I’m blogging in support of a friend today, on the topic of dreams.

I had a Dream…
I dreamed of being a published writer once. Ah, wait, no, I don’t mean a day dream. Of course I had the “dream” of being a published writer, otherwise I wouldn’t be here now, but long before I was published I had a proper, sleeping, dream of being published. I was in some kind of refectory (maybe I’d been watching the Harry Potter films, because that’s what it was like, lots of us sitting before long wooden tables eating breakfast) and the postie walked in with the mail. He stood at the end of the long refectory table handing out envelopes, and then pulled a rectangular, book-sized package out of his sack and held it up with a sly smile, “Does anyone know who this might be for?” In the way you have in dreams I knew it was MY book, printed and back from my publishers ready to be unleashed on the book-reading public. I stood on my chair, “Me! It’s mine!” And practically climbed over the table in my eagerness to reach the physical end result of all my writing efforts.

I can still remember that sense of utter delight at knowing my book was finally a real thing. Being published for real was different (no refectory tables, for a start), but every bit as exhilarating as I’d dreamt.

My Nightmare…
Well, I’m going to have to go metaphorical here, because I don’t think my childhood dreams about foot-eating pigs are entirely relevant to reading and writing.

My nightmare isn’t, as you might expect, not being able to write. I’ve tried giving up and I just can’t do it. Even if you took away my PC, burned all the paper and pens and pencils in the world and didn’t let me have even  a stick of charcoal from the fire I’d still write – it would just be in my head. My nightmare would be if I lost the ability to write – if I could no longer construct a sound story and write it in an entertaining manner. My nightmare would be to lose my writing competence without losing the desire to write well. Shudder.

My Dream for the Future…
Is simply to keep on doing what I love, and to get better with each book. However, given that my writing always explores some aspect of ecology and humanity’s care of the planet, it would also be utterly marvellous if the world could not implode in a global disaster so there will still be people around to share stories with.

Midsummer Dreams

Now, the reason I’ve been blogging about dreams is to celebrate and support my dear and lovely writer friend, Alison May, whose new book, Midsummer Dreams, is out today. Alison writes contemporary romances (oddly, some people display no desire to write melodramatic fantasies where the end of the world is nigh!), which are packed with a wonderful emotional punch. Check out the details below.

Four people. Four messy lives. One party that changes everything … Emily is obsessed with ending her father’s new relationship – but is blind to the fact that her own is far from perfect.  Dominic has spent so long making other people happy that he’s hardly noticed he’s not happy himself.  Helen has loved the same man, unrequitedly, for ten years. Now she may have to face up to the fact that he will never be hers.  Alex has always played the field. But when he finally meets a girl he wants to commit to, she is just out of his reach.  At a midsummer wedding party, the bonds that tie the four friends together begin to unravel and show them that, sometimes, the sensible choice is not always the right one.

Download the Kindle edition of Midsummer Dreams here: http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00XJOEJTM