The Dream Factory: Alice Kennedy

I realized that I told you all about Katrina, but I had never talked about the lady who kicked off The Dream Factory series, Alice Kennedy!

Many (many) years ago, as a teenager, my family frequented a local costume shop, as one does. I thought it was the most magical place I had ever been and I yearned to run a shop like that, full of fabric, color, makeup, and other creative tools.  The smell of clothing and high quality, theatrical makeup were balms to my young soul. These were the days before those cheap, nasty costumes in plastic bags, so everything looked gorgeous.

I had put that dream aside, but every so often, I would start a story about something amazing in a costume shop. It wasn't until I approached the magical Shea MacLeod to co-write it that I was able to find the real story.

Meet Alice Kennedy. My gorgeous young woman who needed to a chance to escape her family and discover what her real talents were. Last time, I talked about the keywords we use to get a feel for the theme and character of a new novel. Here are Alice's:

lavish, lush, color, adornment, whimsy. Beauty brings peace of mind, fashion makes a difference, fertility, creativity, conservation, fear, lush, fantasy, inner selves vs outer personas, dry, drought, depression, hard-time, care-worn, dusty, dry, clean, sparkling, rules, rebellion.

Her Motto: We need bread and roses.

Alice came into the sad town of Gold Coast, Illinois, and brought it to life. She is living her dream, and in many ways, she is living my dream, too. How wonderful is *that*?


 

 

Yum, yum, yum.

Almond Flour scones. Perfect for eating and reading together.

 

While I was cooking, might as well make almond shortbread with chocolate.

These were super yummy. :)

Of course, after publishing a book about a bakery, I had to do some baking.

And eating. :) 

Buy links: 

Where to buy
My Web Store
Amazon 
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Apple

Where *can* you find my books?

 

Links? 

You bet!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

Kobo 

Apple Books 

Scribd 

Vivlio

 

The Cafe of Hopes and Dreams: Katrina Kennedy McPherson

When Shea MacLeod and I were writing The Dream Factory, the first book in this series, we knew that we wanted Alice's older sister, Katrina to be the heroine of the second book.

Poor Katrina, trapped by her own fears and the inertia of not living her dreams. We introduced her in Book One as the frustrated big sister. By the time she showed up at The Thing at the end of The Dream Factory, we knew she had to escape the trap she had built for herself. First thing, we had to know what her key words were (It's a librarian thing. It's hard to explain). It's a way
for us to decide on theme and what our focus will be. Here are Katrina's (and Book Two's) keywords:

Freedom, escape velocity, sweetness of life, rising, silky, lightness, savor, relax, focus, starvation, satiation, completion, contentment, delicious, delicate, scent, fruit, fortification, and strengthening.

We also searched for images of what we thought she looked like. This picture really caught her tender interior and her bruised soul.

Once we had her words, we could figure out what she really needed and what she wanted. Fortunately, figuring all that out took lots of delicious baked goods. :)

Also, it took a lot of going over and over practice LSATs. That absolutely proved to everyone that law school was NOT in the near future.

Writing Katrina's story really helped us cope with being stuck at home. Shea and I could imagine the scents of roses and freshly baked cake wafted over the small town of Gold Coast.

It was such a pleasure to get to know our heroine. I hope you enjoy Katrina's story too!

The Cafe of Hopes and Dreams: The Dream Factory series, #2

I just released a BRAND NEW BOOK! 

Shea and I finished the sequel to The Dream Factory and it is now live on all ebook retailers. We are dancing all over the place and drinking champagne to celebrate. We love this book so much. 

***

 

Katrina Kennedy McPherson used to have dreams. Her ambition was to become an attorney and prosecute deadbeat dads. But Life had other plans for her; like a withdrawn husband and a less-than-exciting accounting career.

Always practical, Katrina never questioned how her life turned out. That is, until the night she arrived in the small town of Gold Coast, Illinois, to drag her sister Alice back home.

Confronted by her own unhappiness, Katrina chooses to search for her joy instead. Problem is, her old life will come calling, determined to drag her back under, just as she tried to drag away her sister. Fortunately, she’s got her sister, a ghost, a town full of quirky characters, and an obsession with cake to help her untangle her true calling.

Escape into the magic of The Café of Hopes and Dreams in this heart-warming, feel-good story of a woman meant to change not just her life, but the lives of everyone around her.