Liddy Barron, an artist, was injured in a hit-and-run accident that left her with recurring nightmares, partial amnesia, and an increasing obsession in the disappearance of a coed named Sasha Perry. Was Sasha murdered? Insecure and nervous, Liddy's turmoil grows as she begins seeing ghostly images. Her husband Paul tries to help but suspects it's just her imagination...while intuitive Detective Kerri Blasco, also obsessed with young Sasha's disappearance, senses that Liddy may have a key to solving the case, and tries to unravel the shocking truth of what really haunts her.
FEAR DREAMS, released in March of 2016, is a standalone psychological thriller.
Joyce’s previous medical thriller series:
Embryo
Embryo 2: Crosshairs
Embryo 3: Raney & Levine
Embryo 4: Catch Me
Embryo 5: Silver Girl
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Website: http://jaschneiderauthor.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyceSchneider1
J.A.
(Joyce Anne) Schneider is a former staffer at Newsweek. Once a Liberal
Arts major (French Literature), she has become increasingly fascinated
with medicine, forensic science, and human psychology. Decades of being
married to a physician who loves explaining medical concepts and
reliving his experiences means that there'll be medical angles even in
"regular" thrillers that she writes. She lives with her family in
Connecticut, USA, and she loves to hear from readers...come say hi on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/7fm44mk
or Twitter - https://twitter.com/#!/JoyceSchneider1 or Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5832782.J_A_Schneider
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
- If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?
Ira
Levin (Rosemary’s Baby, The Boys From Brazil, Stepford Wives) Oh,
how I re-read this amazing author – for his brevity, his
astonishing ability to say so
much
– action & emotion - in few words. Plus, of course, his
amazingly original concepts!
One
of my most favorite, still-shocking, great scenes is in The Boys From
Brazil, where Lieberman, the aging, sickly Nazi hunter, finally gets
the chance to interview a female former wardress at Auschwitz, now in
a German prison. His sister died at Auschwitz! He’s waiting,
emotionally coming apart, for the woman’s lawyer to bring her from
her cell…and finally, the door opens, and the lawyer leads out a
small woman with “a disappointed mouth.” That’s
it!
The “disappointed mouth” gives the whole character – no need to
describe her gray and bent, her drab uniform, surroundings etc.
Imagine facing the end of your days with “a disappointed mouth.”
Harrowing. The rest of that scene is beyond brilliant; ditto the rest
of the book. Levin also works in humor in places where you won’t
believe you’re laughing, like…that prison scene? Lieberman asks
the wardress the birth date of her dead dog. Major plot point, also
funny…
Other
brilliant depictions are of Rosemary Woodhouse’s husband and oh so
well-meaning “friends.” Years after I’ve read and re-read
Rosemary’s Baby, every scene and gesture is so subtle, yet so
shocking.
- What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?
I
aim for noon to six. Mornings are for clearing the fogged brain,
going through & answering email, reading news, etc. I write
sprawled with my laptop & use Word on my MacBook Air. Love the
keyboard, how it just zooms.
- What is the hardest part of the writing for you?
The
first draft. Starting each day with the damned proverbial blank page.
I collect quotes by writers who give courage: David Baldacci’s “A
writer is always terrified.” Tess Gerritsen’s “Do you have the
guts to stay with it?” Stephen King’s “Flail away at the
goddamn thing!!” Like that. It helps, most days.
- When and why did you first start writing?
Wrote
poems & short stories as a kid. Majored in French Literature,
started writing stories imitating Stendahl’s The Red and The Black.
Then worked for Newsweek, wrote news by day and fiction at night.
Have always been scribbling away at something…
- How did you come up with the idea for your book?
The
idea for FEAR DREAMS came when I spent time with a close friend
crying, desperate that she was losing her mind. She wasn’t (she’s
okay), but I got to imagining a very bright, creative woman, whose
life and whole psychology is threatened after trauma. Can she hold
on? The story tells how even the most rational of us can end up
doubting our sanity.
- Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?
I’m
a compulsive reader. Reading and re-reading old favorites, including
Marathon Man, another all-time great thriller, by William Goldman
(who wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.) I do try to read
“best sellers” of today, mostly psychological thrillers - but
honestly, I feel that many are slow, bland; am still searching for
any that have Levin’s intensity.
- Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?
It
it really, really hard. Accept that. Hugh Howey says it best: “Look
at it as a marathon, not a sprint. My bestselling book was my eighth
or ninth. As soon as it took off, the rest of my books took off with
it. The idea that we can pub one title and it will catch on … your
odds are better that you'll rope a unicorn.”
Also,
see #3 above. Love and Luck to all…good luck roping your unicorn!!
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