Saturday, March 13, 2010

Welcome Author Kathy Coddington


To Sleep, Per Chance to Dream


Thank you, Autumn for allowing me to visit today, to talk about my latest book, Palace of Dreams. The book is an erotic futuristic romance set in a dream dome on the planet Cereus Prime, a sort of Las Vegas of the stars, renowned for its pleasure palaces. Of course in order to dream, a visitor first needs to dream. The dream process is fascinating so I thought I’d share a few things I learned and their influence on the book with your readers.

Six years of our lives is spent dreaming—most of it in living color by the way. Research has shown that not only humans, but mammals and birds also experience REM(rapid eye movement) sleep, the stage where dreaming occurs. Some cultures believe that we live two lives, one in the waking world and a separate one in the dream world. They even train their children to learn to control their dreams. Farfetched as that might seem, controlling your dreams is possible with practice. Such control is an adjunct to lucid dreaming, that awareness in the middle of a dream that you are dreaming. Still, despite all the research being done on the subject, scientists still aren’t completely sure what our brains are doing or why?

Maybe because my own dreams are detailed and vivid, I find the dream process to be extremely interesting. Eventually, this fascination was bound to lead somewhere in my writing. As I was reading an article on lucid dreaming, the line about Kubla Khan’s stately-pleasure domes from Samuel Coleridge’s poem, In Xanadu, popped into my head and the premise for my erotic futuristic romance, Palace of Dreams, was born.

The novel is my first foray into writing both erotic romance and science-fiction. Since I have two published historical romances I know something about world-building. At the same time I was developing my characters and plot, I also began building the world of Cereus Prime, the alien planet where the story is set. Its capital, Gemmax City is not only the commercial and financial center, but it’s also a sort of the Las Vegas of the planet, renowned for its pleasure domes, of which the dream domes are the most popular. The Celestial Crystal where Inari Rau reigns as an almost living legend among all the guides, is the most prestigious dream palace on the planet. I discovered lots of other details about my world as I wrote the story and its place among the other 17 planetary systems of the Concord of Planets. I hope that readers will be intrigued by the setting, characters and plot premise and will want to buy the book so that they can experience a visit to the Crystal Palace.



Book release date: March 5, 2010
Ellora’s Cave: Aeon
Novel. You can purchase the book at: http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-8218-50-palace-of-dreams.aspx

Visit her at www.kathleencoddington.com or www.kathleencoddington.wordpress.com

Blurb:

In the dream domes of Cereus Prime visitors can fulfill their deepest erotic fantasies in sessions led by telepathic guides. Among the guides, Inari Rau is a living legend. On her final night as a guide, she receives a request to lead one last dream. During the session she loses control and is drawn into a fantasy of raw, sexual pleasure with her mysterious client.

Kastel Fane has a mission to complete—give Inari the dream of a lifetime as a farewell gift from her friends. If he succeeds, he’ll receive a hefty reward. What neither expects is the passion that ignites between them or the new psi talent that is born out of their first encounter, an ability that leads to dangerous consequences for both of them. As they fight for a future together, can Kastel prove he is the man who can finally fulfill all of Inari’s dreams?

Excerpt:

Inari yanked herself out of the man’s arms. What in the Lords of Cosmos had just happened? Somehow she had lost control of the dream. In all her years as a guide nothing like this had ever occurred. She looked around in bewilderment. Where were they? Three moons in different phases floated above her head in the night sky. A seemingly endless phosphorescent sea stretched out before her.

She caught the tang of salt on the breeze that caressed her skin. In the faint light of the triple moons she saw she was attired in a sheer sleeveless tunic that ended just above her knees. A belt of tiny sea shells surrounded her narrow waist. She held up an arm. Thousands of miniscule pale green scales glimmered softly in the moon light.

Sucking in another breath of salty air, she fought back a wave of panic. She glanced up at the three moons then out over the glowing aquamarine sea. She knew this place—had read about it in one of her many research sources. She was on Luvia, fourth planet of the Epsilon Delta system. She wrapped her arms around her and shivered despite the warmth of the night. She hadn’t just lost control of the dream. It was more than that. Someone else was controlling it.

She turned and looked at the man standing behind her. Green hair shot with silver brushed his broad shoulders. Like her he wore a sleeveless tunic that bared his muscular arms and legs, a belt of shells similar to hers around his flat waist. The deep v of his tunic revealed a considerable portion of his sleek muscled chest.
The corners of his mouth quirked upward in a slight smile, but the oval tilted sea green eyes that met hers were wary. He was the same man from the other dream, the one she’d been weaving, which meant she was still linked to her client, Kastel Fane.
“Incredible view, isn’t it?” His voice, deep and sensual sent a ripple of awareness through her.

Ignoring his question, Inari stalked across the pink sand and poked him in the chest. “It’s you, isn’t it? You’re the one doing this.”

He regarded her steadily, his expression guarded. “Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters.” She swung her arms wide encompassing the scene around them. “I’m not controlling this. And if you aren’t either we could become permanently locked in this dream cycle.”

The man folded his arms across his broad chest with a thoughtful frown. “According to what I’ve been told about the process, I didn’t think that was possible.”
She bit her lip struggling to decide how much she should tell him. Best to be honest. “It’s rare, but it has been known to happen.”

“And when it does? What happens to the participants?”

Anger made her blunt. “They survive in a vegetative state, until their brains burn out and they die. Of course, they don’t realize what’s happening. They’re happily living their final hours in their dream world. At least that’s the theory. No one really knows for sure.”

The man she was beginning to think of as Kastel nodded, but despite the seriousness of his expression she detected a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. Before she realized what he was going to do, he caught her in his arms and pulled her to him. “I can think of worst ways to die.” He bent and nuzzled the side of her neck.


Bio:

Kathleen Coddington has been writing romance on and off for 15 years. She has three books, a paranormal romance and two historical romances, published by Cerridwen Press and one erotic futuristic through Ellora’s Cave Publishing. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Pocono Lehigh Romance Writers and the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group, where she served at various times as VP, secretary and treasurer.

A retired school librarian, Kathleen enjoys reading and travel. Members of two Civil War reenacting units, she and her husband are frequent lecturers at schools and historical societies. She has also published several articles about the fashions of the mid-19th century. She and her husband and two cats live near their son in a small town in eastern Pennsylvania where she teaches a novel writing course at the local community college.

4 comments:

  1. Enjoyed your post, Kathy! Paranormal and historical -- great range. Congratulations on your releases.

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  2. Hi Kathy! Looks like you're winding up a great blog tour. Undoubtedly, readers are going to want more stories from Cereus Prime!

    Karen Hudgins
    www.karenhudgins.com

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  3. Thanks for stopping by and for all the lovely comments. Have to post this as anonymous.

    ReplyDelete