Tag Archives: dreams

Would the FBI talk to you about this book?

by Jennette,

Hangar 18: LegacyThe other day, I had a really funny dream. I dreamed that the FBI kept calling me, stopping by my house, wanting to know how I found out about the aliens stashed away at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and what more did I know. Being in a dream, I was a bit slow on the uptake, but I finally figured out that they were referring to my book Hangar 18: Legacy.

“It’s fiction!” I told them. “I don’t know about any aliens on the base. I made this stuff up!” I had to be very insistent about the fact that, while I’m a software developer like the heroine in the book, the projects I work on are nowhere near as interesting as those she deals with, and even if there were aliens on the base, I’d never know. It took several more pestering phone calls, but the FBI people finally got the message. Later, they sent me cookies to apologize for bothering me. 😀 I woke up smiling.

My ROW80 goals are a sort-of smile, sort of not, as they were rather hit-and-miss. Actually, they were mostly miss, as the only one I hit was the writing, and that wasn’t until about one AM this morning. I count it as yesterday, and therefore being made, because I didn’t go to bed until after I hit the wordcount goal. Here’s the nitty-gritty:

  • ROW80Logo1754000 words on new ms – Yes!
  • 4 workouts – partial – got three in.
  • One chapter in estate planning book – no
  • Spend 15 minutes decluttering – no

The novel’s now over 12,000 words, so I’m making good progress toward my overall ROW goal of 20k on the book. I’m going to keep the weekly goals the same for this week. I already got 300 words written today, so that’s a good start. I might just jump in on the estate planning book and the decluttering tomorrow, since it’s a holiday. We’ll see how that goes – plans have a tendency to change. My daughter decided to come home for the long weekend (I think mostly for the AC, LOL, which her dorm doesn’t have). I’ve enjoyed (and spent a lot of time) talking to her, catching up, and vicariously reliving the college experience. That has impacted my goals a little, but is well worth it.

What about you – I know a lot of authors get story ideas from dreams, but have you ever dreamed about a book you’ve already written (or read, if you’re not a writer)? Whether or not you’re doing ROW80, how are you doing on whatever goals you might have had this week? Please share – I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Dreaming in Third Person

by Jennette,

Are your dreams like movies in your head?

I learned something interesting about my teenage daughter a couple weeks ago. Often, as I’m driving her to school in the morning, she’ll tell me about some weird dream she had that morning – and they are almost always weird. Like seeing a library in the sky, or seeing people she knows in weird places or situations. But what I never realized until she mentioned something about how hair looked in her dream, was that she dreams in third person point-of-view. As in, she sees herself as if she’s someone else, like watching a movie.

It was hard for me to comprehend – and it’s also something I never thought about before. Sure, I’ve had dreams where I wasn’t playing an active role, but was just passively seeing other people going through whatever actions, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen myself, other than looking in a mirror. It never occurred to me that it would be otherwise for others. On the other hand, it seemed weird to my daughter that I would dream everything in first person point-of-view. Although when she thought about it, she thought some, if not most, of her friends dream in first person.

...or are you a first person shooter?

It reminded me of my Grandpa Adams, who told me he dreamed in black-and-white. I was maybe eight or nine at the time, and of course thought this was very odd, although it didn’t seem as strange at the time as it does when I think about it now. No, he wasn’t messing with me. At the time, I figured he dreamed like he watched TV, which for him was in black-and-white, until maybe ten years or so before we had that conversation. But why it seems stranger now, is that he was born in 1914, and therefore wouldn’t have had television until he was well into adulthood. Of course he went to the movies, but wouldn’t have had that frame of reference until he was at least elementary-school aged. I don’t think I know of anyone else who dreams (or did) in black and white, although it’s not a topic that we talk about all the time. It never occurred to me to ask my other grandparents.

It’s something I don’t think about often. I hardly ever remember my dreams, and of the few I do, 99% of them are just dumb and boring.

So what about you? Do you see yourself in your dreams, or are you a first person shooter like me? Does anyone you know dream in black and white?

Photo of people running via Microsoft Office Images
Game photo via gamingbolt.comÂ