Nightmare Inspiration

I had a horrible nightmare last night. The kind where I wake up in a sweat, heart pounding, near crying, not wanting to go back to sleep. My first thought was, I need to write this down! But then I found myself falling asleep and back in the middle of the same nightmare, only tweaked. 

This time, I was being grabbed by Danny DeVito,

 

(but with hair like this) 

a rag held over my mouth, 

and thrown in a swimming pool, told to float on the lily pads. 

Then the lily pads turned into floaties (I think my brain was trying to make sense of the situation). 

I woke again, telling myself to remember this dream and the intense feelings accompanying it (minus the floaties cause the lily pads are more interesting). The next time I fell asleep, I was writing my dream down, making sure to express every scary feeling, and since I'm now teaching again, my dream turned into me helping my students write scary stories. 

 

It made total sense in the dream, and I must say I did a great lesson on writing, but having seven-year-olds write about getting kidnapped by a psycho doesn't seem like a good idea in the morning.

And looking at the string of images going along with my nightmare, I'm not thinking it was really worth all the effort to remember. 

What do you think? Do I have a story here? ;) 

Any good dreams (or nightmares) worth remembering lately?

Happy writing :)

Best of the Best--Synopsis

I finally have come to a place where I needed to write a synopsis for Birds of a Feather. However, it's been ages since I wrote one for My Protector. And since that didn't lead to a #1 Best Seller, I sort of tucked it away into the forget-I-ever-wrote-that category. Suffice to say, I needed a refresher on how to write a synopsis.

Best of the Best--Synopsis

Jane Friedman's Back to Basics: Writing a Novel Synopsis

Oasis for YA: Writer's Wednesday: Nailing Your Synopsis

Susan Dennard's How To Write A 1-Page Synopsis

David Powers King's Aspiring Advice: The Mini-Synopsis Outline

Happy writing :)

Falling For the Funny Fat Friend

It’s stupid to fall for your brother’s ex. It’s even worse to enlist another’s help to win the ex over. But Brody is desperate and Hayley, his partner in American Sign Language, is more than willing to lend him a few tips.

She’s the school’s matchmaker,’ and with her bizarre and positive personality, Brody finds her easy to talk to, even about the most awkward situations. Hayley’s tips seem to be working, but as Brody learns more about his matchmaker, he starts finding reasons to spend time with her, and not the girl he thought he was in love with.

But Hayley isn’t ready to fall for anyone. Labeled the “Funny Fat Friend” within her group, her self image makes it impossible for Brody to share his feelings without Hayley shrugging it off as a joke.

Convincing her Brody can, and did, fall for the “Funny Fat Friend” turns out to be harder than simply falling in love.

And here's a bit of quick info to get to know the genius, Becca Ann, behind Reasons I Fell For the Funny Fat Friend . . . 

DRUTHERS for Becca Ann:

Plotter or pantser? Pantser

Drafting or editing? Um, whichever one I’m not doing, lol.

Dialogue or action? Dialog (Yes, I spell that wrong)

Facebook or Twitter? Facebook!

Salty or sweet? Both. :)

Sun or snow? Sun. Wish I lived somewhere else, lol.

Coffee or tea? Bleck, neither

Early riser or night owl? Kids make me an early riser, writing makes me a night owl ;)

And from the mouths of Becca Ann's hilariously entertaining Brody and Hayley . . . 

FAST FIVE for Brody and Hayley:

Last thing you did? Played Just Dance! You should see Brody’s skills ;) He got like, four stars on California Gurls.

Only ‘cause you make me play it every day.
Last thing you ate? Cheeseburger Doritos! I know, totally sounds nasty, but don’t knock ‘em till you try ‘em.
Last place you went? The backseat of my Dodge.

Brody! Keep it PG ;)
Last book you read? When was the last time you read a book, Brody?

Hey! I read that freaky tribal ritual book thing with you.

And almost threw up all over the library floor.

Yeah, yeah. Next question.
Last movie you watched? We watched a movie last night.

Yup.

What was it?

Don’t remember.

Crap. I was hoping one of us did.

Next time we’ll make it at least five minutes.

I’ll take that challenge!

Thanks Hope for having us all over!!!!! Thank you, Becca Ann, Brody, and Hayley  for hanging out over here :) 

Becca Ann is doing a giveaway for one ebook and one paperback :) Winners will be announced on her Facebook page HERE on the 14th. So click --> a Rafflecopter giveaway <-- to enter!

Check out the reviews on Goodreads HERE and then grab a copy of Becca Ann's book, you'll love it!

Amazon and paperback