Writing From Our Dreams Won’t Work

By Ann I. Goldfarb and James E. Clapp, writing as J. C. Eaton

It sounded so easy when author Stephanie Meyer of TWILIGHT fame said she got the vampire love affair idea from one of her dreams. Oh…if only it were that easy. Maybe her dreams are orderly and sequential. Maybe her characters are well developed and believable, even if they drift by in a Nano-second of sleep. But we can’t rely on REM sleep to provide us with any of the fodder needed to craft a novel.

It’s not that we don’t dream. We dream all right, but it’s a hodgepodge of weird images, unrelenting obstacles, endless frustration, and the occasional disgustingly gross vision that inevitably wakes one of us up in a cold sweat.

Jim’s dreams usually involve being chased by bears, tigers, or as of late, javelina. Packs of flesh-eating javelina. Maybe it’s because we now live in Arizona and not upstate New York. This would work wonders if we wrote horror novels, but we’re cozy mystery authors and somehow, the thought of one of our characters in a fight-or-flight situation just doesn’t do it.

Occasionally Jim has dreams of being pursued by a hive of bees or wasps. Only these killer insects are the size of mice and have teeth. Again, nothing usable as far as our novels are concerned.

Ann’s dreams are no help either. Last night she dreamt she was getting her hair done, but when she leaned back into the sink at the salon, the hairdresser yelled, “Wait a minute! There’s a cockroach in there!” She woke up shaking her head. Then she turned on the light by her night table and shook the pillow just to be safe.

“It’s the cats’ fault,” Jim said as Ann searched the bed looking for any signs of insects. “You let them sleep in the bed with us. They walk across our heads at all hours of the night. No wonder you thought bugs were crawling around.”

Then, Ann’s parking lot dream. (This is actually a variation of the same dream she’s had for years. The one where you reach a goal, only to have someone or something take it away or prevent you from getting there. We think there’s a psychological term for this type of dream but we’ll be darned if we know what it is). Anyway, the parking lot dream is absolutely no help as far as plot and characters are concerned for one of our novels.

In Ann’s version, she tries to park her car but every time she gets into a parking space, a man in a long black trench coat stops her and tells her she can’t park there. We think this is a result of living in Arizona, as well. Most of the parking spaces are marked “Golf cart only,” “Take-out food only,” or “Expectant mothers only.” Nope, nope, and definitely, nope.

Maybe our dreams lack the fortitude of Stephanie Meyer’s dreams because we have too many unfinished things “hanging over our heads.” Like our taxes. And now, with the new tax plan, it’s even more of a conundrum. Needless to say, we had to face the grim reality – we’ve got to write our novels the same way we always do – by the seat of our pants with the occasional outlines, plot revisions, and character development. Unless of course, we decide to switch genres. Then, those pesky javelina and parking lot men in trench coats might just appear.

NOTE: Our posts tend to be tongue-and-cheek, so don’t take us too seriously.

Here’s the info on the authors’ blog tour and rafflecopter giveaway:

Botched 4 Murder (Sophie Kimball Mystery)
by J.C. Eaton

About the Book

Botched 4 Murder (Sophie Kimball Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Kensington (December 18, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 1496719883
ISBN-13: 978-1496719881
Digital ASIN: B07C9WK1J8

Bowled over . . .

Sophie “Phee” Kimball is getting dragged into the drama again at her mom’s Arizona retirement community. A new board member wants to get rid of two golf courses and replace them with eco-friendly parks, and some of the residents are pretty teed off about it. On top of that, her mother’s book club friend Myrna is being pushed out of the bocce league. These seniors are serious about winning, and Myrna’s dragging them down. She’s so bad at bocce, in fact, that when a community mem.ber’s dead body is discovered while Myrna’s practicing for a tournament, she assumes it was one of her own errant balls that killed the woman.

But before Myrna can be tossed off the bocce court and into criminal court, the police find an arrow in the victim’s neck. It looks like this was no accident—and Phee and her investigator boyfriend Marshall will have to team up to bounce a killer into the slammer . . .

About the Authors

Ann I. Goldfarb

New York native Ann I. Goldfarb spent most of her life in education, first as a classroom teacher and later as a middle school principal and professional staff developer. Writing as J. C. Eaton, along with her husband, James Clapp, she has authored the Sophie Kimball Mysteries (Kensington) set for release in June 2017. In addition, Ann has nine published YA time travel mysteries under her own name. Visit the websites at www.jceatonauthor.com and www.timetravelmysteries.com

James E. Clapp

When James E. Clapp retired as the tasting room manager for a large upstate New York winery, he never imagined he’d be co-authoring cozy mysteries with his wife, Ann I. Goldfarb. His first novel, Booked 4 Murder (Kensington) is set for release in June 2017. Non-fiction in the form of informational brochures and workshop materials treating the winery industry were his forte along with an extensive background and experience in construction that started with his service in the U.S. Navy and included vocational school classroom teaching.