Thursday, January 9, 2014

Jacqueline Paige


Guest Post and Excerpt by Jacqueline Paige








There’s a little psychic in all of us…

I don’t think I’ve met a single person in my life (yet) that can’t say they haven’t had a moment where something they saw in a dream (awake or asleep) didn’t ring true at some point.

Ever walk in some place that you’ve never been but there’s that thing you can’t explain that makes it feel familiar? You’re doing something that you’ve never done, but you know exactly what to do? You see someone that you’ve never met but there’s something familiar about them? That nagging feeling that something is wrong but you can’t define it?

I’m not an expert on dreams or how the mind works, but I believe dreams are there for a reason. Yes sometimes it’s just a little too much stimulant (sugar, caffeine) before bed that has you reliving that moment in the movie you watched before going to bed. Or you bit you tongue all day long when you wanted to tell that co-worker off so it was still weighing heavily in your mine when you finally fell asleep – and then fed them through the paper shredder in your dream, or had them as your groveling gopher acknowledging your superior skill… the subconscious mind is an amazing thing.

With my writing I’ve explored all sorts of dream like occurrences, after all I get my best ideas for stories when I’m almost asleep, just at that point where I’m not conscious of anything going on and a few seconds from drifting off (which, by the way can be annoying if all you want it sleep and not characters popping into your head). In the second book of the Hidden Senses Trilogy , Dream Visions, I have a character that connects with others in high emotional moments while she’s in a Dream like trans. In my soon to be released Ancestor’s Enchantment Trilogy, The Witch Within, the character is seeing her ancestor’s in her dreams. So it wasn’t much of a leap to take things in a new direction with the Dream Series and have the characters actually meet in a dream.

Without giving away everything in the story, I’ll share part of the opening from Part 1 in the series - In Our Dream:

Tell me your name.”
The unfamiliar voice was intense, yet gentle, and it resonated in all the right places inside of her. “Jennah Best.” She glanced around, trying to place where they were.
I’m Dominic.”
His voice was so close to her ear, she jumped and looked behind her. Several inches above her face, she peered into dark, mesmerizing brown eyes. “Where are we?” She skimmed over his short, black hair and broad, shadowed jaw as she waited for an answer.
He smiled at her. “Where would you like to be?”
She laughed. “A thousand places, but that’s not the point—where are we?” She tried again to recognize something, everything seemed obscured, yet he was right in front of her and very clear. “Do I know you?”
He shook his head slowly. “No, but we are changing that.” He smiled at her again and she couldn’t help but smile back. He held out one large hand to her. “Walk with me.”
It wasn’t really a question, or an order, and she did want to know what was going on, so she put her hand in his and flushed a little when she felt the heat as his large hand close around hers. She had almost been thinking she was dreaming this. “I don’t mean to sound repetitive, but where are we, Dominic?”
He walked slowly beside her for a few moments and then stopped and gazed down at her again. “It’s difficult to explain, but we’re in a place where few can go.”
That wasn’t exactly the answer she wanted. She peered around him and almost sighed in relief when she saw a window seat in the old library. What she was doing in the library’s reading room with a strange man, she didn’t know. At least she knew where she was now. A place where few can go? The library?
Shall we sit?”
She nodded, not wanting to say something odd again. She let him lead her over to the window where he stood waiting until she sat down. She glanced out the window to see the large snowflakes falling gently to the ground. She tried not to notice how close he sat to her, but it was hard not to when the man was so large. She tried also not to notice how wide his shoulders were. Her biggest weakness seemed to be men with broad shoulders. Even though he was dressed in dark pants and a tasteful sweater, he seemed almost dangerous, and the well controlled female inside her liked this too much.
What do you do, Jennah?”
She looked quickly from his broad shoulders to those dark eyes. “I, ah, work for the police department here in town.”
A detective?”
She grinned and shook her head. “No, I thought about trying it a few times, but got too old to pursue it by the time I decided.”
He grinned. “I can’t see your age being the problem. You can’t be more than twenty-eight, twenty-nine.”
She knew she grinned at him like an infatuated idiot, but couldn’t help it. “Oh, I’m afraid I’m quite a bit older than that, but I’m going to take that as a compliment.” She fought the urge to brush her long, wavy hair back off her shoulder. She didn’t want to appear like she was flirting. She smiled at him again before looking back toward the window.
I think you’re exaggerating. So, what do you do within the department?”
She shrugged. “Mostly desk work and gopher runs.”
He nodded. “What does that involve?”
Transports, mostly.”
To Wyestate prison?”
Quite often, or to the court and next counties.” Jennah watched his eyes move over her face.
Do you have a partner?”
She shook her head. “Not often, unless it’s a high profile I’m transporting.” She glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned. It must need repairing. It couldn’t possibly be almost five in the morning. “Are you from here?” She gazed around when she heard an odd buzzing, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
No.” He just sat there, studying her.
She tried to focus on him and then blinked. He seemed to be fading.
I’ll see you again, Jennah.”
The buzzing grew louder.
Jennah opened her eyes. Her alarm clock was going off. She reached over and slapped a hand on the snooze button and then focused to make sure she was in her room. She blew out a breath and tried to shake the fog from her mind. That explained a few things. The dream was so real, but not at the same time. Too bad, really. That man, Dominic, her mind had invented was quite nice to look at. No more chocolate caramel popcorn for you before bed, she thought as she slowly sat up.

Excerpt

The nerve of that man! Why won’t he just accept things and go away? She paced back and forth, trying to control the frustration that was pumping through her. Every time she saw him, every hurt moment came flooding back to her and she just wanted him gone. She wanted to move on and live her own life and try her damndest to be happy!

“Jennah?”

She spun around, expecting someone to be behind her. There was no one there. Was that Dominic’s voice? Oh no, she was hallucinating now! Should she call her doctor? Maybe the stress had finally caught up to her. Was she going to end up spending her holidays alone in the psych ward?

“Jennah, why are you so upset?”

She squeezed her eyes shut. I am not hearing voices! I am not losing my mind!

She heard his deep chuckle. “No, you’re not losing your mind. This is really happening. I should have told you, but in our dream...it’s not really a dream. We’re connecting.”

Her eyes flew open. What? “What?” She stood perfectly still, waiting to see if she could hear him again.

“I can explain it better later. I just picked up on how upset you were...”

She squinted. “Picked up? How? How are you inside my head when I’m completely awake? How can we talk inside my head?”

She heard him chuckle again. “Inside mine, as well. I don’t have time right now. Are you all right?”

She laughed out loud, not knowing if he would hear it in her head too. “Clearly not! I’m talking to a man from my dream inside my head while I’m wide awake standing in the locker room at work!”

“Jennah...”


In Our Dream
Dream Series
Part 1 


Jacqueline Paige


Release date December 10 2013

She’s a small town cop. He’s an inmate undercover. They meet in a dream.

Book Description:

Jennah Best left the adrenaline packed life of being a cop on the edge for a more peaceful place. She escaped a marriage that almost destroyed her and now lives her life working for a small police station in the town of Ridge. At her age, she’s accepted that it’s too late and too much work to start all over again, until she meets a man in a dream...

While young, Dominic Palmer has always proven he can get the job done. Or at least, that was the case before he accepted a job and agreed to go undercover as an inmate. When months go by and there’s no word from his outside contact he wonders if he’s been left on the inside for good. He’s fighting to stay alive and keep his sanity, but finds himself completely distracted by a mysterious woman he met in a dream...

Previously released in Dreams anthology

Part 2 From A Dream will be released in February 2014



About the Author:

Jacqueline Paige lives in Ontario in a small town that’s part of the popular Georgian Triangle area. No one has ever heard of Stayner, so she usually tells people she lives “near Collingwood” and no, she doesn’t ski at Blue Mountain or at all, in fact she’s not even fond of snow.

She began her writing career in 2006 and since her first published works in 2009 she hasn’t stopped. Jacqueline describes her writing as “all things paranormal”, which she has proven is her niche with stories of witches, ghosts, physics and shifters now on the shelves.

When Jacqueline isn’t working at her ‘reality job’ or lost in her writing she spends time with her five children, most of whom are finally able to look after her instead of the other way around. Together they do random road trips, that usually end up with them lost, shopping trips where they push every button in the toy aisle, hiking when there’s enough time to escape and bizarre things like creating new daring recipes in the kitchen. She’s a grandmother to four (so far) and looks forward to corrupting many more in the years to come.

Jacqueline loves to hear from her readers, you can find her at www.jacqpaige.webs.com , www.jacqpaige.blogspot.ca or http://magicseasonsbooks.blogspot.ca









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