this connectedness translates into the life we see around us. Do these same principals apply to us? Are humans all connected to one another and if so, how?

There is an interesting on-going experiment called The Global Consciousness Project run by an international consortium of scientists and volunteers that measures random white noise occurring in the noosphere to test the theory that humanity itself has a global consciousness. In other words, is there evidence that our consciousness as a species is connected in some measurable manner?

From the website:

“Personal experience is supported by a growing number of good experiments which show that consciousness and intention have subtle but important effects in the world. We know that groups of people sometimes experience a special resonance of feelings and ideas, and recent scientific evidence indicates that effects of coherent group consciousness can be detected with appropriate instruments. The Global Consciousness Project (GCP) is an international collaboration of researchers extending this research to global dimensions via the internet.”

Since 1998 the group has gathered and analyzed data according to rigorous scientific protocols, and has found “strong” and “significant” evidence that certain events, such as the funeral ceremonies of Princess Diana, the terrorist attacks on 9/11, terrible accidents and natural disasters, major religious gatherings, and midnight on any New Years Eve, have a worldwide impact that can be measured as a “spike” on a graph. They state, however that “we do not know whether there is a global consciousness.” Source EGGs in a Global Basket by Wm. Michael Knight

Although the scientists of the Global Consciousness Project don’t purport to draw the conclusion that there is, in fact, a consciousness that connects us all, I believe that there is. What do you think?

Premonitions and Intuition

by with No Comment Science StuffThe FieldThings That Occur to Me

Have you ever had a thought or feeling about something that later came true? Did you realize what it was at the time? If you had known that it was a premonition would you have acted differently?

I recently had two separate traumatic occurances where I had a premonition about them beforehand. It wasn’t as though I ‘knew’ what was going to happen, more like a fleeting thought crossing my mind that I remembered after the event.

The first was a car accident. I had been driving all around central Indiana a day in mid-December and was headed home. It was early evening – dark and raining. Visibility was bad and I was concerned about getting into an accident. I had a fleeting thought that I might get rear-ended, but it was just that – a fleeting thought. It occurred to me and then I moved on to other thoughts. I had been in a rear-end collision on a similar dark and rainy night in October, so I attributed it to that connection.

The car in front of me stopped on the four lane, busy road to turn left. I wasn’t able to pull past her into the right lane so I waited for her to turn. After a few moments I heard a screeching sound and then BOOOOOM! someone crashed into me from behind hitting me so hard that I crashed into the car in front of me and hit my knees on the dashboard. It wasn’t until later that I remembered the fleeting thought of the rear-end collision. Could I have avoided it if I had known it for a premonition? I’m not sure what I could have done.

The second premonition was about my nephew breaking his arm. Over Christmas I went to California to visit my brother and his family and to watch his two kids while he and his wife took a little ‘adults only’ vacation. My niece and nephew and I were having a great time on our ‘Auntventures’ going to museums, roller skating and going to the movies and the library – they love to read!! My brother suggested I drop them off at a bouncy-house play center on Friday evening so I could have a few hours to myself. I remember thinking – ‘Ben is going to break his arm’. Again, it was hardly even a solid thought, just a fleeting idea. I dropped them off and went into the little town to shop and have dinner.

Midway through my dinner and into my second glass of wine I got the call. I thought – ‘here it is’ – before I answered. Ben may have broken his arm, they said. When I got there I was met with a fire truck, ambulance and police car all with lights flashing. He did in fact break his arm pretty badly, but I’m happy to report that the cast was just removed last week and he is healing beautifully!

What if I had paid closer attention to my intuition or premonition and not taken them to the play center? Would Ben not have broken his arm? Probably. Was it really a premonition or just me thinking of a possible likely scenario? The doctor who treated him said they see kids with broken bones from those bouncy houses all the time.

In The Field, Eric has frightening dreams that he doesn’t know what to do with. Is he connecting with The Field? The Collective Consciousness? Was I? What do you think?