Saturday, April 5, 2014

Scene Spotlight: DREAM DOCTOR by J.J. DiBenedetto



“I didn’t expect to be woken up by someone I don’t know dreaming about killing somebody.  I thought I was done with that once and for all…”
But Sara’s not done with it.  As if adjusting to life as a newlywed and starting medical school weren’t difficult enough, she’s started seeing the dreams of everyone around her, again.  Before everything is said and done, those dreams might destroy Sara’s hopes of becoming a doctor, wreck her marriage and even end her life…
“Dream Doctor” is the thrilling second novel in the Dreams series.

Publisher: Self
Date Publisherd: March 20, 2013
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Suspense
Word Count: 88,000

Buy links: 


The Scene
 

Sara is in her living room, but she knows immediately that this isn’t her dream.  She sees Brian sitting on the small loveseat, watching a baseball game on their tiny TV but she can tell that it isn’t his dream either.  She’s confused - whose dream is it?

The doorknob turns, the door opens, and the answer is revealed: Barbara from next door.  Barbara the tall and attractive law student, who’s currently wearing a bathrobe and – Sara is absolutely certain of this – nothing underneath it.

“Your wife’s not here,” Barbara coos as she approaches Brian.  He says nothing, shows no reaction at all.  “You don’t want to do anything that would hurt her.  I admire that, you know.  That’s how a real man ought to act,” she says, stepping between him and the TV. 

Sara smiles as Brian continues to not react to her, except for tilting his head to see past her to the TV.  She does not smile when Barbara sighs, takes Brian’s head in her hands and forces him to look at her.  “You are a good man.  But you’re only human,” she says, and then, letting go of him, she unties her robe and lets it fall to the floor…


***


“Get out of my room, you whore!”  I hear myself shouting at someone, but who?  There’s nobody here.  Brian’s in the shower, I can hear the water going.  And why would I call him a whore?  That makes no sense.

Not Brian.  I was dreaming.  I saw – God, I saw Barbara!  The woman who lives next door to us.  The married woman who lives next door to us.  I saw her dream.  And she was dreaming about seducing Brian.  “Whore” is far too good a word for her.

She's dreaming about my husband.  My husband!  Who the hell does she think she is?  She's got her own husband!  She should be dreaming about him, not Brian.  Granted, I think her husband is an ass and I’m pretty sure she does too, but still.  She can't have mine!

This is very strange.  I can't remember ever feeling jealous like this before.  But then again, before Brian I never had anybody worth being jealous over.  I know this is completely irrational.  I have nothing whatsoever to worry about.  I'm in his heart and I always will be.  Me and nobody else.  Especially if last night was anything to go by. 

Still, I’m going to keep a close eye on her.  And if she so much as puts a hand on him, I'll cut her heart out.  I know how to do it, too.   I’ve been reading ahead - the instructions are right there in Grant's Dissector. Page 75. 

I think I’ll mark the page with a post-it note.  Just in case.

J.J. explains what's happening in the scene:

This scene takes place about midway through the book.  Sara has been slowly getting used to life as a medical student and a newlywed, as well as coping with the return of her strange gift (or curse) – the ability to visit other people’s dreams, which she really can’t control.

In this scene, Sara steps into the dream of her nextdoor neighbor, Barbara.  Sara and her husband are living in the married-students’ dorm, and law-student Barbara and her husband live next door.  In previous chapters, we’ve seen that Barbara’s husband is, to put it charitably, not much of a prize.  Sara has seen his dreams as well, and those did not endear her to him, either. 

In this scene, Barbara is dreaming about Sara’s husband, and when Sara wakes up and realizes what she just saw, she is overcome with jealousy, really for the first time in her life.  Here’s this married woman, who also happens to be gorgeous, having a seductive dream about her husband! 

Casting Call:
Name: Sara Alderson
·         Physical Description: 5’2 or so, curly brown hair, piercing green eyes, not much figure to speak of.
·         Short bio: Medical student, newlywed, bookish, shy (although less so than in the first book; she’s coming out of her shell), very smart, able to see other people’s dreams.
·         3 Positive Personality Traits: Compassionate, always willing to help, loyal to a fault.
·         3 Negative Personality Traits: Prone to overreaction, very dense when it comes to interpersonal relations, tends to overextend herself.
·        
Name: Brian Alderson
·         Physical Description: 5’11 or so, short, dark hair, brown eyes, slim.
·         Short bio: College student, newlywed, as shy as his wife (again, though, much less so since the first book).
·         3 Positive Personality Traits: Will protect the people he loves, no matter the circumstances; very patient; hard-working
·         3 Negative Personality Traits: Nervous, overprotective, inexperienced.
·
Name: Barbara Stewart
·         Physical Description: 5’7”, long blonde hair, blue eyes, great figure.
·         Short bio: Law student in a crummy marriage, older than her husband (mid-late 20’s).
·         3 Positive Personality Traits: Empathetic, hard-working, book-smart.
·         3 Negative Personality Traits: Awful judgment about men, anger-management problems, few scruples about going after someone else’s husband.

J.J. sharess what he really loves about the scene:
This is probably my favorite scene in the book; it’s definitely the funniest.  The entire book is about Sara dealing with new challenges and new experiences that she thought she was prepared for, but, as she quickly discovers, she’s not (medical school, facing death, keeping professional secrets, being a newlywed, etc.).  And in this scene, Sara cones face to face with something she’s never really felt – or had any reason to feel: jealousy, because another woman is interested in her husband.

Sara’s reaction is completely over the top; she really has no idea how to deal with this emotion, or the situation that’s causing it.  And even though she’s 23 years old and has been through a lot, she’s still has some growing up to do.  So when she’s faced with the evidence that her (tall, blonde, gorgeous) next-door neighbor is dreaming about seducing her husband, she totally freaks out. 

What makes it funny is that her reaction is so crazy, and by this point, the reader knows that Barbara, the next-door neighbor, isn’t any threat at all to Sara’s marriage, and once Sara gets hold of herself, she’ll understand that herself and realize how ridiculous her worries and her reaction are.

Author Bio:
J.J. (James) DiBenedetto was born in Yonkers, New York. He attended Case Western Reserve University, where as his classmates can attest, he was a complete nerd. Very little has changed since then.
He currently lives in Arlington, Virginia with his beautiful wife and their cat (who has thoroughly trained them both). When he's not writing, James works in the direct marketing field, enjoys the opera, photography and the New York Giants, among other interests.
The "Dreams" series is James' first published work.
Twitter: @jjdibenedetto

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for featuring me!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks James. It's great having you here today! Thank you for sharing your story with my readers. :)

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