Writing "The Book of Dreams" a part of the Paranormal Canadiana Collection by Dean Hovey

 My first mystery was published in 2000, followed by 43 others. The Doug Fletcher series continue to be among my publisher's best sellers. When my publisher and I discussed writing a paranormal book, I was intrigued, but also uneasy. After several email discussions, I suggested that I write a paranormal set in Nunavut, using that opportunity to deal with the dangling thread left at the end of "Bad Omens:Nunavut" when my protagonist makes a decision on his life's direction.

Based on the characters and location suggested by John Wisdomkeeper, I took Peter Pokaik back to Nunavut. He's married Connie, his high school sweetheart, and they are dealing with the death of his father-in-law. The book opens several years earlier with an attack on Connie's mother. As the scene closes, she curses her attackers, telling the leader he will "burn in hell."

We jump ahead to Connie (Kootoo) Pokaik taking leave from her radio broadcasting job to sort her father's estate. In the course of clearing out her childhood home, Connie discovers a dusty book that's warm to her touch. The book, hand-written long ago, suggests the meaning of dreams.

Over the course of the following days, Connie and Peter begin to discover the book's power and Connie's newfound ability to actually interpret dreams. This discovery makes them question the unsolved death of Connie's mother and whether she had been interpreting dreams, and possibly more. With the help of an RCMP Special Constable, they learn the fate of her mother's attackers.

By visiting with Hanta, an Inuit shaman who'd been introduced in "Bad Omens", they learn how to use Connie's newfound abilities, but also learn there's a downside to the use of her powers.

I drafted the first chapter and asked myself if I could do justice to the story. Within days, Peter and Connie were speaking to me. Hanta took on life and I felt like John Wisdomkeeper was channeling that character. 

When I finished the first draft, I took a deep breath and sent a copy to my daughter, who is into paranormal books. Because of her busy work schedule, it took her weeks to open the book. Once she started reading, she finished it in two days. I received a text, "Dad, this is the best book you've ever written.

If you're curious about what happened to Christopher Pokaik after "Bad Omens", or into paranormal books, I encourage you to pick up a copy of "The Book of Dreams" from Amazon or your favorite retailer when it's published next year.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dean-L.-Hovey/author/B00J78JMLY