I’m not a usually fan of scary movies. Nor am I a fan of scary books. Cause here’s the thing: THEY’RE SCARY. And I don’t like the feeling of being scared. So it’s a little odd that I actually sat down and thought to myself, “Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to write a scary, suspenseful, young adult thriller?”

But I’m like that. Unpredictable. Perhaps even a little crazy. And at the time, I thought I’d be writing the book for teens, and would be able keep the scary to a minimum and really focus on the characters and romance.

But as I was writing that book, which became A Sleep So Dark, the need to make it more suspenseful–and more scary–grew. And as the book got more and more scary, I started to freak myself out.

Seriously.

A Sleep So Dark is about dreams. Nightmares, to be precise. And becoming lucid in dreams and nightmares so you can control their outcome. This is a real therapy technique they are using with veterans and other people suffering from PTSD. Teach them to become lucid in their dreams, so instead of it suffering from nightmares, they can turn their dreams into something positive.

Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, all the research I did on becoming lucid in dreams just freaked me out more. I started to get scared to fall asleep, because I worried that I would become lucid but not be able to wake up. And what could be more awful than being trapped in a lucid dream?

Suffice to say, this book was tough to write. But it was incredibly fun to write something totally different than I ever have before. And in doing so, I discovered that I do enjoy scaring myself–I just happen to do it by sending myself headlong into new projects, pushing my boundaries, and forcing myself to grow as an artist. And this was definitely a book that did all of those things.

(And, to be honest, I threw in some romance, a hot guy, and kissing. Because those are my favorite parts.)

So here’s the really amazing thing. I assumed no one would actually be scared by my book. But according to the reviews, A Sleep So Dark is “weird but wonderful…full of chills, thrills, and suspense…” And “a scary nightmare of a story with murder, mayhem, and a unique element of the supernatural…”

Which makes me glow with pride–I did it! I managed to not only get over my fear of writing about scary stuff, I managed to create something new and suspenseful along the way! Whee!

To celebrate this accomplishment, and with Halloween just a few days away, I’m giving away a signed printed copy of A Sleep So Dark. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what scares you!

UPDATE: We have a winner! Ruthi Kight, congratulations!You’ll be hearing from me via email. Thanks so much to everyone for sharing your darkest fears with me. I hope you all had a happy Halloween!