Dreams and Bestsellers

I have weird dreams. I'm not worried. As far as I know, all of you have weird dreams, too. Which makes weird normal, in this case. Last week I dreamed about being part of a literary agent team. It was awesome. My kids were in the dream, of course, because any dream where I go back into the workforce would have to take them into account. I left them happily with a caregiver and went to an exciting meeting with a group of other literary agents. We had a book we couldn't wait to sell.

It was an awesome dream.

The next night, I dreamed about Alan Tudyk, or as I know him from recently finishing Joss Whedon's DOLLHOUSE, Alpha. But in my dream, Alpha wasn't scary at all. He was just a little crazy and sad. My dream character (because it definitely wasn't me) found herself fighting against some invisible organization that wanted us all dead. My partner in crime was some tall brown-haired guy I've never seen in my life. I'm going to assume he represented my husband (tall, dark-haired, and handsome). :)

Being a writer, I woke from each dream with book ideas. Maybe this happens to you, too.

You just can't ignore a dream that could give you THE IDEA, like Stephenie Meyer and her sparkling vampire dream about why Edward wanted to eat Bella but just plain couldn't.

So I woke up and scribbled out an outline in chapter titles and 2,000 words of intro. Good idea? Probably not, considering I'm only 15-20k away from finishing my current work in progress (or maybe I should say I'm all of 15-20k away). Sometimes it seems I'll be done with this book tomorrow. Other days, it seems I could take another whole month.

But the dream was so shiny and fresh, I just had to record the feel of it!

What do you think? Odds of your dreams becoming bestsellers? How often do dreams derail your WIP progress?

Stress Barometer about to BUST!

I might die of stress in November, just to warn you all. If I don't blog for seven straight days, call the blog authorities and have them check my apartment. No, don't do that. I'm sure my husband will notice if I die and he can take care of it. Just have the facebook people memorialize my blog. The epithet should read:

Here lies Katrina Lantz.

She overdid it during Nanowrimo.

You think I'm being dramatic, but I just got the hiccups.

THE HICCUPS!

This is serious, people. I think I need a stress reliever. 

I'm going to make a list of things that might relieve this barometric pressure:

1. Write from prompts to warm up for Nanowrimo.

2. Do the dishes/laundry/toy-cleanup so my space will be zen.

3. Go to the park with the kids and get some fresh air.

4. Close down the computer and read one of my awesome sidebar books.

5. Yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga.

6. Dress the kids up in their Halloween costumes and take pictures 

(they'll be Diego and Boots)

Now that I have a list of nice things to do, I feel better already. 

Just to prove I'm going to do it, I'll start right here where you can see. Here's my writing from a prompt:

The Brazilian jungle heat soaked me in sweat, a billboard broadcasting my humanity.

My jaw trembled. “How many of you are there?”

The motherless little girl with dark but icy skin and rust colored eyes circled me. A playful grin made her look almost harmless, but the precise and agile way she moved past fallen logs and grass-thick ferns told another story.

I’d read the legends of her kind, half human and half monster—legends that brought me to her territory in a pre-college voyage of self-discovery. I wanted adventure, so why couldn’t I stop shaking?

“Don’t worry,” she giggled. “My bites aren’t venomous. Can’t vouch for that Jararaca, though.”

Following her tiny, perfect finger to the branch behind me, I barely registered the brown triangle pattern and yellow slit eyes before the snake charged.

In a flash so fast I thought I’d died, rust colored circles replaced the black slits. A deep breath promised I was still alive. There crouched my little girl guide, draining the snake’s cold blood dry.

No book prepared me for the wrenching pain in my stomach at the sight of her feasting. I keeled over, wretching into the bright green leaves of a Yellow Jaboticaba.

Ah. I really do feel SO MUCH BETTER! Hiccups? Gone. I'm not lying.

You can play the Twilight fan fic contest, too. The prizes are gorgeous.

Also, a few quick links: 

Elana's Query Ninja Chat transcripts are available. Awesome advice!

Janice Hardy, author of THE SHIFTER, talks about Fantasy

Two days left to vote to name Operation Awesome's orange owl! (in the sidebar)

White Twilight Covers!

Have you heard about our Twilight fan fic contest over at Operation Awesome?

The prize is:

*cheesy drumroll*

(Pictures from http://www.play.com/)

Check out the contest parameters on the blog. Or just skip over to read the other fan fiction offerings. 

Contest is going on all October long!