First of all, thank you to FreshFiction for hosting me on your website’s blog! For this supernatural Thursday, I thought it would be fun to discuss how dreams are used in fiction (especially teen fiction), seeing as dreams are such potent forces. Most of us have had one of the following reactions to a dream: “Thank god that wasn’t real! My heart is pounding.” “Uh, what in the world was THAT about?” “What a brilliant story idea! Let me write that down!” I’m partially joking on the third, but it is true that writers can be highly inspired by dreams and nightmares. As a personal example, part of my debut teen fantasy novel Paragon is based on a nightmare I had many years ago. I was on vacation in a remote cabin with family, but the cabin was full of ghosts that only I could see. Cue a ton of “Don’t you see them? Am I going crazy?” that left me feeling insane even after I woke up. Since dreams are such amazing fodder for writers, it’s no wonder that dream sequences themselves end up in fiction. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how stories can incorporate…

It’s often said that you should write what you know. Personally, I’m more from the school of writing what interests you or grabs your imagination. Looking back at my new Dream Wreaker series from Pocket, however, I realized that I had unconsciously done both. The books deal with sleeping and dreaming, something that I (and most people) do daily. Yet when I started learning about what happens during those resting hours, things got really interesting. I was surprised to learn how many people have problems sleeping. According to the www.sleepeducation.com/ website, more than 70 million people in the U.S. alone have sleep disorders. Even more amazing to me, was that The Classification of Sleep Disorders, Second Edition documents 81 official sleep disorders. 81! As a sleeper, this information boggled the mind. As a writer, however, the possibilities opened to me by this information seemed endless. Restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, night terrors, sleep paralysis… The list held so many ideas for so many interesting stories. In the end, I chose dreaming as the topic for my first book in the series, What She Wants At Midnight. Sleepwalking was the focus of the follow-up book, In Her Wildest Dreams. With so…

Thanks to Fresh Fiction for having me today. I’ve had a terrific weekend with the release and signing of my second Harlequin American Romance, The Fake Fiancée. One question I’ve been asked at book signings that tickles me is, “Why did you keep writing?” (I hope the person asks this before they’ve read my work!) If you aren’t familiar with my story, I started writing when my kids were toddlers and didn’t get published until after they became teens. During this time, I finaled in several “prominent” Romance Writers of America chapter contests, had requests from editors to whom I pitched my work at conferences, and even landed on the senior editor’s desk. All to no avail. I guess it could be called a “lucky” thirteenth year when I sold. So why did I stick with it? Stubbornness? Blind faith that someday I would sell? Well, maybe the first explanation. Because for six years, I’d lost the belief I’d ever see my work in print. Those were dark times. It wasn’t until one day when I had “people” in my head again that I realized the characters who usually inhabit my waking hours had been AWOL. Even my family commented…

Everyone has dreams and ambitions, don’t they? At least, I hope everyone does because dreams can be one of the most fun things in life – there is nothing like sitting somewhere (anywhere) and indulging in a daydream. You can dream about anything – let your mind wander and suddenly you can do whatever, be whatever… then, when you’ve come up with a really good one – you can try to write it down… Cue the start of the author’s nightmare!!! Seriously though, if we didn’t dream, we couldn’t achieve things right? And often to make your dreams become reality you have to be brave. It can be terrifying to throw in the good, stable job to chase the career in the high risk area you dream of, it can be damn scary letting your mum read the love scenes in the novel you’ve written, and I figure it’d be frightening when you’ve saved every cent you can so you can go jump out a plane at however many thousand feet – just because you’ve always wanted too … what were you thinking??!!!!! I think sometimes, to be able to realise our dreams, to be fearless, we need the help…