Dream Waters by Erin A. Jensen

Dream Waters (Book One of The Dream Waters Series),

Dream World (Book Two of The Dream Waters Series), Dream Sight (Book Three of The Dream Waters Series)

by Erin A. Jensen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE:  Contemporary Fantasy

DREAM WATERS

Book One of The Dream Waters Series

All his life, Charlie Oliver has watched the people around him morph into creatures that no one else sees.  Unlike the rest of the world, Charlie remembers the Waters that transport him to the Dream World each night.  And he sees glimpses of people’s Dream forms in the waking world.  Condemned to spend his waking hours in a psychiatric facility because of his Dream Sight, Charlie doesn’t expect anything to change.  But everything starts changing the day Emma Talbot walks through the door in the middle of a group therapy session.

Haunted by memories of the events that led to her admission, Emma plans to end her life the first chance she gets.  But something about Charlie stops her.  From the moment they shake hands, his friendship feels safe and familiar.  As Emma begins to let down her guard, Charlie catches a glimpse of the fiery-eyed dragon that lurks behind her Dream form.  Each night, as Emma dreams of the man who’s been banned from visiting, Charlie searches the Dream World for the monster that shadows her.  But when Emma’s suppressed memories begin to surface, Charlie finds more monsters than he bargained for.

Dream Waters (Book 1) Excerpt:

“Where were you afraid I’d land when I fell in and why did you say finding the dragon wouldn’t be easy?”

She started drawing waves in the sand with her finger and I got the distinct impression she was doing it to avoid looking at me. “Honestly Charlie, I wasn’t sure where you’d land. It’s unpredictable when you don’t jump on purpose. You could end up anywhere the people you’ve met have been. You’re a mental patient. Can you imagine the sections of Dream some patients might inhabit?” Her finger stopped drawing mid-wave. “Trust me boy. There are Dark places in the Dream World, places you should never go. Venture too far into them and you risk losing a part of yourself to the Darkness.”

I was really getting tired of the cryptic shit. “Great. Thanks for the vague ominous warning. I was afraid you might give me an actual answer for a second there.”

“I’ve already said too much.” Even at a whisper there was a waver to her voice. “Just thank me for keeping you safe and jump back into the Water.”

“I don’t know which world I find you more annoying in.” It wasn’t the nicest thing to say to the one person who understood me but I said it out of frustration and maybe a little out of fear.

Nellie was about to snarl something back, but the leaves of some bushes just off the beach started rustling and I hopped to my feet to get a better look. “Something’s over there.”

Nellie stood up with a weary sigh and as she turned toward the bushes I saw the scars. Large deep identical scars marring the flesh on both of her shoulder blades.

I took a step closer to her. “What happened to your back?”

She turned and gave me a hard shove toward the Water’s edge. “It’s time for you to go now Charlie.” It caught me by surprise and knocked me off balance, back into the surf and the icy Water pulled me back in.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Erin Jensen is a part-time pharmacist and a fulltime creator of imaginary worlds.  She lives in upstate NY with her incredibly supportive husband, two sons (who are both taller than her) and a Yorkshire terrier who thinks he’s the family bodyguard.  In the early days of her writing career, Erin vowed to get a dragon tattoo—once her books received a milestone number of reviews—but she won’t disclose that number any longer, for fear of actually reaching her goal and having to go through with it.

http://www.erinajensen.com/

http://blog.erinajensen.com/

https://www.facebook.com/erin.jensen.756

Dream Waters: Book One of The Dream Waters Series 

(The first book is on sale for $0.99)

by Erin A. Jensen

Book 1: 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0997171219/ref=x_gr_w_glide_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_glide_bb-20

Amazon Buy Link:  http://a.co/gh4ZMdP

Barnes and Noble Buy Link:    https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dream-waters-erin-a-jensen/1124717811?ean=9780997171204

iBook Buy Link:  https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/dream-waters/id1159943525?mt=11

kobo Buy Link:  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dream-waters

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Dream World: Book Two of The Dream Waters Series

by Erin A. Jensen

Book 2:  https://www.amazon.com/Dream-World-Book-Two-Waters/dp/0997171243/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XC0M9V11GB85XKJ8AX50

Amazon Buy Link:  http://a.co/9GERZwx

Barnes and Noble Buy Link:    https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dream-world-erin-a-jensen/1125396760?ean=9780997171235

iBook Buy Link:  https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/dream-world/id1209882853?mt=11

kobo Buy Link:  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dream-world-7

Dream Sight (Book Three of The Dream Waters Series)

Lessons I Learned from my Main Character

by Erin A. Jensen

               

Over the course of writing the books in my Dream Waters series, my characters have become almost like family to me—one big extremely dysfunctional family.  Even though they’re fictional people, when you spend that much time poking around inside a character’s brain—contemplating his actions and motives—he’s bound to end up teaching you something.  Whether you share lots of traits with the character or couldn’t be more opposite, I believe there’s a lesson to be learned from every character.

An argument could be made that I have at least three main characters in my series.  Each book has chapters written from different characters’ points of view.  Not every character contributes to the narration of each book, but three of them are vocal in every book—Charlie, Emma and David.  If I had to narrow it down and pin the label of “main character” on just one of them, it would have to be Charlie.  Dream Waters (Book One of the series) begins and ends from his point of view.

Charlie has spent most of his adult life locked away in mental institutions.  His father died when he was young and his mother just didn’t have the energy to deal with his mental issues.  What are those issues?  Charlie has memories of a parallel Dream World that he claims everyone visits while they’re asleep.  He remembers the Waters that transport people between worlds and erase most peoples’ memories of the world they’ve left behind.  Charlie can also see the people around him morph to their Dream forms in the waking world.

Despite the fact that Charlie feels rejected by every member of society—including his own mother—and he lives in a world filled with constant threats of unspeakable horrors that no one else acknowledges the existence of, Charlie tackles his troubles with a light-hearted attitude.  His sarcastic sense of humor is a coping mechanism, but it’s also his way of making the most of a horrible situation.  I suppose the first lesson Charlie taught me was that humor can be a powerful tool.  When your only options are to curl up and lament your sorry existence or make light of the situation and find the humor in even the glummest of circumstances.  Why not crack a smile, tell a joke and lighten the moods of your fellow sufferers?  If the situation sucks either way, why not make the best of it?

That said, the biggest lesson I learned from Charlie is that no matter how dire your own situation seems, you can still reach out and help someone else in need.  Knowing what it’s like to live in a constant state of fear has ultimately made Charlie a more compassionate creature.  When Emma is admitted to the facility, he sees how lost and alone she feels and it breaks his heart.  Instead of erecting walls and wallowing in his own misery, he reaches out and tries to lessen Emma’s grief, making her feel a whole lot safer in the process.  Despite how much the world has knocked him down, Charlie seizes the first opportunity to do some good and make someone else feel a little less hopeless.  His actions suggest that you’re never too powerless to make a difference.  That’s a lesson I think we’d all do well to learn from.