The Power of the Mind

So the other night, I had a horrible nightmare. The kind where you wake up so relieved that it was not your reality, but that during it you actually experience the emotional conflict of it as if it were real.

Of course. It was about zombies.
Not the type I write about in Tainted, but the type they use on the scifi channel. The type that are a little crazily overdone.

But still scary.

In my dream, there were places that were safe, where normal society could exist without worrying about monsters. Most of my dream took place in my moms house, which in that weird dream way was my house. And I spent much of my time making sure everything was safe.
Then, at some point, I needed to walk somewhere (because a car would have been too easy).
In my dream my heart was pounding as I walked down some empty city street that had massive oak tree's lining it and shading the road. I was looking around frantically as I power walked, taking notice of another woman on a walk. I also passed a second woman who was wearing workout clothes and jogging as if life was okay.
Then all three of us stopped, seeing a woman sitting in her car who was twitching and talking to herself. She was changing.
I screamed at the other two woman that she was turning and they need to get to safety at the same time they looked at me saying to run because they also understood what was happening.

Anyways, the dream became jumbled. Somehow a place I was in was not safe and someone I love died making me feel horribly burdened by pain, loss, and fear. Not to mention the monsters chasing me. Ugh.

I woke up, rolled towards my husband saying I had a bad dream. He replied by saying I needed to stop reading scary books. In my defense, I haven't read a scary book in awhile. I actually just finished reading the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead.

But it made me wonder, why HAD I had that dream?
Was it stress and the feeling of lack of control that seems to be overwhelming me lately? Maybe.
Or maybe I just have a weird mind? Probably.
Whatever the reason, it wasn't fun and the emotions that came with it felt real.

It also made me think of a scene I just read in the series I mentioned above. It was a break up scene and my palms were sweating and I felt sad and guilt as if it were me.

Oh the power of the mind. Did you know that if you are unhappy, and you force yourself to smile at others, eventually you become happy because the brain recognizes that muscles used and attributes it to happiness? Our mind is a very, very powerful thing.

As writers, we have the opportunity to evoke emotion just by the words we speak on paper. The power to have the readers mind transfer it into a true emotion. And any book that can grasp that and do it well becomes a great.

Something to definitely aspire to.
No pressure or anything :)

Just Plain Lazy

This week has been spring break. While my college still has classes and the restaurant I work at NEVER sleeps, the school I work at full time is out and so the lazy mornings....afternoons...and evenings have ensued. So what, may you ask, do I do with all of this amazing free time?

Nothing.

Well, sort-of nothing. I have found that being lazy is the most amazing thing in the world. I have shut out everything, spent time reading a six book series, watched my kids play video games or tackle each other, taken two hour naps (shocked, I know) and slowly worked on my book.

The funny thing about being lazy though, is that motivation tends to go out the window. I am barely motivated to do anything at all. This includes think. Which is needed when writing a book. Or three.
I actually have not been working on Sanctuary this week like I had planned. I have been working on this other YA novel that I LOVE but the writers block caused by lazy brain has been a difficult hurdle to overcome. I am finding my imagination is working overtime, but it is just not connecting to write it down.

I think writers block is something every writer comes across at some point or another. And every writer has a different way of dealing with it. I have two ways.

My first way...I write something else. Sometimes it is a poem or a short story. Other times it is a scene that pops into my head. And then there are the moments I just write about character background. I look at it like exercising. Sometimes you just are not feeling it, but if you force yourself enough, eventually it will click.

My second way (what I have been doing this time around) is to disconnect. Now, the hard part about this way is that the laziness issue can work against you. BUT, if done right, it actually can work and in disconnecting, my imagination has soaked in some great things.

For example, a few days ago we headed to my husbands home town, Whittier. After visiting with family, we decided to tour some old places he remembered and show the kids. Well, one of those old places just happened to be this warehouse type store that was for baseball card venders. The place was tucked back by some old factory places. The warehouse had once been a place where they boxed and loaded oranges. Anyways, after we made it up to the place (it was on the top floor and my daughter hates heights) we entered and asked the guy guarding the door if they were open. He said yes.

Only the place was eerily closed down. A few handfuls of kids sat in the back playing some card games, but all the vending stations were covered from floor to ceiling with tarps. We wove in and out of the isles, looking for any sign of human life. But there was none.

Creepy.

But, my imagination kicked in and I was suddenly imagining horrors behind those tarps and freaked myself pretty good. Good enough that I plan on using that experience in Sanctuary. My disconnecting allowed my brain to stop thinking of my to-do lists and my responsibilities for a while so that the younger, kid part of my brain could have some fun.

And so, here I sit on the last day of my lazy spring break planning out which hours of my afternoon (and night) I get to spend working on my stories.

Writer block take that. Now only to get motivated to find an agent....

oh, and not that many pictures were taken of the surprise book party my husband threw together, but I found a couple I thought I would share:

Well hello there...

Yes. I know. I have been doing a horrible job in keeping up with this blog. My life has been busy and when I have taken the time to sit down and write, I have either fallen asleep at the computer or become so introverted and lost in my own thoughts that not much gets done at all.

With that said, the past few weeks have been a blur. My husband surprised me with a release party for TAINTED. Several friends and family gathered together at one of my favorite places to eat and we had a blast. I have began researching agents again for another fantastic young adult series that I wrote, and I have spent some time really hashing out and writing SANCTUARY, the second book in the Tainted Trilogy. I also can't help myself, but have been really getting excited about book three as well.

I know when authors say they got their ideas from a dream, the urge to roll your eyes comes automatically. But really, dreams are crazy and fun and twisted. Sometimes the best ideas start from a small seed planted by a dream. And so, despite any eye rolls, I had a really creepy dream that has planted the beginning works of book three, RELENTLESS, and am so excited about it that I can hardly wait! Trying to breath though and take things at an organic pace.

Anyways, I often forget that my blog world friends are not linked to my facebook page and wanted to share the next two covers for the Tainted series:

and the third book:

Well, there they are! I love them so much!
Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! Stay healthy!