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
Website – http://lmbrownauthor.wordpress.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/lm.brown.5
Twitter - @lmbrownauthor
Thanks for stopping by, L.M., come back soon!
Until next time, take care!
♥ Julie
Hi Julie!
ReplyDeleteThanks 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.