DREAMTIME

 "All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney

"I dream. Sometimes I think that's the only right thing to do." -- Haruki Murakami

"Be relentless." -- Sean "Diddy" Combs

"Save some time to dream, 'cause your dream might save us all." -- John Mellencamp

Dreams require commitment, perseverance, imagination and lots of hard work. It's one thing to say you have a Dream. It's something else altogether to devote years of your life to that Dream, sacrificing lots of "free time" and "fun" in order to get to that Dream.

This is dreaming at a whole other level. For some people (like me) it is better than "free time" and "fun". It is Dreamtime and then it is euphoria. When it reaches that height, then you hook a ride on the "Dream World Wave"!

You have to work long and hard in Dreamtime before you get a ride on the Wave. It doesn't come often either. That's why you have to really *want* the Dream.

For many months now I have been working on my next book. I'm going to refer to this book as MS4 (MS for manuscript and 4 because it's the fourth one I've written).+

When you have a "day job" to pay the mortgage, etc., executing on your Dream becomes more than a little difficult. My schedule consists of the day job, eating, working out, sleeping, working on the book, and occasionally, I do a few things just to keep the household running - oh, and I feed the cat. He thinks that's pretty important.

That's it.

In spite of all that, writing time for me *is* Dreamtime. It is tiring and energizing, mind-numbing and mind-bending, a downer trip and a sometimes euphoric experience, a huge sacrifice and a wonderful investment - it is a roller coaster ride from hell to heaven.

First, I plan: a concept, then more particulars of the story, plot points, pacing and various other things that will make the story happen as it should.

There are times when my "work" consists of me sitting in a chair staring blankly off into "space", but this is work, and a very necessary part of the work.

Then there's research, which serves two main purposes in my mind: 1) it gives the book the "ring of truth" in certain areas; and 2) research provides me with inspiration I would not have if I had not explored some new bit of knowledge. Some research involves physically going somewhere - seeing a place, talking to people, etc. There is *nothing* that will inform a story and launch my imagination like physically being in a place and having all *five* of my senses engaged.

When it all comes together - the planning, staring into space, researching - when that happens, *then* I download it into the computer from my head and it becomes a manuscript. All of that constitutes Dreamtime.

Which leads me to MS4, and research I have to do to finish this thing.

MS4 is set in San Francisco for the most part. There are a couple of scenes in Austin and New York City, but the majority of it takes place in San Francisco.

I already made one trip to San Francisco which was the first bit of research I did for this book.

Now, the time has come for me to go back to San Francisco and do some additional research to finish this up.

I am organizing myself as to all the things I need to see and do while there, and some law enforcement folks with whom I need to visit. I will only have a week, and I am going to have to jam a lot of things into one very short week. I will rise and shine early and get going, go all day, and then crash in my hotel at the end.

This trip will not take place until May (for a variety of reasons, including time off from the day job and *money*).

I will be blogging from San Francisco during my trip, and I will be blogging as I lead up to this trip. I will be talking about writing, a little bit about myself, San Francisco, my plans for the trip - including restaurants (Mmmm, yum), and side trips I will make in the bay area. Occasionally, I'll blog about something random. I will also have the occasional blog redux from the archives. :)

So, buckle up. I'm going on a journey through the making of a story, the city in which that story takes place, and all the other "places" the journey decides to take me. It's Dreamtime, and I'm looking for some Waves!

Polla Filia,
J.F.

+ I have written and previously published a book under another name, and "No" I'm not going to tell you the name or the book - water under the bridge for my own reasons. I also had an "under the bed" book, which most authors have. This is the one you wrote first, it's crap and you would never try to publish it. If you're lucky you can "cannibalize" the good bits out of it and use it in another book - if you're lucky. Finally, I have a 3rd manuscript, which I'm certain will be published, but right now I'm finishing this one, because someone wants to see it.