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book cover

Dreamcast

Dreamcast is a two part book:

In Dreamcast, 23 year old college student Travis wakes from a nightmare in which he witnesses the murder of his ex-girlfriend. The next day, he is summoned to a police interview in which he finds that his ex was murdered just as he had dreamt. When he confesses his dream, he is arrested for having exact knowledge of the crime. He is thrown in jail while the police investigate and try to pin the murder on him.

With the help of a psychologist, Travis discovers that he has psychic abilities. These are not superpowers, but a sensitivity to people's emotions and an ability to connect with them. He resists the idea at first, but gradually accepts and uses his sensitivities to search for the murderer. A daunting task, as he is stuck in jail with the system railroading him into a quick trial. He has to fight on all fronts, his only support the psychologist he eventually falls for.

The details of how he solves the murder and exonerates himself are best left for the reader to discover.

For a brief excerpt from the Prologue of Dreamcast click here.

In Hidden From Sight, Travis is asked by the police to help with the vicious murder of a woman and the kidnapping of her 15 year old daughter. At first, Travis' psychic abilities seem of little help and the case make no progress. He experiments with his abilities, learning by trying. Aware that time is running out for the kidnap victim, Travis takes unwise chances and goes looking for the perpetrator himself ... to his peril. But again let the reader find out how Travis prevails.

Dreamcast is my first attempt at first person writing. It poses the challenge that all the information comes through the perceptions and actions of the main character. The author is robbed of the convenience of an omniscient view. I very much enjoyed the challenge.

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Post-Production Commentary

Dreamcast wasn't the prefered piece of work to launch me as an author. It was, however, the exactly right length to self-publish, being half the size of my other books. It was thus the most affordable to finance on my own.

My decision to self-publish was dictated by two realities. One, I was getting older and running out of time to bring all my books to the public's attention. Two, it proved to be difficult to catch the attention of anyone in the industry. Even if I were so lucky as to be noticed and signed, it could take up to 2 years to get my book into print. I wanted to shortcut the process and go to the head of the line.

I love my characters, and feel they are fully deserving of recognition for their unique qualities and stories. Perhaps this fact, above all else, fuelled my impatience to get them into print.

There was another motivating factor; by getting more involved, I hoped to gain a greater appreciation of the entire process from writing, publishing and, of course, selling and distributing. In other words, getting my hands dirty.

Well, now that I have Dreamcast, I'm in for it. Don't be surprised to see me on some streetcorner, peddling my work to passers-by.

Notes

I had fun designing the book. I spent a lot of time on the cover, trying out many combinations. In the end, I decided on a clean, uncluttered look, purposely "amateurish," thinking it would stand out better amidst a herd of "professionally designed" books.

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