Archive for May, 2011
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
The emotion in our dreams is the key. Not what you see, or even what you remember when awake, but what you feel. Emotions are the common thread between the waking and the sleeping worlds. In my psychic fantasy novels, this is how scientists and psychics develop the brainwashing techniques that threaten to become global weapons. In real life, this is merely the power of our minds leading us through the work we need to do.
I’m on an emotional rant this week–most of my posts will touch on the psyche, I’ll just be coming at you from different directions. So be warned ;o)
Longing and disappointments and fear and hope and anxiety and excitement…and all of that is all of who we are, in our waking an sleeping worlds.
Think about it–what’s the one dream you can remember most? Why is that dream so easy for you to recall, when others have slipped away? Was it frightening? Special and supremely happy? Were you seeing someone again for the first time in a long time, or travelling somewhere meaningful, or facing your sworn enemy or struggling through your worst nightmare come true, etc.?
All of that is about the emotion still lingering, and bout how it was still scaring or thrilling you when you woke.
It’s been largely accepted by scientists that dreams are a method for us to process emotional information (among other things). Some go so far as to suggest you write a dream report immediately upon waking–and that you focus on feelings and emotions first, before getting to the lingering visible sights and symbols that remain.
The most common emotion experienced during a dream?
Fear.
Does this mean we’re being threatened by either the sleeping or the waking world. Not at all. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dark Legacy, dream color, dream emotion, dream programming, dream science, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy author, Legacy Series, lucid dreaming, lucid dreams, Secert Legacy
Posted in Dream Theories, The Psychic Realm | No Comments »
Monday, May 9th, 2011
Our gifts are amazing opportunities that come to us with high expectations and the weight of entering the world differently. If we’re different, then “normal” won’t always understand. Or accept. Or be our home.
My psychic twins in the Legacy series understood this earlier than most, when as little girls their mother convinced them to hide their gifts and with that dictate set into motion a lifetime of confusion and near-insanity for her beautiful, powerful girls. Because “different” meant danger and the kind of persistent anxiety that their mother couldn’t handle.
If we hide our gifts, we suppress part of why we were created (whether you’re empathic and telepathic like my characters Maddie and Sarah Temple and don’t claim your destiny as warriors, or you lose yourself in music that others don’t understand alone, or nature which others won’t see without your unique perspective, or teaching that would open the the world for students that won’t learn as deeply without you).
Hiding denies the positive energy that is waiting to be released. We dilute the effectiveness of our unique abilities in both our lives, and the reality of those waiting for us to open our minds to who we are.
And this is madness.
It’s a damaging path that so many everyday people travel, living half-lives that are never fulfilling or even a shadow of what they were meant to be, because the owner of what’s been hidden away is more comfortable with pursuing the “normal” they’ll never achieve, than he/she is embracing how truly remarkable their differences are.
I’ve received several reviews for Dark Legacy that complain of the beginning of the novel being too disjointed and fast paced and confusing. And, yes, that’s to be expected from some readers because I penned a psychic thriller that was then marketed as a paranormal romance. But the true discord that some have picked up on is that the primary point of view for the story was a woman whose mind was unravelling.
(more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dark Legacy, dream color, dream emotion, dream programming, dream science, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy author, Legacy Series, Secert Legacy, William Styron
Posted in The Psychic Realm | 5 Comments »
Friday, May 6th, 2011
Dorchester Publshing’s gotten a lot of press in the seven months that I’ve waited for Secret Legacy to release. The Dorchester staff has made some tough choices about their business, as have I. PIFS has been about the story behind the drama playing out on social media’s myopic stage. Tough realities and decisions must be faced once emotions cool. I wanted this to be a place where we could share experiences and take those next steps together.
Our industry is a lightening-fast spiral of change at the moment. We’ve talked here about challenging things. We’ve kept things honest but positive and forward-thinking. We’ve already heard from a PR professional and an industry-leading agent. Now let’s dig a little deeper.
My personal impression observing Dorchester Senior Editor Chris Keeslar in my six years as a published author is that he’s widely respected by professionals in every corner of our industry.
Every author I know who’s worked with him loves how much he loves working with story and the minds that craft it. With Dorchester’s shift in publishing model, I suspect Chris is more involved than ever with the management of getting books to market. But reading his thoughts below, it’s clear that story and nurturing an author’s voice and career are still Chris’ ultimate focus.
He’s put a public face on each issue Dorchester has encountered. He’s handled these complex situations as best he could as quickly as he could, providing whatever information and action and answers were needed. I can’t imagine the journey’s been any easier for him than the authors he continues to champion. But he’s never publicly reacted in anger or frustration. I find it inspirational, his brand of integrity and optimism in the face of these challenges.
I’m thrilled that Chris is sharing his thoughts with us today on how a traditional publisher can help a digitally published author…
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“I’ve been thinking about the changing landscape of publishing recently. Here’s what I’ve decided: (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, Chris Keeslar, digital promotion, digital publishing, Dorchester Publishing, ebooks, ePublishing, gallies, indie publishing, Legacy Series, NetGalley, PR, promotion, reviews, Secret Legacy, Tim DeYong, writer, writer resource, writing, writing articles
Posted in Publishing Isn't for Sissies | 8 Comments »
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
I’m psyched (pun intended) to be guest blogging at SCIFIGUY today. I’m equally psyched to have Chris Keeslar joining us in Publishing Isn’t for Sissies here tomorrow. I’m getting to talk about a creative passion and a passionate colleague the last two days of this week. Excellent!
Here’s a bit of the scifiguy post to wet your appetite. Come out, come out, wherever you are and hang over there with me a bit today… Then PIFS with Chris and me tomorrow, before we all hang with the mom’s this weekend.
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Sci-fi/Fantasy…I’ve had more conversations about the term in the last few years than I did in my entire geeky, Trekkie youth. On KindleBoards, on fantasy forums, through GoodReads networks, in person etc. Everyone has an opinion. Some are purist. Some enjoy variety. But everyone who digs what’s now considered speculative fiction is searching for more of what they love, and there so much variety on the market there’s little chance of the genre boring you.
Coming from a romantic suspense background already makes me an odd duck in many circles, including my growing involvement with International Thriller Writers. Especially there, since my thrillers are more psychic fantasy than mystery/suspense.
Well, they’re contemporary fantasies with a strong scientific basis for my world building that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Three-fourths of the action in my latest release, Secret Legacy, takes place in dream sequences shared between the protagonist and the scientists and psychic warriors battling for control of her mind. Think of the movie Inception, and you’ll get an idea of how the lucid dreaming and shared dreaming science behind these books plays out. Though, let me just say that Dark Legacy was written and published long before the movie hit theaters ;o)…
Read more here!
Tags: Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dark Legacy, dream color, dream emotion, dream programming, dream science, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy author, Legacy Series, lucid dreaming, lucid dreams, Secert Legacy
Posted in Books, Publishing Isn't for Sissies, The Psychic Realm, What About Everything Else? | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
As promised, today’s the start of our all-in, sure-fired, do it THIS WAY month of novel drafting instruction. Because if you don’t do it THIS way, you’ll fail. What way? YOUR WAY.
Huh?
Yeah, this month’s blog courses won’t be any more straight-forward than the last three (which are summarized at the bottom of the post). Jenni’s starting today with a great discussion of her drafting method. So NOT my method, because she’s still all about spreadsheeting and outlining when she draft writes, and geeky me can’t let myself go there while in this “in-between” creative place.
In between planning and rewriting, I have to stop thinking. No, I don’t actually turn my brain off. But I do have to tone down the analytical volume of my cognitive thinking, so that juicy imagination takes over. I’ve tried it Jenni’s way. And, I know you’ll find this hard to believe, her very structured method of drafting doesn’t work for me. Spreadsheets and outlines are like crack for a mind like mine. I’d be hitting that pipe all day long, while never giving free rein to those characters and settings and turning points I planned for. The creativity that comes second to my nature, behind the drive to understand EVERYTHING before I write anything, would never take the wheel.
Jenni and I aren’t polar opposites in our process. We share many of the same drafting techniques–and I’ll get to them next week when it’s my turn. BUT, we each have our own individual method. No matter how many times we talk and compare notes and critique for each other, we’re never tempted to trade in our individual approaches to writing story for the other’s. Because doing exactly what she does would stall my creativity, and vice versa. We have to understand and trust our own writing strengths and weaknesses and own the drafting approach that gets us to the end of that “ugly” first draft with the best story we’ve ever written.
And so do you.
The only GUARANTEED method of drafting success is your method. Your way. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, brainstorming, conflict, critiquing, discovery, draft writing, drafting, editorial revision, fiction, fiction writer, narrative structure, novel, novel deconstruction, novel structure, plot, plotting, revision, rewriting, writing, writing articles, writing coach, writing craft, writing resources, writing workshops
Posted in How We Write | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
The ITW Big Chill May newsletter is out, and Secret Legacy received a rave!
Austin Camacho says, “If you’re up for a horrifying mental nightmare of psychological suspense that’s like nothing else on your shelves, this is the book you’ve been waiting for,” while he talks about Book 2 in my Legacy series and my venturing into sci-fi/fantasy and even more genre breaking than ever before. I got to go more in depth about my characters and the metaphysics and parapsychology behind the spookiness I had so much fun creating.
Here’s the article.
Here’s the link to Secret Legacy on Amazon.
Here’s the FREE Amazon eBook of Dark Legacy.
It’s also free on B&N and Borders and others sites, so whatever digital reader you have, snag yourself the first book in the series.
Then when you get to the cliff hanger ending…you know what to do ;o)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, Austin Camacho, fantasy writer, International Thriller Writers, ITW, Legacy Series, Secret Legacy
Posted in Books | No Comments »
Monday, May 2nd, 2011
Since Secret Legacy’s out today (Yay!) and Dark Legacy’s a FREE EBOOK ALL WEEK, let’s get down and dirty about what makes this Psychic Fantasy series so different from other thrillers you’ve read. Yes, you’ll experience more of the dream theory you loved in Inception. But more than that, my psychic twins are being hunted and haunted by and eventually must stand and fight against covert government scientists who’re determined to turn their family’s Legacy of gifts into a direct-strike psychic weapon. How? Well, that’s the really cool part!
Long before Inception hit theaters, I turned my life-long fasciantion with dreams and the very real possiblity that lucid dreaming can be a learned technique into the beginning of a series of mainstream novels built around psychic talents. Of course I’ll write about other gifts, but the first two Legacy books were destined to spook me and everyone who read them about the potential and power of dreams.
What if dreams could be harnessed and programmed and ultimately harvested, triggered at exact moment in which they could do the most harm? What if psychics could train us through our dreams, unbeknownst to our conscious minds, to behave in uncharacteristic ways in our waking lives? What if, once that training was triggered in say a daydream state, there was nothing we could do to stop ourselves from carrying out our programming?
How exactly are the Temple Twins’ minds and psychic talents being manipulated to accomplish this? In case you haven’t had the chance to read Dark Legacy yet, let me catch you up:
- Sarah and Maddie Temple are powerful empaths.
- More than merely feeling others’ emotions, they can take on all the emotions of that person, to the point of taking over the person’s subconscious and through it their reactions/actions to the world around them. As their powers have grown over the years, they’ve unknowingly developed the ability to project emotion and associated behavior/perception as well as receive it.
- Pair that with advanced training in mind and body modeling using lucid dreaming techniques, and you’ve got a psychic who can design, embed, and target dream realities (which aren’t remembered by the “host” mind once it wakes) that prepare the dreamer to perform waking tasks when triggered.
(more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dark Legacy, dream color, dream emotion, dream programming, dream science, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy author, Legacy Series, lucid dreaming, lucid dreams, Secert Legacy
Posted in Books, The Psychic Realm | 3 Comments »
