My friend, J.J. DiBenedetto has just released the 8th book in his dream series. I've read it, and it's just as wonderful as the first seven. Here's the blurb: Thanks to her unique ability to step into other people's dreams, Dr. Sara Alderson has solved murders, unraveled conspiracies and saved lives. But when a crisis hits close to home, even her supernatural gift might not be enough to avert disaster. On a family vacation to Paris, Sara's fifteen-year-old daughter Grace disappears without a trace. The only way to find her is through Sara's dreams. But her gift has taken an unwanted vacation, and without it, Sara has no idea how to rescue Grace. In a foreign city, with no clues, and her dreaming talent failing her for the first time, Sara must figure out another way to find Grace before it's too late. Dream Vacation is the eighth book of the Dream Series and you can get it here. EXCERPT: Sara is somewhere high up, looking down over Paris. The Eiffel Tower – there’s nowhere else this could be. She wonders whose dream it is, and then she sees the girl. Blonde, young – a high schooler. Hair down to her – Sara has to blink, look away, look again. Hair in a ponytail all the way down her back, and then curled up around her until Sara can’t see where it ends. It’s a dream, she reminds herself, not questioning what she’s seeing. It doesn’t have to make sense. She’s seen this girl before, but where? The memory comes back almost immediately – last night, in another dream. She was on the plane. And here she is, and the boy, too. Definitely her brother. Sara watches as the siblings peer far below to the ground, looking for something – or someone. After a while, the girl lets out a little shout. “There! In the blue! Do you see?” The boy follows her finger, pointing hundreds of feet down. “I knew we’d find him again. We’ve got the money, we just need to get down to him now.” And then the girl burrows into the endless tangle of her hair, pulls up what looks like it actually is the end, and Sara has to laugh; now she understands the hair. She remembers this fairy tale from her childhood. The girl begins to tie her hair to one of the girders. She ties a double-knot, then pulls on it, hard. The knot doesn’t slip. “Ready, Jamie?” The boy nods, and throws his arms around her neck. She takes hold of her hair about halfway down her back, and, in one fluid motion, leaps off the Tower. Sara knows what to expect now; she isn’t even surprised when she looks over the edge to find the girl rappelling down the tower a few bouncy steps at a time… AND A BIT ABOUT MY FRIEND, J. J.: J.J. (James) Dibenedetto's fans would swear he's got a sixth sense when it comes to seeing into the minds of others and often wonder if his stories could possibly be fiction. He enjoys suspending disbelief with suspenseful paranormal tales that are a perfect blend of reality meets fantasy. His popular Dream Series continues to delight readers with each and every exciting installment. Born in Yonkers, New York, he currently resides in Arlington Virginia with his beautiful wife and a cat he is sure has taken full advantage of its nine lives. When it comes to the cat, he often wonders, but then again it might just be his imagination. CONNECT WITH J.J.
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My first experience with the Twilight series wasn't from reading the book (which I'd sworn to myself I'd never do - I mean vampires and werewolves - just not my thing), but there was a moment in the movie that caught my attention and forever etched the characters of Bella and Edward in my mind. I wasn't even watching the movie - my daughter was - and I was working on Finding My Escape. The music caught my attention, and I looked up to see Bella leaning up against her truck, reading a book. Another vehicle begins to careen out of control. Bella barely has time to comprehend what the oncoming van means to her when Edward steps in and pushes the oncoming vehicle out of the way. A look passed between them, and I was hooked. I read all four books that week. The story wasn't the best I've read, and Bella got on my nerves (she was way more immature in the book than she was in the movies), but the characters resonated with me. Stephenie Meyers made me feel the emotions of the characters. My favorite character was Charlie. As a mother of a teenage daughter, I could relate to the over-protectiveness as his daughter began dating. I could also relate with Bella, sneaking around with Edward - after all - I was a teen girl, myself, once. I felt for Jacob for giving his heart to a girl who was really just using him to pass time. So I guess that brings me to what makes a character memorable. Good characters need to resonate some emotion in the reader. Love, hate, anger, pity - it doesn't matter - if a character brings it out in you, you'll remember them. Sometimes they'll trigger a memory, make you cry, or make you laugh. That's what I tried to do with the characters of Finding My Escape. I wanted the reader to feel what Hannah was feeling when she saw her parents murdered. I wanted them to relate to Aunt Laura's quirkiness, and to hate the killer. I wanted to stir up the emotions of first innocent love with the scenes between Hannah and Josh. When I write, I see my characters as if they're on a movie screen, and I'm just taking dictation, and I know if they don't move me, they won't move anyone else, either. So what about you? What makes the characters you love memorable. A few of my recent blog posts have been about finding your WOW. Now I have a question for you: Have you given up on your dreams? Do you walk through each day, marking time, "working for the weekend"? Is your life full of "thank God it's Friday" and "oh hell it's Monday"? It doesn't have to be that way. You can rediscover your dreams and find the strength within you to go after them again. If this sounds at all interesting to you, then head over to my new site http://www.franyoakumveal.com/. I'm super excited about it because I believe I've discovered the answer to you overcome whatever it is that's holding you back. As a bonus, if you'll go over there and leave a comment letting me know you found the site from this one, I'll give you one of my fiction books in ebook format - free. But act FAST, this offer is only good through November 30, 2014. So let me ask you a question - what's holding you back? I wanted to thank all of the fans of the Finding My Escape series for your patience while I work on the final book in the series. If you want to check the progress, you can take a look at the top right corner of this blog. I have a confession. I had initially told my readers the book would be finished by the summer of 2014. Unfortunately, I had to push that date back until fall because the story just wasn't gelling for me, and I didn't want to give you, my awesome readers, anything less than my best. The good news is, the story has finally begun to come together, but I have had one more roadblock thrown in my path. You see, my beloved mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma Lung Cancer back in August, so between trips to the doctor, radiation sessions, and all the stress that goes with having a love one who is ill, the writing has been a little bit sporadic. I still hope to finish the book this year, but it may be 2015 before it is actually published. I hope you will bear with me as I work to get you an amazing finale to this series. I will never be able to thank you enough for your support for me and for this series. Keep watching the progress at the top of the page, and I promise to keep you updated! We all have three questions that we ask ourselves: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? Whether you realize it or not, the answers to these questions determine not just the big decisions you make about what career you want to shoot for or whether to take the promotion – even when you know you’re already sick of the company you work for, but also all the little decisions you make in a day like:
Maybe you’re feeling a little stuck. You’ve been in the same job for years. It pays the bills, but it isn’t really all that fulfilling and you ask yourself if there’s more. Maybe you have a dream inside of you, but you’re afraid to reach for it. Or maybe you just lack the clarity to know what it is you want. What if I told you that the answers are out there? That you can find out who you are, why you are here, and where you are going? My coach, Kary Oberbrunner, has put together an amazing conference the weekend of November 14-15, and I, for one, can’t wait to go. Igniting the Souls promises to help you find the answers, and when you do, you’ll unlock the potential of the world around you. But don’t just listen to me. Click on the link here for the Igniting the Souls Conference and let Kary explain it to you himself. And if you go, look me up. We’ll have a cup of coffee and talk about reaching for the stars. What about you? Where do you struggle with the big questions of life? |
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