Having Nightmares At 33 - Also, Lottery ARC Has Arrived!!!

Allow me to sound like a small child for a moment:

I had nightmares last night. Seriously. From a book, no less.

The last time I read a scene in a book that gave me nightmares was the group shooting scene in The Stand. In that scene, a group of black soldiers had captured a group of white soldiers, and they had their dogtags in a giant bingo/lottery wheel setup. They’d pick a dogtag at random, and call the victim down to be executed in front of everyone. It really was a chilling scene, and it has stayed with me all these years.

Before that, Crichton’s Jurassic Park gave me nightmares. I read that one as soon as it came out in paperback waaaay back in…91? 92? I don’t remember. I think I was 18. I kept dreaming about velociraptors in my bedroom, watching me, studying me, wanting to know as much as they could about me before they tore me to shreds. I dunno, there’s just something chilling about dying in such a way. Being eaten, I mean. You know it can’t be personal, but I think that’s the problem. Just nature. Cold, cruel, and crimson.

In any case, those two books are the only ones that have ever given me nightmares in my adult life. It’s hard to scare me with a book or movie because the entire time I know it isn’t real, and that’s where the amusement comes in. I’m 33, and I would have to say I have been reading adult fiction for about 23 years, ever since I picked up a book of my dad’s about some albino guy who rolled around and killed people. In all that time, only those two books have ever caused me to lose sleep.

Until last night.

I have to add a new book to my ultra-creepy list. Ancestor. Yup. Scott Sigler again. I am only about halfway through the book, but last night I read a scene that came back to me at 3 am and pulled me out of bed. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who might be reading this now or plans to read it in the future, but it involves a mammalian fetus doing things it shouldn’t be doing and being far more aware of it's environment than is normal...or natural.

Now, this sort of thing is very subjective, and what wakes me up at 3 am might not bother anyone else at all. But it sure worked for me. I saw that darn fetus in its pink and white prison and…well…that’s all I’m gonna say. Sooper Creepy. I’ll post a better review of the book when I finish it, hopefully in the next few days.

On another note, I received my ARC of Patricia Wood’s Lottery in the mail yesterday. YAAAAY!! I wasn’t one of the lucky ones to receive one the old fashioned way, so I had to snag one from ebay (Pat knew all about it, folks – she even sent me a link to one via email). I missed the first two that came up on ebay, but I got the third one. I also have a pre-order with Amazon for the hardcover (gotta support other authors, after all). I’m so anxious to read it I can barely stand it. Pat has promised to sign it for me if I like it (“if.” Her word, not mine. How do you like that modesty, eh?). I’m looking forward to this read, too. As with Ancestor, I’ll post a review when I finish the book.

On a final note, I have to say that Pat is one of the nicest people I’ve met since I started writing and looking up writer’s resources online, and that is saying something because I’ve met a lot of very nice folks. It never ceases to amaze me how some people are so giving of their time and experience. Just goes to show that kindness isn’t dead, despite what you see on the news every day. If you get a chance to visit her blog, you should definitely go. In addition to her valuable insights, she takes amazing pictures! The link is posted to the right.

What are you waiting for? Go. :)

Adios!