Welcome again to CentreStage! CentreStage showcases fantastic authors from around the world, often introducing fellow featured authors at loveahappyending.com as well as my fellow authors in the Sapphire Star Publishing family. On CentreStage, these authors might write for you about their lives, or their writing journey, or anything else that matters to them. Every feature will be different in format and flavour, so watch out for a variety of stories and tales.
Today, it is my great pleasure to welcome loveahappyending.com featured author Tricia Jones! Tricia has a truly amazing experience to share today, and I am reeling from the wonder and astonishment of it all: a truly magical moment. So, here goes Tricia with…
Perchance to Dream!
A few weeks ago, I took off for a girlie shopping weekend with a group of friends I meet up with once year. We all used to work together, but over the years have moved off in different directions/locations, yet have stayed in touch. I treasure the friendships. This trip I was room-sharing with one of my bestest bud girlfriends and we stayed up half the night chatting until sleep finally claimed us.
That night, I had a really lovely dream. I was sitting with my friend in the hotel’s conservatory which, in the way of dreams, actually wasn’t the hotel’s conservatory but yet it was. Still with me? Good. While we sat there relaxing, what looked like a really large wasp flew in through the open doors and landed on the floor a few feet away from us. As we watched, trying to decide if it actually was a wasp, it began to grow and soon morphed into a beautiful red creature that most definitely was not a wasp.
As we continued to discuss what it might be, the creature grew some more, stood up, and looked me straight in the eye. I had the most amazing feeling of wonder flow through me. My friend must have felt the same, because she didn’t say anything, and believe me when she’s quiet (even in dreams) you’ve got to believe there’s something seriously going on with her. The creature and I continued to stare at each other, then it flicked its beautiful tail and sauntered off through the open doors and into the hotel garden. It was then I realised it was a fox, a mummy fox to be exact now with a baby fox clinging to her. Again, she turned and looked at me. It was so beautiful, I felt my throat catch. Much too soon, she turned away again and disappeared into the bushes.
In the manner of dreams, I promptly forgot the experience on waking. All of us girls met up for a long, leisurely breakfast before hitting the shops. Then it was lunch, more shopping, a few tearful goodbyes and my friend and I began the drive home. We did the usual recap of the weekend as we drove; recounting laughs shared, items purchased, food eaten, alcohol consumed, etc. While I always enjoy our annual get-together, I mentioned to my friend how extra special the weekend had been, with some particularly lovely moments and memories we all shared. From nowhere came the memory of that dream, and I started to mention it to my friend when she began to recount her own dream – a dream about a fox complete with clinging baby!
We had to stop the car as we both felt quite shaky, having experienced a woo-woo moment. We traded further memories of the dream and, while the details were different, the gist was the same. Extraordinary. Mind boggling. We considered that perhaps one of us had mentioned the dream that morning and it had somehow got lodged in that part of the brain that scrambles reality, but seeing as neither of us had recalled the dream on waking, it hardly seemed plausible.
So, how do we explain it? Coincidence? Shared collective consciousness? Astral travel? My husband has his own theory and thinks it the result of too much chocolate and wine consumed the night before. Me? Well, I looked up an online dream dictionary and apparently to dream about a fox represents insight and resourcefulness, prompting the dreamer to exhibit more of those qualities in everyday life. Hmm, well maybe. Another theory states that to dream of an animal with a baby/cub represents a need to nurture the dreamer’s maternal/feminine qualities. This might be a possibility, seeing as we’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of our next guide dog puppy to foster J and I’m desperately in need of some serious puppy love. But whatever else the dream might represent, for now I’m happy to put it down to an enchanting experience shared with a special friend, representing the close and precious nature of our friendship. That’ll do for me.
Tricia
Tricia, what an amazing experience. I am totally enthralled. How extraordinary that you could share this dream with your friend; that’s really special! Now, then, tell us more about you?
Tricia Jones, Author!
More about me… ok, here goes. I write contemporary romance with strong, sexy heroes who like their own way and heroines who enjoy making them sweat.
The settings for my stories are real places-although names have been changedto protect the innocent-and I love checking out those places first hand, especially if they happen to be in France or Italy. I have been known to check out potential hero material amongst those Mediterranean males…well, a girl’s only human.
Hear, hear! I am with you all the way. Tell us about your current novel: I bet it has a gorgeous, hunky male lead?
Bull at the Gate
Alexander “Bull” McKinley’s reputation as a hard-nosed businessman is tested when an old Fairy Gate and local superstition stand in the way of a lucrative development contract. Alex has his hands full trying to convince the villagers to play ball, without the unexpected—and definitely unwanted—attraction to the feisty redhead leading the revolt.
Dee Ashman detests those who put profit before people, and she’s damned if an arrogant, insensitive and, okay, wildly attractive capitalist is going to destroy the symbolic heart of the village and break her beloved grandmother’s heart.
But they cannot deny the desire that burns between them nor the unleashed passion neither can resist.
Fabulous! You can buy Bull At The Gate on Amazon. Find out more about Tricia on her website or her blog. Tricia is also on Twitter and Facebook and welcomes your visit!
Thanks, Tricia, for introducing yourself, your book and… your dream. This is question time for the readers. Have you ever, ever had an experience like Tricia’s? And how do you explain it?
Nicky Wells: Love & Thrills 