Behold: a New Year yawns!

Welcome to the first blog post of this new year of 2014 --at least on one particular variety of calendar. The numbers are, as they have always been, rather arbitrary, anyway. I trust you and yours and theirs (and perhaps ours) had a satisfactory year past and are fully recharged and plugged in to the latest of technological socialization media, ready to honor thy corporate sponsors as any good consuming citizen should. Ah, such a turn of hours! We are not amused.

In any case, the first thing to communicate after the obligatory New Year greeting ("Hi, hope your year goes splendidly for you and no bad things happen!"), is the necessity to log into one's blog frequently enough that the blogger does not forget the log-on information. I have succeeded, apparently. Lucky guess. Blessed be the Post-It notes stuck inside the printer unit.

Now, how to begin a new year that is still fresh enough to be full of promise and potential? 

I could outline plans to publish and market the next volume of the Dream Land series. [Ooo, but I did that already! Yes, THE DREAM LAND trilogy is fully mature and available for Kindle and paperback via the great Amazon marketplace.] What more could be needed? I suppose I could start packing on miscellaneous information about the worlds and their cultures and languages, as aids to readers. 

Or I could blog relentlessly about events in the real world. But I am certain you all get far too much of the real world. I have no doubt that from me you expect to get fantasy, or as it is often called, virtual reality. Perhaps I could make the claim that the real world is, in fact, fantasy and vice-versa. It's the vice-verse which ultimately thrills us.

As the new year begins in the spring on Ghoupallesz--as it also did in ancient times on Earth when the zodiac system came to fruition--we can look forward to fertility rituals and fecundity of natural productivity. The start of the baseball season also comes to mind. Three strikes and flying balls. Everyone full of joy of vivre. Certainly there is no winter to be concerned about there.

However, as the planet Ghoupallesz does not tilt to the same degree the Earth does, the seasons are not as varied as they are on Earth in the temperate zones. Hence, the northern latitudes see less change in the summer and temperate zones tend to stay similar across half the year. There is autumn country and there is spring country. Unfortunately for those affected, there is also winter country and in desert areas also some kind of a summerland.

As for the real world (Ye shall know it by thy tax burden!), it remains varied as usual, neither immersed in the depths of a raging winter nor squeaking by with a mild, late autumn sensibility. Spring flourishes ever onward. And I, the humble blogger, shall find worthy topics of breadth and depth and width and height about which to muse rapturously and thusly share them forthwith to all. 

I love the smell of purple prose verbosity in the morning, don't you? 

Until next time, do be sure to make a tally and assure that you have not lost more than a bare minimum of your annual allotment of jelly beans. The seven gods and nine goddesses would not be pleased.


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(C) Copyright 2010-2014 by Stephen M. Swartz. All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog, whether text or image, may be used without me giving you written permission, except for brief excerpts that are accompanied by a link to this entire blog. Violators shall be written into novels as characters who are killed off. Serious violators shall be identified and dealt with according to the laws of the United States of America.

Having Dreams about the Reality of Dreams

Some bloggers blog about life in their lives. Amazing lives they lead, where everything goes right or everything is a maze of frustration and confusion. Blogs about the writing life, the editing life, the life of the well-published author-about-town, the hell of grammar and the pit of typo sins. Blogs about dogs, cats, rabbits, zombies, vampires, and tacos. Blogs advertising pet projects, pets, or projects related to advertising. Or blogs doing double-duty as typing exercises. And then there are blogs which purport to offer wisdom, trendy trends for trendsetters, or fashionable fashion advice. Or blogs in which the blogger attempts with all sincerity to demonstrate just how utterly clever he/she can be with wordplay, rhetoric, and the dance of fingers lightly across a keyboard. The possibilities are endless.

An artist's [mis]conception of an interdimensional doorway.
Actual tangential doorways are not generally visible.

And then there is the Dream Land, a topic for which many have confessed confusion, consternation, or constipation. It is perhaps my fault. I have walked the fence between keeping it mysterious and letting it all hang out. Well, I don't like being kept in the dark past dawn, either. So allow me to answer your questions and alleviate any fears you may have by attempting to incorporate all current blog themes into a single post. (By the way, the Earth is not scheduled for destruction any time soon, so you have plenty of days and weeks to read all of your favorite books!)

Is the Dream Land a story of people who dream?

Kinda, in a way, it is. People do dream and they often remember them when re-entering a conscious state. Sometimes people are driven to act or refrain from acting based on what occurred in that dream. Thus, the aspect of dreams and dreaming referenced in The Dream Land  is no greater than that of real life. Said another way, "In space, no one can hear you dreaming!"

Is the Dream Land a science fiction novel?

Because humans function better when items are classified, I have been compelled to likewise assign a category to this book. Therefore, a long list of characteristics have been compiled from its pages and then cross-referenced with the ten most typical texts of the genre. A positive correlation of 72% was found. Thus, most people most of the time would consider The Dream Land to be a science fiction novel.

Is the Dream Land an epic fantasy tale?

There are some readers, well versed in the fantasy literature, and others who are well-versed in the science fiction literature who have doubts about its classification. The degree of science embodied in its pages is less than many other works labeled as science fiction. For that reason, the Dream Land could be labeled as epic fantasy. Given the scope of two worlds and the universe between them, given the range of years covered, and given the size of the refrigerator used by the cast and crew, it certainly could be called 'epic' and 'fantasy'.

Is the Dream Land an example of Steampunk culture?

As the adventures occur in settings of a global society prior to modern science, much of the cityscapes and transportation devices are typical of those in Steampunk literature. There are airships, for example; yet designs for jet aircraft exist but are deemed too harmful to the environment to be allowed into production. The architecture reflects a more decadent world view. The citizens are equally conscientious of fashions which, to the eyes of many readers, resemble those of Steampunk culture.

Is the Dream Land a scientific manual on interdimensional travel?

In some ways it is. There are descriptions of entrance and exit, a listing of symptoms of "voyager" disorder, and certain specifications on quantum physics. However, these items were recorded by lay people and so do not hold up to the rigor of scientific inquiry. In fact, the principle recorder, while an avid voyager himself and trained in physics, prefers to focus on the human effects of interdimensional travel rather than the causes and connections.

Is the Dream Land a memoir of a select few interdimensional voyagers?

It certainly could be considered that way. The volume includes descriptions of many encounters a few voyagers experienced during their careers as interdimensional voyagers. However, no attempt has been made to be all-inclusive or to present the information in any organized manner other than to mention the highlights of major trips. The details are left to the reader's imagination and scientific record in local archives.

Is the Dream Land something scribbled on a legal pad in the dark upon awakening from a nocturnal drama?

Critics have made the claim that the Dream Land is something less than literary. The most critical of these reviewers accuse the authors and other contributors of engineering a hoax whereby readers may believe they too can travel interdimensionally via "tangential" transfer points. The science supports the possibility but also the rarity of such locations. Those interested in interdimensional travel are urged to contact one of the participants via the Tangential Books link in the book. In addition, plans are underway to produce a stage play enabling an audience to experience the interdimensional travel tangentially through song and dance.

Is the Dream Land real?

Even the ephemeral is real. In as much as a thought is a biological activity where electrical pulses leap from neuron to neuron, a place based on a dream state may be presumed to be un-real. Yet in its state of un-reality it is itself a real entity. In other words, the abstraction of the dream is marked as a noun, a thing of invisible existence rather than mere rhetorical hyperbole. The idea of a dream is real; hence the dream itself is real. Reality is based not solely upon the physical tangibility of a thing. Furthermore, one person's dream may yet be another person's reality, and vice-versa.

Is reality a dream or is dream a version of reality?

Yes.


Those who wish to know more are encouraged to study further and make inquiries of the main text via Amazon.com and other fine interdimensional nodes.

Disclaimer: The interdimensional travel you undertake is subject to your own intelligent choices; participants in The Dream Land project accept no responsibility or liability for what may occur by following what may on surface seem to be viable instructions for interdimensional travel yet which are actually limited to a traditional form of literary entertainment intended for the couch-bound or various electronic readership devices. If success should occur, handle with utmost caution.


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(C) Copyright 2010-2013 by Stephen M. Swartz. All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog, whether text or image, may be used without me giving you written permission, except for brief excerpts that are accompanied by a link to this entire blog. Violators shall be written into novels as characters who are killed off. Serious violators shall be identified and dealt with according to the laws of the United States of America.

A Love Letter to the Dreamers

Dear Reader of this blog,

I've missed you. How have you been? Enjoying your summer? Or has your schedule remained the same, hashing through the daily slog of a job that does not quite suit your mental verve or skill set? I've been there, done that. My guess is that you get by through a combination of avocational misadventures and a certain portion of dreaming, both day and night. I sure hope you've been having good dreams.

It's interesting (sometimes) to contemplate dreaming. Of course, that's very much the theme of my major work, but I've sworn to myself not to promote my science-fiction trilogy today. (What's it called? Can't remember. See? No promotion today.) But seriously, as you go about your weekly routine, do you ever think about a dream you've had? I mean the nightly dream; ever wonder what it meant or is supposed to mean?--if you believe in that sort of thing. I tend to have a lot of dreams in which I am traveling, usually lost in a strange city, or alternately finding my way around a large unfamiliar house, checking every nook and cranny, peeking in cabinets. But that's just me.

And there's the other kind of dream, the kind they write songs about: Don't give up on your dream, la la la!  Well, I'm pushing 39 again (lost count how many times that's happened) and I still haven't decided what my dream is. Yes, that kind of dream: what you want to do with your life, what goals you want to achieve, what you want to be known for after you are gone. I think back to the dead music composers, authors and poets, painters, even the generals, statesmen, famous women, and the unnamed teachers who gave a simple idea to an unremarkable youth who grew up to bend the world to his/her will--those people--and I wonder what their dreams were. I suppose that because we remember them today, for better or worse, they managed to achieve their dreams.

You know, it seems the question I am asked most (that is, after "What, you're still here?") is what I really mean by the "dream land"--whether socio-scientific concept or mere writing gimmick. I recently had an experience which provides fodder for explanation: I traveled for a week. Nothing special about hitting the road and just going somewhere to see what's there. However, upon returning home, everything is the same. After a deep sleep, I awakened and the thing that occupied my attention for the past week now seems like only a dream I had. The only way to prove I ever went on a trip are the souvenirs I purchased ("souvenir" means 'something by which to remember') and the photographs I took. Nothing more. (Sure, U.S. Customs probably has an electronic record of my passage, if you want to check.)

So...if I were a character in a novel and I had various adventures, say, on another world, and then I returned home, it all might seem like a dream when I awoke from a good sleep. A little confusing, certainly. But that's the concept behind the feeling of remembering something that may or may not have happened in reality, or seemed just as real as reality in a dream, that is remembered as a real event even though it was only a random biochemical surge between 3:17 and 3:21 in the morning while you were quite unconscious yet dreaming of a greater purpose to your life than what you are doing these days for which you need all that precious sleep.

It's probably deep into the week by now, so I wish you well, and hope that whatever you do in the time remaining before the weekend, you do with honor and purposefulness. Someone will remember what you did, and that someone may very well be you. Or your dream-self.

Yours always,
Stephen

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(C) Copyright 2010-2013 by Stephen M. Swartz. All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog, whether text or image, may be used without me giving you written permission, except for brief excerpts that are accompanied by a link to this entire blog. Violators shall be written into novels as characters who are killed off. Serious violators shall be identified and dealt with according to the laws of the United States of America.