Monday, March 4, 2013

Guest blogger L.M. Brown

Happy Monday everybody! Today I welcome author .L.M. Brown. She's talking about dreams, and her newest release, Only in Your Dreams. Why don't you get started, L.M., while I make us some tea?







The Strangeness of Dreams

I believe that there is nothing as strange as the human mind, especially when it is given free rein to wander.  As a writer, I rely on my mind wandering off on random tangents on a regular basis.  I get a lot of plot bunnies that way and without those there would be no stories forthcoming.  But the randomness of daydreams could never be as strange as dreams that come to us when the subconscious takes over each night.

Dreams can take many forms and there are countless theories out there about them.  There are those who say dreams can open the door to past lives, others that they can sometimes predict the future, and so many different dream interpretation sites/books out there I wouldn’t know where to start.

Personally I believe in both of the first two theories and have experienced one of those myself.  The dream interpretation I tend to leave alone for the most part.  If I have a nightmare about the office in the middle of a stressful week it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that one!

I believe that the soul/psyche/essence of every person is not tied to their body.  Yes, I believe in reincarnation and the eternal nature of the human soul, but that is more relevant for another story that is currently in the progress of being written.

For my novel Only in Your Dreams I decided to give dreams a bit of a new twist.  I played with the idea of there being another world out there, in what for all intents and purposes is another dimension, where the dreaming mind travels to.  For most of us, the dreaming world is nothing more than regular dreams that we mostly forget about when we wake.  But for some, like Jay, the hero of my story, it is another place and as real as the regular world.

Because of the way Jay’s brain works (and the brains of the rest of the men in his family) he has total recall of his dreams and the ability to manipulate dreams into whatever he wants.  Now, really, how cool would that be?  No more nightmares about arriving at school and finding you have a test/are naked/forgot your homework.  He, and others like him, can also communicate with each other in the dream world and remember their conversations when they wake up.  

Of course, the idea of being able to control your world might be a tempting one, but the flip side is that any of those with the ability to do this can wander into your mind and see whatever your dreaming mind has conjured up.  A total invasion of privacy and a moral dilemma that Jay has to contend with as he learns to control his new powers.

So, if you could control your dreams, what would you dream about?


Blurb

Jay Sommers has always had the power to bend dreams to his will. When he reaches eighteen his powers grow and he discovers he can travel into the dreams of others. But his new ability doesn't come without problems. Hiding his sexuality from his homophobic father during the day was hard enough, now not even the haven of his mind is safe, especially when he finds it increasingly difficult to resist the temptations of his dream lover, Cory Irwin.

Jay soon discovers that when your sleeping hours are as real as your waking ones, your nightmares can come true in both worlds. Can Jay make his dreams come true as well?

Excerpt

The gents was empty and he stalled in there as long as he dared. He had to tell them soon. The older they got, the less convincing his excuses sounded.

"You should tell them," a stranger's voice suddenly advised.

Jay looked up to see an older man standing two sinks down. The man's dark brown hair brushed his shoulders and his teasing eyes were a deep shade of blue. Although it was difficult to tell in his loose fitting shirt, Jay suspected the handsome looks were complemented by a well-toned body. Jay estimated him to be in his early to mid-twenties.

The man looked at Jay with mild amusement. "Fuck! Am I that obvious?" Jay blurted.

The stranger chuckled. "No, but if you're so worked up about your problem that you're talking to yourself in public loos and don't even notice someone else coming in here, you need to tell them."

"You don't even know what's bothering me."

The amusement melted from the stranger's face. "I could take a fair guess."

From the look of quiet appraisal on the man's face Jay suspected his guess would be accurate. Apparently he had been obvious about checking the man out as well.

"I'm Randall."

"Jay."

Randall smiled and finished washing his hands. "Nice to meet you." He turned and leaned his hip against the sink. "How old are you?"

Jay frowned at the seemingly random question. "Eighteen."

Randall raised an eyebrow as though he didn't believe him. Jay didn't blame him and it reaffirmed his suspicion that he would have to make sure to carry ID with him for some time to come.

"It's true. I'm eighteen today, if you must know."

Randall laughed. "Then happy birthday, Jay."

Jay had a feeling he was being picked up, but he didn't know how to find out for sure without asking direct—and if he had mistaken Randall's friendliness for flirting he would look a right idiot.

Randall glanced at the closed door before beckoning Jay towards one of the stalls.

Jay took a step forward before he caught himself. What the hell did he think he was doing? Gorgeous though the man appeared to be, he was a complete stranger.

Randall chuckled. "You don't want your friends to come in here looking for you and find you with your tongue down my throat, do you?"

Jay drew in a sharp breath. Well, that answered the question about whether Randall was hitting on him or not.

Jay halted for a moment as he debated whether or not to follow after Randall. He'd never done this before, not with anyone. Was Randall just going to kiss him or did he expect something more? If he expected Jay to return the favour in another way, how far did he expect Jay to go? Jay knew enough about how things were between two guys to have a fair idea of what went where and who did what to whom, but this was all going just a little bit too fast for him.

"Come on," Randall urged. "I don't bite—at least not on a first date."

"This isn't exactly a date though, is it?"

Randall laughed and shook his head. "No, I guess not. I'll tell you what… I'm going to go in here and leave the choice to you. Either you come in here with me and I'll give you a birthday kiss, or you can go back to the bar and I'll go on my way."

"Just a kiss?"

Randall gave him a knowing look. "If you want to do more than make out, I'm open to the idea; but I'm not going to fuck you in here no matter how much you beg me."

It was Jay's turn to laugh. "You sound pretty sure of yourself."

"Confident is always the best way to be," Randall replied as he disappeared into the end cubical and out of Jay's sight.

Available from Silver Publishing

Where to find L.M. Brown
Twitter - @lmbrownauthor

Thanks for stopping by, L.M., come back soon!

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie

1 comment:

  1. Hi Julie!

    Thanks for having me here again. Been stuck at the evil day job all day, but am home now and shouting out in my usual haunts about my visit here.

    ReplyDelete