Today I'm happy to feature author, L.E. Fred. You can view the except for the book LUCID--now on sale for just $2.99--as well as read a teaser excerpt for the new book REVERIE
Devon Alexander is a 15
year-old teenager coping with the monotonous reality of his average life. His
life receives an interesting reprieve as he has his first realistic dream of a
spaceship. The strangest thing about the dream is that he seems to be the only
one on board who isn’t in a dream-like trance. Before he can figure out
anything about the dream or his strange shipmates, he manages to wake up. The
next day, Devon catches a news story about inexplicable comas taking place all
over the world. Devon’s life becomes increasingly interesting as he recognizes
some of the victims from his spaceship trip.
Devon and an unlikely
group of other teens start devising a plan to find out who is behind the
strange dreams and the comas. Their plan is not only successful but immerses
them in to the fantastical world that only resides in dreams. While in the dream
world, the teens learn about the power of teamwork, a new world of culture, and
their hidden potential to be heroes.
Suspenseful, funny at the worst times,
and just a hint of teenage romance, Lucid
takes a group of young adults and throws them into a fantasy world that
they only thought could exist in their dreams. In a sense, they’re right.
Excerpt:
I know that most
adventure/fantasy/whatever-you-would-like-to–call-these-stories start with
something magical, but my story starts with something ordinary, dreams. I’m talking
about the “I’m taking a test and don’t realize I’m in my underwear” kind of
dreams. We have them every night, whether we remember them or not. Sometimes
they leave us waking up with excitement or inspiration. Sometimes they cause us
to wake with a shriek and to look around our rooms. Sometimes they leave us
waking up confused or ashamed. These experiences are probably commonplace for
most people, but I doubt any of you could ever say your dreams caused you to
stay asleep for a long period of time.
What if your dreams made you
disappear?
Bio:
L. E. Fred is a perpetual dreamer who writes
about worlds both within and without this realm. With a degree in psychology,
L. E. Fred tends to get lost in the mind, the greatest adventure of all. L. E.
Fred is currently traveling the world, finding more adventures to inspire new
tales of dreams and beyond.
Social media links:
Buy Links:
ISBN:
978-1-62135-304-1
Q&A Answered Questions:
a.
Q: What inspired the creation of Lucid?
A: I started writing Lucid after experiencing my first lucid
dream. It’s a very out-of-body and surreal experience. We’re used to dreaming
every night, but being able to control your actions and fate in the dream world
is almost a magical thing. After figuring out how to wake up (yes, you have to
oftentimes find your way out of the dreams,) I started pondering the idea of a
dream world actually existing, and before I knew it, I had Devon and the plot
for Lucid.
b.
Q: You write from the P.O.V. of a 15 year-old boy. Is there
anyone who shaped Devon’s character as the protagonist.
A: A wonderful
counselor-in-training that I worked with actually inspired Devon’s character. Real-life
Devon, who shall be nameless, was one of those campers that turned into a CIT
when he outgrew the camp’s age groups. I never went to summer camp as a child,
so working at one was a very interesting experience. I got to witness real-life
Devon change from being a happy-go-lucky camper to a miserable CIT. As for
Devon’s personality, that was shaped by my own sense of humor. I wrote Lucid through Devon’s eyes, and my own
commentary sort of slipped through. It fit his sarcastic nature, though, and rereading
some parts still makes me laugh.
c.
Q: What about the villains? How did they come to be?
A: Ever since I can
remember, I’ve been fascinated by mythological monsters. There seems to be a
common thread of villainous snakes and lions. A chimera combines these two
deadly creatures, along with a goat, into one evil creature. I liked the idea
of having three diverse villains; the more you get to know a villain, the
scarier they can become for the reader and the heroes. As I wrote, Serpentine,
Gruff, and Leona, seemed to appear out of nowhere to fit the evil villain’s
roles. The Nightmares were a little trickier. I thought long and hard about how
they should be portrayed, and I eventually started combining features of
animals and creatures that people feared the most into one character. That’s
why they have shark teeth and devil horns.
d.
Q: Lucid is your first
novel. Are you currently working on anything else?
A: Since Devon and his
friends’ story didn’t want to finish at the end of Lucid, I’m currently working on the sequel. The story will continue
our heroes’ adventure, but you’ll get to hear from other characters in it. It
will also have much more of a fantasy element with an even crazier cast of
characters. Aside from Lucid, I’m
working on two more stories, both in the YA fiction genre.
e.
Q: What inspired you to write YA fiction?
A: I’m a teacher, so I
love working with young adults and teens. I’ve seen the power of books
transform kids’ ways of thinking about the world and boost confidence. Never
underestimate the power of reading. I know it played an important role in
shaping my future, and I hope to reach out to as many young adults to inspire
them to find their inner heroes and go change the world for the better.
Favorite 5s:
a.
5 favorite YA books/series
1.
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
2.
Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan
3.
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
4.
Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda
5.
A Series of
Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
b.
5 fun facts about the Lucid
crew.
1.
Devon’s favorite thing about the Dream World is the pink grass.
2.
Kyle is deathly afraid of insects. Devon hinted that his older
brother screams like a small child when they find roaches in their houses.
3.
Mitch, despite his love for water sports, is afraid of open
water. He saw JAWS one too many times
to trust the murky deep.
4.
Viv fights with Elis frequently, but she is secretly jealous of
his sword skills.
5.
Iven researched the history of human music (with the help of
Sophia.) His favorite tunes come from 15th century Gregorian chants
and 1980s pop.
REVERIE TEASER EXCERPT
Before
mankind could speak or think, he could dream. The world was black then, dark
shapes moving like monsters in even darker shadows. The earliest of humans were
afraid of the world. Everything was a threat; each nightfall brought the
unknown, which was scarier than the tangible terrors of the day.
Early
humans only had one goal and that was to survive. There was no time for
anything other than sleeping, eating, and taking care of the other humans so
that they could all live to see another day. The dreaming was not necessary for
physical survival, but it sparked the beginning of humans` ascent to higher
thinking. These early dreams brought refuge from the troubles of the real
world. They brought about wondrous places and magical scenes humans would never
experience in their own reality.
Within
that world, the humans met new beings, similar to themselves yet somehow more
whole and more magical. Since the humans met, or created as some later humans
tend to argue, these beings so like them in the dream world, the humans named
them Dreamers. This word itself was not a part of human speech, but it later
shaped the modern languages of today. The Dreamers were never wary of humans,
accepting them as their equals from another world without question. Together,
the Dreamers and humans expanded the dream world, making it as vast and far
much more interesting than the waking world.
The humans were proud of their creations.
Alongside the Dreamers, humans were able to create for pleasure instead of
necessity. From those pleasures, dark thoughts began to emerge. The humans,
oblivious to everything but building their own pleasures, did not realize the
darkness from their own hearts began to rest within and change the hearts of
the Dreamers. By the time the oblivious humans caught on, there were now two
distinct races born from the dream world: the Dreamers, which were their
friends, partners, and equals; and the Nightmares, which were their tormentors,
enemies, and corrupters.
For
some time, the Dreamers and humans continued working together, their creations
resembling less like whimsical architecture and more like protective fortresses
as they struggled to fend off thee encroaching Nightmares. The humans began to
question why they retreated from their world, with its dangers, to a world that
had even more threatening beings?
Some
humans, those who still saw the dream world as their own personal playgrounds,
decided that the Nightmares were not going to be the enemies of their dreams.
Instead, these humans decided that the Nightmares were just like Dreamers, only
more capable of creating the pleasures other humans and Dreamers deemed taboo.
These humans, in the dead of the night in the Dream world, slipped from their
fellow human and Dreamer allies and joined the league of darkness. Thus the
Lucids, the humans who build to destroy, were born. From then on, Lucids and
Nightmares have become the Dreamers enemies. Oftentimes, the Lucid humans
infiltrate the Dreamers` strongholds by use of trickery and kind words, but it
will always end in destruction and darkness.
Lucid humans are just as dangerous as Nightmares and more deceptive,
making them even deadlier. They will infiltrate the Dreamers` great city of Miragean,
promising to help build up our lovely land, only to tear it down from the
inside out. They are the true enemy of the Dreamers and must never be trusted.
