Indie authors like Tracy Falbe reach readers looking for something outside the mainstream. To date she has written nine fantasy books for kindle that expand on beloved fantasy themes and break new ground.

Battle Creek, MI -- (SBWire) -- 06/10/2014 --When Tracy Falbe published her most recent novel in the Kindle store she discovered there was not a product category that precisely matched it. The closest label she could find for her historical fantasy Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale was to place it in the Medieval historical fiction category.

It’s actually set in 16th century Renaissance Europe. The author was surprised to find that her choice to write a werewolf novel set in that time was unique. There was no Renaissance label to categorize any type of historical novel.

“There are historical and folkloric references to werewolves and people being condemned as shape shifters during the Renaissance. So I thought it was fertile ground for a historical novel with fantasy and paranormal elements,” Falbe explained.

A recent review for Werelord Thal in the Amazon Kindle store actually called it “a different kind of werewolf tale” by a reader who enjoyed the novel and gave it four stars.

Falbe, a Michigan-based author, is not new to being different. She began writing novels seriously in 1997 and by 2000 was ready to find a publisher. After four fruitless years, she decided to self publish.

At the time she had her first two epic fantasy novels ready. These were Union of Renegades and The Goddess Queen that launched The Rys Chronicles series.

Although she has earned tens of thousands of dollars off The Rys Chronicles over the years, no publisher was interested in her. Falbe suspects it was because her epics did not have dragons or a teenage character going through the classic coming of age story.

“When I wrote The Rys Chronicles I consciously chose to make main characters that were adults. They were young but well past the starry-eyed ignorance of adolescence,” Falbe explained.

“I read a lot of fantasy growing up and although coming of age novels can be wonderful, I wanted to write stories with more adult themes,” she said.

The hero of The Rys Chronicles starts out as a rogue imperial officer and eventually wins a kingdom and starts a family. In the later novels he has to the grapple with parenthood while defending his people.

Falbe added, “Just because a novel does not fit market categories defined by the publishing industry doesn’t mean people won’t like it. But it does mean I have to produce it myself.”

Falbe believes that indie authors that self publish bring unique value to literature. “There are many talented people out there who want to explore new territory within beloved genres. Self publishing gives a space to do that,” she said.

About Tracy Falbe
Falbe publishes all her novels as fantasy books for kindle and at other major retailers. She also operates Brave Luck Books that sells her fiction worldwide.