It’s official: Ecuador has crept into my dreams.
Have I said before just how much dreams influence my stories? Because they do. I’ve had whole plots lines and casts of characters handed to me in a single dream. I’ve had a dreams inspire entire series — sometimes a single dream, sometimes a few mixed together. (One series has the rough draft of the first book written, while another just has the first few chapters. And there are more.)
My favorite worlds, either whole or simple building block details, come from dreams. They are more unique, more unusual than anything my waking mind concocts. They take my known world and mix it up in sometimes improbably, always fantastical ways. And the more of the world that I see, touch, and experience, the more elaborate the worlds I dream — and therefore write — become.
Not that I need another reason to travel, but this one is pretty awesome.
…Now for some rather appropriate-to-this-blog links:
Author Scott Lynch delivers a total smack-down to a reader who takes issue with the idea that a middle aged woman could possibly be a bloodthirsty pirate. It’s a beautiful thing.
And 25 ways to be a happier writer. Pretty self-explanatory and all true.
Melissa Burkart 