Saturday 15 June 2013

'Blog Tour 2013 - Delusion and Dreams by Maria Savva'


 
 Welcome to Maria Savva's Blog Tour31st May to 20th June.
 
It is an honour and a privilege to be part of this, Maria.

 
 
 
MARIA SAVVA
 

Maria Savva lives and works in London. She studied Law at Middlesex University and The College of Law. She is a lawyer, although not currently practising law. She writes novels and short stories in different genres, including drama, psychological thriller, and family saga. Many of her books and stories are inspired by her years working as a lawyer, although she has not written a courtroom drama to date. Her most recent novel is Haunted, a crime fiction/psychological thriller.

 
Over to you, Maria!

 
Thank you, Wendy,
 


My latest book is Delusion and Dreams, a collection of 12 new short stories. I’ve noticed that dreams are a recurring theme in my books (not intentionally), so I thought I would explore this and take a look at some of my stories and novels where dreams play a significant role.

 


 
 
In my first novel, Coincidences, Alice’s dream about a plane crash sets into motion a sequence of events that fuels her desire to be reunited with her father. You could say Alice was following her dream.

 
 
When I wrote Coincidences, I was quite influenced by Paulo Coelho’s book The Alchemist, which I’d read around that time. That book is all about following a dream. I wanted to write a book with a similar message, i.e. people should follow their dreams. Whether or not that comes across in the book is for my readers to decide.

There is a lot more to the story in Coincidences than just a girl and her dream, but it is the starting point for the novel, and my motivation behind writing it. I’ve always thought that dreams can guide us in our lives as well as forewarn. This may be because I often have dreams that turn out to be more like premonitions and this has coloured the way I see dreams and how they impact upon our lives.

 



In my family saga, A Time to Tell, the main character, Cara, has a dream shortly after she is reunited with her estranged sister, and feels as though that dream is conveying a message to her from a long lost but not forgotten friend from her past.

 









In my novel, Second Chances, dreams are used for comic effect and dramatic effect, and also to move the story forward. For example, there is a dream that James has that seems only too real until he wakes up, and there is a dream that Pamela has that almost opens her eyes to that fact that she still loves her estranged husband.



 
 
Those familiar with my work will also know that I have a novel called, The Dream. The dream that the title refers to is Lynne’s recurring dream/nightmare where she is forewarned not to marry Adam, the man to whom she is engaged. There is also a time slip/time travel element to this fantasy story, and the protagonist is not sure whether it’s a dream or reality.




 
 
So, as you can see, dreams play an important part in my writing. In my latest collection, Delusion and Dreams, there is one story that has a dream at its centre. Most of the stories in this collection, though, are more about the types of dreams we have in the daytime, i.e. our aspirations and wishes. There is also a lot of delusion involved. Hence the title.

 
I hope you’ll enjoy the stories!

 
Blurb:

Twelve stories of betrayal, greed, revenge, deception, dreams, and courage.
 We all struggle to find our way. What you see isn't necessarily all there is. This collection takes you into the grey area, because the world is never just black and white.
 Life is all about perspective. One person's delusion is another person's dream.
 
Includes five bonus stories.

Connect with Maria on her   Blog  where you'll find the next stop on her tour and all of her books  are listed there.
Also check out her Website
Facebook Page 
Twitter   

DELUSION AND DREAMS IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM
Amazon.com 
Amazon UK

Enter the GiveAway Competition

The prizes are a signed paperback and an e-book copy of Delusion and Dreams, also e-books from Darcia Helle, J. Michael Radcliffe,  Helle Gade and Wendy Laharnar. There are 6 prizes, so there'll be6 winners.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 comments:

Maria Savva said...

Thanks so much for being part of the tour, Wendy! x

Rosalie Skinner said...

Great post. Dreams are great to work into novels. They are one of the mysteries of life.
I imagine being involved in law gives you great insight for writing mysteries and thrillers. You seem to be able to cross genres without any effort. Kudos to you, Maria.
Wendy, another great blog post. Thanks for hosting such an interesting author. :)
Good luck with the blog tour Maria.

Maria Savva said...

Thank you for your kind comments, Rosalie!
I think you might be right about working in the law making me tend more towards mysteries and thrillers. I also think meeting so many people over the years with interesting stories to tell has helped me create realistic characters in my books and stories. Most of my writing is very character driven. I think all writers bring their own life experiences to their work, and when I was working as a lawyer I was in a privileged position where people were telling me things they wouldn't usually tell anyone. It's eye-opening and gives great insight into the human psyche.

Rosalie Skinner said...

Maria, It would be a great source of material for your novels. It is so important to get motivation and personality responses correct to create believable characters.
I look forward to reading your work.

Daisy Goddard said...

Love the journey so far with this beautiful story, thanks for sharing these amazing words with us.
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