Day 3: Dream A Little Dream

Today Terri's going to psyche us out with a little dream interpretation. You may think twice next time you're ready to hit the sack.

In SLEEPLESS I explore the world of dreams. It’s a fascinating topic. Psychologists think our dreams are a way of rehashing a day’s events and sometimes problem solving. In other words, whatever is bugging us is apt to show up in our dreams in one form or another. Whole books and websites are dedicated to interpreting your dreams.

For instance, according to this cool online dream dictionary having your teeth fall out in your dream “forewarns that your health and/or business are in jeopardy. You may have uttered some false or foul words and those words are coming back to haunt you.”

And did you know that snakes symbolize fear, worry and sexuality? On the other hand, if you sneeze in your dreams that means a life of “ease and joy.”

When I was in high school I had this reoccurring dream where I was in this massive mall, riding up in an escalator with clear glass sides, but the escalator was filled with water up to the black rubber railing on the side. Hmm… a little research…let’s see…a mall means I was trying to make a favorable impression on someone, moving up an escalator means I was addressing emotional issues and clear water means I was in tune with my spirituality. Translation: I was trying desperately to overcome my shyness to get a boy’s attention. Wow! That really works.

Seriously though, dreams really are reflections of who we are and what we’re going through. If you think about it you’ll probably notice when you’re stressed or worried you have some kind of reoccurring dream or theme that shows up in your sleeping brain.

Want to know what terrorizes me in the night? What my reoccurring stress dream is lately? Numbers! (Confession: I hate math and numbers and calculations stress me out.) So what did the dream dictionary say? Numbers indicates unsettled or dissatisfied conditions in business. Hmm. Think that means I’m worried about my first book coming out? That’s certainly my interpretation.

When I asked my agent what her reoccurring stress dream was she said, “Going to my mother’s house.”

So, tell me, what do you dream about?

Tune back tomorrow when Terri shares her ten fave teen books.

Day 2: Getting to Know Terri

Today we're talking to Terri and learning a little more about SLEEPLESS.

2K8: Where do you do most of your writing, Terri?

TC: I write at home, usually in one of three places—my desk, the dining table or my bedroom. I have a pre-teen and teen in my house and both are computer hogs so I have to fight to get on either the desktop or laptop. My son and his friends are usually taking up two of the computers playing World of Warcraft. We finally buckled down this week and bought another desktop so the laptop could be mine, all mine!

2K8: How’d SLEEPLESS come to be? What inspired the idea?

TC: I’ve always been fascinated with dreams. I think they’re revealing and powerful. Sometimes they’re just nonsensical stories our brain makes up, but sometimes they’re much more. Then you add the old wives tale into the mix and things get really hairy. Will you die in real life if you die in your dreams? That’s a question I wanted to play with.

When I first started doing research for SLEEPLESS a series of articles ran in the Denver Post about dangerous criminals who pretended insanity so they could get locked up in a mental hospital instead of jail. I was horrified and found myself wondering what would happen if the bad guys got more than they bargained for in the hospital. Maybe it wasn’t Easy Street like they imagined. I researched inhumane mental health “cures” from history and that was just the twist I needed to give birth to my villain.

2K8: We hear your sale story is a little out of the ordinary. What happened?

TC: My agent, at the time, was shopping a paranormal series around for me. I’d written book one and a partial on book two. While we waited for feedback I started to write a new proposal for this gritty idea I had. I mentioned it in passing to my agent. It was a lot darker than the more comedic series we were sending out. She happened to hear that Harper was looking for edgy work and asked how fast I could finish the proposal. I ended up writing the synopsis at a conference and emailing it to her with the chapters. She loved it and sent it on. They asked for some rewrites, which I did right away and I ended up selling on proposal six days before Christmas.

2K8: Did anything surprise you or catch you off guard when you were writing this thriller?

TC: I discovered I’m really able to take an idea and run with it, but still keep it my own. I had a lot of editorial input on SLEEPLESS and I was proud of the way I could take their suggestions and strengthen the story without compromising my vision.

2K8: Imagine you have an offer from your dream press to publish your dream book, no matter how insane or unmarketable it might be (though of course it might not be). What story would you want to write and why?

TC: My big dream is to write a successful paranormal series. I’m a HUGE fan of series. I love revisiting characters, seeing them grow and sharing more time with them. I want my own series!

2K8: What question won't most people know to ask you? And what's your answer?

TC: Do you collect anything? Yes! I collect fairies. I love them. My two favorite artists are Amy Brown and Jasmine Becket-Griffith. I also love Tinkerbell, especially the Goth Tinkerbell. I have fairy prints hanging over my desk (see above), statues, pins, jewelry, stickers, shirts, basically anything I can find. I do believe in fairies. I do, I do.

Come back tomorrow when we'll take a closer look at dreams and what terrorizes Terri in the night when she's stressed out.