I must be a freak. I often dream about the characters in my books. Sometimes I wake up with a plotpoint swooshing away from me like the ocean's tide (I've got to hurry and jot it down. Good thing I keep a notebook next to my bed!)

A couple nights ago, I dreamed about a busted airplane (picture the chubby little Budgie helicopter in the British children's books). The poor plane was riddled with holes. I spent a lot of time repairing them with sheets of notebook paper. After I had patched it together, I jumped in the pilot's seat. Off I flew.

When I woke up, I wondered, "What was that all about?"

Then I hit the computer and started editing.

Oh....now I get it!

I'm about to finish another revision of Book Number Two (do the revisions ever end?) Meanwhile, I've been chatting with the ultra-savvy ladies at Media Masters. We're cooking up PR tactics to spread the word about TCO. With the avalanche of books coming out this fall, it's easy for a nobody (yours truly) to vanish into the ether. I've worked too hard to let that happen. So I'll be traveling here and there before the book comes out (instead of the traditional post-pub book tour, though school visits are always a good option for first-timers like me).

Do you ever dream about your characters? I want to paint with dreams, just like David Lynch (I caught a screening of his new surrealist nightmare, Inland Empire. It scared the crap out of me).

You can see pieces of it here.