Until now, I haven’t made a pre-order available so early, but so far I have also never written two books that were both based on dreams and both about the same characters. In November 2020 I had a dream about me battling flying metallic snakes, and when I woke up I immediately wrote it down. That gave rise to The Path of the Stone, a fantasy time travel to the early 18th Century, an adventure with harpies, pirates, and a witch, all in search of this powerful stone that can change their lives forever.
In May 2021 I published The Path of the Stone. It received a 5 star rating on Amazon. One of my prison pen pals also wrote a review in his email – since he obviously has no access to the internet – and he loved it. He told me that he didn’t want the story to end. Those words are a balm to my ears. Who doesn’t want to hear that about their work, right?
The Power of Dreams
All right, before I look like I’m praising my book a little too much, let’s talk about the prequel, The Rise of the Stone. A few weeks ago, in early September 2021, I had another dream that was pretty intense. When I woke up, I knew that I had to write it down, not knowing that this would lead to The Rise of the Stone. After writing the first page I suddenly realized that this was the back story of one of the characters in The Path of the Stone! I was writing the prequel.
I was baffled that both the main book and the prequel are based on two separate dreams, which I had about ten months apart. Wow, isn’t that unique? I really don’t want to appear like I’m blowing my own horn too much, but I can’t get over the fact that I had two dreams that led to this creation.
The Rise of the Stone
If you’d like to know more about The Rise of the Stone, here’s the synopsis:
This prequel tells us Azure’s story. Azure is the Queen of the Forest harpies who appears in The Path of the Stone as a major side character.
Her tale begins in Macedonia, in 809 BC, during her mortal days, and chapter 1 pretty much details my recent dream.
Bhava, Azure’s best friend, is marked to die. The scaffold is being prepared and the town’s female healers are lined up for execution. Soon, the authorities will be coming for Bhava, because she has healing powers and is therefore feared as a witch.
Unwilling to let this happen, Azure orchestrates a daring escape and saves Bhava’s life. Forced to leave town, they embark on a daring journey to Gaul where Bhava’s mother lives. The trip is not without its dangers, and as obstacles and attacks pile up, Azure quickly discovers that Bhava’s skills extend far beyond healing.
When they reach Gaul, the truth about Bhava is finally revealed.
Azure, having witnessed Bhava’s unpleasant changes during their journey, now watches her unite forces with Boudicca, her mother, a dark witch, and after Bhava’s final betrayal against Azure, she leaves her forever, not knowing that her own journey is only just beginning.
A village of harpies – Boudicca’s mortal enemies – awaits Azure, making her regret ever having saved Bhava’s life. Soon, all hell breaks loose, and Azure will have to go to extraordinary lengths to survive.
Characters
Besides Calliope, who was a favorite character with readers, witty Captain Green and his pirates also make an appearance in the novel. More about Azure’s and Green’s back story will be revealed.
Eva, Darryn, and Daniel are absent in this novel, since they live in the 21st Century, and The Rise of the Stone takes place in ancient times. In part 3 it moves up to the late 17th Century, Captain Green’s era.
Aeron and Zora also make a come back in The Rise of the Stone. Aeron plays a big role and you’ll see an entirely different version of him, not the evil fiend of The Path of the Stone, but the benevolent ruler of the harpies and his inevitable path to darkness.
The Stone and its creation is also an essential part of the story. Somehow, it’s a character too, even if it doesn’t speak, but it matters a lot to all creatures involved.
If you’d like to read the synopsis of The Path of the Stone, please click ==> here <==
Small Excerpt
Ora led me back to the harpies on the beach. They were still sitting in a circle. The sun was an orange fireball that sizzled over the ocean, ready to ascend to the sky. Golden and violet streaks bathed the fluffy clouds in glorious colors, providing us with a beautiful spectacle to behold. Nonetheless, all eyes were on me.
The harpies rose, staring at me in my full harpy form. Some seemed surprised at my survival, others held their hands over their mouths in shock, and a few looked mighty relieved. It was obvious that none of them had expected me to survive and I knew right then that this drastic turning procedure had been attempted before and failed.
“You are a miracle,” Bellisenda snorted.
“And that bothers you,” I retorted, knowing that she couldn’t hurt me anymore. She grunted in response and walked off, heading towards the water. She stood there, letting the sea cover her naked feet, and her back turned to us as if she was the one who needed a break and not I.
“Look at your hair,” one of the harpies said. I picked up a strand and moved it over my shoulder to see it. It had an intense blue color, sparkling like sapphires in the morning sunlight.
“It’s azure blue, just like your name,” Ora commented with a smile.
“It’s beautiful,” the other harpy said. Her yellow eyes gazed at me and her doll’s mouth curled into a grin, revealing her sharp teeth.
Additional Comments and a Discount 🙂
In my next post I will share another excerpt, this time it will be a part of chapter 1, the section that is based on the dream I had. I hope that you enjoyed this small excerpt for now.
The Rise of the Stone is available for pre-order. I am planning to release it in May 2022, exactly one year after I published The Path of the Stone.
The ebook will be available for $3.99, but when you pre-order before 16 May 2022 you can get it for $2.99. The paperback will be ready for pre-order soon too.
Thank you for reading this far and allowing me to share this news (and my dreams) with you 🙂
Hi, Christine! What a lovely article you have there. That’s a great book to look into. Thank you for sharing this information.
Keep up the good work!
Best,
Sinatsir
Thanks, Sinatsir!
You are a wonderful writer! I like your descriptions of the characters. Since these ideas came to you in a dream, it made me think of J.K. Rowling. Didn’t her ideas regarding the Harry Potter series come in a dream?
It’s amazing how dreams can really teach you things. When I was younger I had a dream about skiing. The next day I went skiing and was able to ski! Weird!
Good luck in your new book. I’ll check back later to see how it’s doing. I’m not that much of a reader of fantasy, but my son is. I’ll be sure to pass this along to him.
Nina
Hi Nina,
I don’t know if J.K. Rowling was inspired by a dream to write the Harry Potter series. I know a few other writers, though, who also wrote books that were based on dreams. Dreams can be wonderful, right? They can have messages, deep meanings, or even warnings. Your dream about skiing, and then the next day you went skiing, that’s beautiful 🙂
Thanks for recommending my book to your son!
I have not heard of this book series before, but I love both titles – “The Rise of the Stone” and “The Path of the Stone.” Are you publishing through KDP? I publish low-content books on Amazon KDP, but haven’t taken the time to write a book series. Love that the book is available as an ebook too! So convenient.
Hi Alicia,
Yes, I’m publishing through KDP. Their publishing tools are very helpful and user-friendly.
Thanks for your comment!
Wow, interesting. Dreams that evolved into books. I love it, and can relate.
It wasn’t so much a dream, but an impulse that woke me up one night and made me get out of bed. Seven pages of ideas for my first book poured out of me onto paper. It took a couple of hours and left me feeling confused.
Where did all this information come from? And why was I so driven to write it down? It then took another year before I finished it. Still unpublished 🙂 But that is ok as I now realize that it needs some additional work which I am not yet able to give it.
I love the way you are able to describe what you are imagining which such detail. I would love to be able to see things that clearly in my head and to be able to describe them.
I wish you well with your pre-orders 🙂
Hi Andrew,
Getting up in the middle of the night because we feel inspired to write something down is when we get some of our best writing done. I’ve done that too a couple of times. I hope that you’ll get your work published.
Thanks for your comment!
Christine
Hi Christine!
I definitely think you should toot your own horn! You put time and work into these books and for them to all come from dreams is really amazing. You should be proud. As someone who also has vivid dreams I totally relate to you needing to write them down. I use to keep a dream journal, but most of mine were nightmares and I gave up the journal because some I didn’t want to remember haha!
I really enjoyed your excerpt. I’m more of a YA novel reader myself but I do enjoy fae folk, pirates, witches and other beings of the fantasy world. I’ve added your books to my reading list! Do you know if you will ever publish physical copies?
Thanks!
Haley
Hi Haley,
I can imagine that you don’t want to remember your nightmares. Nightmares can be truly horrible, I’ve had a few of those too and I’d rather forget them as well.
I’m glad you enjoyed my excerpt, and thank you for adding my books to your reading list! 🙂
I will publish a physical copy when the manuscript for The Rise of the Stone is ready.
Thank you for your comment!
Wow, Christine, beautiful story! I know how it works in dreams. I can relate to it. It happened to me many times. This is a lovely story, and I believe many people will read it. You could make far more money for eBooks. Many people will indeed read the books and can’t stop until they are read. I will surely share it on social media!
I love the style, the words, the description of the people and situations, the things, the choice of the words, the names. It all sounds fascinating! I believe that people will love to dive into another time and have difficulties waking up again, finding themselves back in reality. Beautiful!
Thank you very much, Sylvia!
I would like to thank you for gathering such a good article together Christine. Congrats on your big success for your book which you published on Amazon and you got good results such as a 5 start. It is a big deal.
Wish you the best in the future.
Keep up the good work Christine.
Thank you! You mean, the five stars on the previous book, The Path of the Stone?
Well done Christine!
Talent is what you have got that you could craft the context of your dreams vividly into books. Only few people can do that and many writers with writers block would be green with envy. You also do it with a writing style that draws the reader in as if they were right there every step of the way as the story unfolds.
Hopefully, you can have several more books in the series by whatever mode they choose to come to you!
Ceci
Hi Ceci,
Thank you! I enjoyed writing both The Path of the Stone and The Rise of the Stone. I have never written books about harpies and pirates before but I love what came of my dream. I hope that it will reach many people.
Thank you for your comment!
This sounds very interesting! Regarding your friend’s review, you should be able to add it as an Editorial Review on Amazon: https://author.amazon.com/en_US/contact
Best Wishes!
Mel
Thanks, Mel! I’ll check about that 🙂
Great Excerpt.
I have Always had a Negative View of Harpies.
Due to The Scary Tales i have Read B4.
The Short Interactions show a KaleidoScope of Interactions.
Blessingz.
Hi Rique,
Yes, harpies are usually portrayed as “the bad guys” in myths and stories and my harpies aren’t cuddly either 😉 but they’re on the good side in this book. I always thought that they are great creatures for a fantasy story.
You made a prequel to your other book the path of the stone. We are readers and love to read new books. Have not read your fist one, when you read your words, I feel like I’m living the book and see everything.
The story plays in my head when I read your stories.
Cheers,
MnD
Hi MnD,
I hope you enjoy The Rise of the Stone – if you’re getting it 😉
Thanks for stopping by!
Aspiring writers, all across the land,
Come to https://write-topia.com to make their stand.
The Rise of the Stone is coming soon,
Prequel to The Path of the Stone.
Order your copy today!
For aspiring writers, there’s no other way,
To get your work in the hands of those who’ll pay.
So come to https://write-topia.com and make your stand,
And see your dreams become a reality.
Hi Julia,
Thanks for this poem! I love it 🙂
I love books with this kind of content and characters. I am definitely a future reader of your books.
It was also interesting to read how you came up with the ideas for these books, dreams are sometimes a really powerful medium for messages.
And just as how you set up these two books, you have a great starting point for many new stories and books. I, too, am one of those who fall in love with characters in great books and regret it when the book comes to an end. That’s why I love a series of books where you can follow your beloved characters through various adventures.
I wish you much success,
Nina
Thank you, Nina! I also tend to fall in love with some characters and sometimes I feel sad to come to the end of a book. I hope you enjoy The Rise of the Stone and thank you for becoming one of my readers 🙂 It means a lot to me 🙂