A constellation of stars for Dreamscape

Well I think I’ve left the cover contest up long enough, don’t you? I checked at 18 hours away from completion and it looked like Dreamscape’s Jinger Heaston cover was strong as fourth place. Eh, no accounting for taste.  🙂 I had fun with it and made some nice contacts. As far as I’m concerned, having a 2 ½ week-long spot on a high traffic site with 485 regular readers was a prize all in itself. Jinger mentioned she was thinking on entering it in a contest this year. I would have loved handing her a first or second place win as a boost. I wish her lots of luck. It really is a perfect cover for my ghost story.

A lot has happened in 2 ½ weeks. First of all, I finished my third novel! I’m trying something new this time around – a sequel. I’ve heard other authors mention a story with more than one book involved is a good marketing strategy. Yeah I can see that. If a reader gets invested in book one, book two will be sought after. But it’s more than that. It allows for a broader story and I’m all about wordy. *grin* If anything, cutting my stories down to a reasonable size takes more effort! I think I hit on a subject that hasn’t been tackled before, not to my knowledge anyway. I can honestly see it spanning several books on this theme.

The story is simmering now. We both need to pull back and determine where to go next. I’ve tried to pick away at it – to eliminate redundancy, clean up the head hopping (I am improving) but my heart and head just aren’t into it this week. Next week I’ll try it again and hopefully begin self-editing in earnest.

Sometimes my magnum opus seems so far away. For new guests visiting my blog today, the MO is my huge 4-years in the making 5-book series.  I’ve learned so much about editing and there’s so much more learning to do. I suppose it’s best I stay away from the MO until I’m absolutely ready to finish and send it flying.

In the meantime, do I jump right into the sequel of the book I’ve just finished or go back to the 1/3 done story I was working on before the last book’s topic hit me right between the eyes? Something to thinking about.  I’ve signed up for a smaller version of the NANOWRIMO National Novel Writing Month (which I may very well take part in come November). This one is called the BIAM – Book in a Month.  I work better with deadlines and love challenging myself this way. It should help me knock out the sequel.

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Like I said, a lot has happened in 2 ½ weeks. Most notable, Dreamscape got two more fabulous 5-star reviews. I love when readers say they’ll keep my book to read again. There’s no greater honor for an author. Books are so transient. I have a substantial library, as mentioned in other posts, but few works of fiction sit on my shelf as compared to nonfiction. It is indeed an honor. I’ve only ever kept the ones that spoke to me beyond their entertainment value. Some have touched me so completely they’ve become my yearly literary pilgrimage. I’m an informational reader so if I read it every year for 16 years, that’s a damn good book!

Here’s one review. Stop by Zee’s site for more thoughtful assessments on a variety of good books. It’s a great way to build that TBR list (to be read) http://firepages.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/dreamscape-by-rose-anderson/

5-STARS from Zee at Fire Pages: Romance & Erotica

Dreamscape is phenomenal! I will rant and rave about this novel’s amazingness because it is rocks in all aspects of writing style, character development, plot, and story line. Rose combines history, mystery, romance, intrigue, and sensuality seamlessly and beautifully in Dreamscape. Here is a peek at the blurb:

Unable to deny his own translucence, Dr. Jason Bowen determines his lack of physical substance could only mean one thing—he’s a ghost. Murdered more than a century before, Jason haunts his house and ponders the treachery that took his life. When Lanie O’Keefe arrives with plans to renovate her newly purchased Victorian mansion, Jason discovers, ghost or not, he’s still very much a man. Despite its derelict condition and haunted reputation, Lanie couldn’t be happier with her new home, but then she has no idea a spirit follows her every move throughout the day and shares her captivating warmth at night. Jason soon discovers he can travel through Lanie’s dreams and finds himself reliving the days before his murder with Lanie by his side. It took one hundred and twenty years for love to find them, but there’s that insurmountable little matter of Jason being dead.

I love Lanie’s character in this novel. She is a risk taker. She is not afraid to take a chance on a house that everyone believes is haunted. She lets her relationship to this Victorian home and the inspiration it has given her lead her choice to purchase and renovate this beautiful house. Even when strange things starts to happen in that house, Lanie never bats and eye and is not afraid of what she sees or hears. And she very much explores her dreams, not knowing what consequence it might hold for the future. To take a leap like that without hesitation is so freeing and refreshing!

Rose excels at interweaving Lanie’s dream world and her real world with Jason. It was never confusing as to which realm you were reading about. I found this dual world to be rather exciting. It feels like you are watching Lanie lead a double life. Lanie’s dreams are an escape… an escape to pleasure… an escape to find the truth… an escape to Jason… an escape for herself. Rose also throws in many twists, turns, and tumbles that will turn your most sane thoughts upside down and keep you guessing about how Lanie and Jason’s future will turn out. At first, I would think about what should/would/could happen next for the pair, but midway through, I just threw my hands in the air and surrendered to Rose’s story. Dreamscape is nothing like you will ever experience, and nothing you can possible guess at. You will have to read the story all the way through to get the full story. I love Rose’s creativity in Dreamscape. The surprises, the turns in the story, and the ending are all well crafted, perfectly placed, and always appropriate. Dreamscape is a personal favorite of mine, and a novel that I will reread over and over again!

I love thinking Zee might cuddle up with this book every winter. Like I said, no great honor than to have your works kept and reread.

~

Here’s another:

5-STAR Review from Candy at Sensual Reads

“Rose Anderson gives the reader a ghost story and a murder mystery with a large portion of hot sex thrown in for good measure.”

From the time she was a child, Lanie O’Keefe dreamed of owning the Bowen Mansion.  The old Victorian is haunted by the ghost of Dr. Jason Bowen.  After a surprise inheritance, Lanie buys the mansion.  She is now a doctor and plans to convert the carriage house into a free clinic.  Lanie senses the presence of the ghost as she renovates the mansion.  She spends her nights dreaming of the handsome Dr. Bowen.  Can a modern woman fall in love with a ghost?

For one hundred and twenty-three years, Jason Bowen haunts the mansion.  Jason knows someone killed him, but he doesn’t know who or why.  When a pretty young doctor moves into his home, Jason feels drawn to her.  Jason becomes aroused as he watches her take a bath.  He cannot keep himself from touching her as she sleeps.  As guilty as Jason feels for taking advantage of her helpless state, Lanie’s response to his touch thrills him.  Jason starts to influence her dreams.  He takes Lanie back to the time when he was alive.  Jason gets more then he bargains for as clues to his death begin to appear.  Is Lanie the key to learning how Jason died?

Rose Anderson gives the reader a ghost story and a murder mystery with a large portion of hot sex thrown in for good measure.  Nothing in this book is what it appears to be.  Lanie’s dreams take her to a time shortly after the Civil War, when businessmen from the North come South to make their fortune. The ending of this book will surprise the reader.  Do not jump ahead as it is well worth the wait!

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Two very cool reviews. So far Dreamscape has a constellation of 49 ½ stars. (Imagine my wide smile here) I had a feeling readers would like it if they gave it a chance. It’s specifically a readers’ story. (Did I just leave another clue in these four sentences? You’ll have to read Dreamscape to know for sure!)

My husband doesn’t read romance. He liked the story but felt the ending should have been different. Because of that, he was worried this book wasn’t going to appeal to readers. Mainly he didn’t want to see me disappointed. But I knew it would appeal to me and I’m one of those readers.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried initially. I started with one reader review that stated she enjoyed it and “couldn’t put it down” but admitted she read it so fast she got lost. Every reviewer since has had no trouble following the past and present elements of the story. Perhaps that reader got lost because she had expectations and preconceived notion as to how the hero and heroine would come together. I take full blame for not making it clear in the blurb this was an Easter egg hunt. Perhaps had she known, she might have paid closer attention to the small details. I am sorry she got lost and that took away from the reading experience. It just goes to show not every book out there is a good fit for every person.

Luckily for me there are lots of readers!  🙂

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Earlier this month I had an interview over at Roseanne Dowell’s blog.  She’s a romance writer herself. Lots of wonderful authors featured there throughout the year. http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com/   In my attempt to get known, I’ve made a point to sign up at many different blogs and websites that offer guest spots. And like mine, all of these have their own readerships so it’s a great way to travel further afield and be discovered by readers looking for the next interesting book to add to their TBR pile. I’ve read that readers like to see the human side of their favorite authors. I’m as human as they come! *grin*

Here’s my interview with Roseanne:

Welcome, Rose Anderson Thank you so much for being here.

1: What genre do you write?

I write everything from early readers to suspense. Currently, I have two books published under the Erotic Romance category.

2: How long have you been writing?

I’ve been actively writing since 1990. I began with an early reader series for my kids.

3: What do you like the most and least about writing?

I’m one of those linear, fly-by-the-seat-of-my pants, authors. What do I like the most? I’d have to say it’s creating other worlds. The least? If I get distracted, the thought train derails.

4: What do you for fun and relaxation when not writing?

Mainly, I just hang out with family and friends. On weekends from April to November, I go to flea markets with my husband. We like hunting treasures.

5: Which authors do you like to read?

Diana Gabaldon is my favorite. I’m a huge fan of her style and attention to detail. I’m known to do the complete JK Rowling Harry Potter series once a year too.

6: What’s the one thing you’d most like people to know about you?

I make a very good friend.

7: Tell me about your current novel, where I can find it?

My current novel is Dreamscape. Outwardly, it’s a ghost story set between two time periods, but on the inside it’s actually an Easter egg hunt. Easter eggs, in this sense, are intentional hidden messages. I tried to make them as visible as I could and in such number that readers would say to themselves, Was that intentional? It must mean something! Growing up, I was a huge fan of author Agatha Christie’s work. I remember reading And Then There Were None as a child. I didn’t fully comprehend the nuance of the story at the time, but after seeing Ten Little Indians, the movie adaptation, several years later, I reread the book. To my surprise and delight, it was filled with pointing fingers and arrows and some were veiled and some were out in plain sight. I loved that.

Avid readers, or even avid movie goers, should be able to pick out the clues by the third Easter egg. By then, I imagine their minds are saying, huh? Did she mean to write it that way? At least I hope they do! Those intentional hidden messages point to the truth.

The story revolves around Dr. Elaine (Lanie) O’Keefe and her recent purchase of the derelict mid-Victorian Bowen mansion. She has plans to renovate the property into a free clinic. This is no ordinary mansion in two key ways – Since she was a small child, Lanie has been dreaming of the house, as if she lived in the Victorian era. And, as is often the case in the many small towns across America, old abandoned houses are jokingly labeled haunted houses. There’s just one thing, old Bowen Mansion is haunted.

Jason Bowen, a doctor in his own time and a ghost in this one, roams the house contemplating his own murder in the century before. He has no recollection of the deed, only that his new wife and her lover are responsible. He soon becomes fascinated by the woman who’s moved into his house. What begins as an innocent experiment to touch her warm skin while she sleeps, leads to Jason’s discovery that, as pure energy, he’s able to ply Lanie’s synapse and live again through her dreams. He’s surprised to discover those dreams return him to the days leading up to his murder. Only this time, Lanie is there by his side. The questions now are: Can a ghost find love among the living? And, if so, what of that little insurmountable matter of Jason being dead?

8: Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?

I do. Write for yourself. If you like it, chances are readers will too. Learn from reviews if you can. Remember, not all of your books will be a good fit with every reader out there. Reviews are simply opinions. How many people do you know with opinions different than your own? Revel in the good ones, consider the bad ones, then move on to the next. Know up front that writing the book is less than half the work involved. Promoting that book takes far more time.

9: Do you base your characters on real-life people?

My characters are often fleshed out by small slices of my friends and family, my heroes and heroines are all composites of who I am. But then they’d have to be wouldn’t they? I do because it’s easy to draw from the familiar. If readers knew me, they’d recognize my furnishings, my pets, the many cars I’ve owned, and even things about themselves. My life makes cameo appearances in one form or another in all of my books. Anything funny my characters do, chances are I’ve either done it or someone close to me has!

10: How did you come up with the idea for this book? I like to take the path less traveled. I really like offbeat turn-things-on-their-ear scenarios. In my first erotic romance, Hermes Online, there is the unlikely. In Dreamscape, there is the impossible. Dreamscape came from a conversation with a pen pal. He’s a poet but also a romantic. We were discussing writing technique when I thought of an impossible scenario – Could a ghost find love among the living? I wrote a three paragraph pitch around that thought, and suddenly realized I could make it work. Voila Jason Bowen and Lanie O’Keefe were born and before I knew it Dreamscape was written.

11: What are you currently working on?

I tend to work on more than one project at a time. I have a story of the American Midwest, one set in the Isle of Skye, and my nearly four years in the making five-book series. Going back and forth like that helps keep writers block at bay.

12. Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you?

I love having my imagination tickled and my mind stretched. I often ask friends and family for writing prompts. If readers ever have an idea, they could pitch it my way and I’d take a swing at it. The more outrageous the better! 🙂

13. Where can we find you? Website? Blog?

My website isn’t finished yet, but my blog CalliopesWritingTablet is up and running. Calliope was the writer’s muse. Muses in general were considered the source of knowledge and higher learning. That being the case, I dedicated my blog to her because, it too is dedicated to learning — my learning the ropes as an author and sharing what I’ve learned. Everything about my journey so far is in my blog — from laurels to skinned knees.

(I go on to give all my pertinent links)

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Dreamscape’s cover, blurb and excerpt are parked at several new places around the web. Here’s one:

http://www.lallagatta.com/eng/my_blog.html

As I was about to add the rest, it occured to me that I have far too much information for one blog day. (I did say a lot has happened!) I’ll save the rest for another time.