[stylist] Writers' Division Member - Mark Taylor, has a new novel

Tue Jan 15 18:06:21 UTC 2013

Happy New Year.

I am delighted to let you all know that Division member, mark Taylor's
latest novel entitled "The Dream Factory", has just been published.  Just so
you know, Mark writes under the pseudonym of Mark Marcus.

The website for the book, which includes an audio reading sample, a preview
of the text, and purchasing options is located at:

http://candleshorepublishing.com/dreamfactory

The book may be downloaded directly to any Apple device, the Kindle, or
purchased from Amazon.com in paperback form.

The cost of the eBook version is $2.99 and the paperback version is $5.99.

This book is intended for general audiences ages 17 and up.  There is no
"adult" content.  

The following link will play a short audio introduction to the book:

http://candleshorepublishing.com/dreamfactory/bookdemo/DreamFactoryIntroComm

ercial.mp3

To go directly to the book in the iTunes Store, click the following link on
any computer or from within an Apple device::

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-dream-factory/id591504963?mt=11

BOOK PREFACE:

Welcome to the Dream Factory, a warm, cozy, and extremely lovely place where
only the most visceral nightmares and pleasure-driven musings of its
residents are mercilessly extracted and sold for the pure enjoyment of

others.   

Step cautiously as you explore the dimly lighted, extremely narrow, and
virtually suffocating hallways as groans, screams, moans, and indefinable
exclamations of unnamed perpetrators, innocent bystanders, and unlikely
victims, escape from behind coffin lid doors, reach into the very depths of
your soul, lace icy cold fingers around the heart of your sanity and begin
to squeeze.

In this, the second tale from the mind of Mark Marcus, we are taken on a
highly selective and undeniably insightful excursion into the unplumbed dark
regions of the human psyche as it tears itself apart separating and exposing
the raw untamed fury inside from the barely contained and seemingly unmarred
and untouched flawlessly veneered outside.

This book will appeal to all those who have ever screamed themselves awake,
in the midnight hour, only to discover that the true nightmare, from which
there is no escape, has only just begun.

BOOK PREVIEW:

CHAPTER NINE

A:

What is your first name?  

P:

What?

A:

I said, what is your first name?

P:

What a silly question.  You know my first name.  

(The discharge administrator looks at the woman seated in front of her,

sternly.)

A:

I know I told you that nothing you say can or will be used against you but
if you don't answer my questions I cannot approve your release.  Do you
understand?

P (somewhat alarmed):

Yes.  I understand.

(The discharge administrator returns her gaze to the paperwork on the

table.)

A:

So, let's start again.  First name?  

(The woman seated across from the discharge administrator opens her mouth to
speak and then closes it slowly.)

P:

I'm not sure.

(Tears fill her eyes and she raises her hands to wipe them away.)

A (not looking up):

That's okay.  Just sit and think for a moment.  It should come to you.  If
not, we won't worry about it.  

(The patient is visibly relieved.)  

A:

Next question, age?

P:

I'm thirty-seven, yes, I am thirty-seven years old.

A:

Date of birth?

P:

It's--it's in February.  I can't remember.  I think it's February 6 but I'm
not sure.

A:

Favorite color?

P:

I don't have one.  At least, if I did, I don't anymore.

A:

What is your last name?  

P:

Jax.  My last name is Jax.

A:

First name?

P:

I don't know.

A:

Where were you born?

P:

Louisville, Kentucky.

A:

What is good?

P:

Pardon me?  

A:

I said, what is good?  

P (with a look of confusion):

I don't know how to answer that.  I don't know what you mean.  What is good?

Am I to give you a definition?  

A:

You may answer in any way you wish, Miss Jax, anyway at all.

(The patient raises her head as if in some kind of unspoken defiance.)

P:

Getting out of this place is good.  Good is anything that doesn't have to do
with the Dream Factory.  Is that an honest enough answer for you? 

(A slightly hysterical giggle escapes the patient, at this.)

(The discharge administrator, raising her eyebrows ever so slightly,

continues.)

A:

What is bad?

P:

Bad is not being able to recall my own first name.  Bad is realizing that
what feels like three years has only been three weeks.  Bad is never wanting
to close my eyes, in order to sleep, again.  That's bad.  

A (with no hesitation):

Marital status?

P:

I'm, uh.  I'm married, I think.  I am married.

(The discharge administrator looks up and stares at the woman seated across
from her, patiently.)

P:

What?  I'm married.  Aren't I married?  

(The administrator returns her gaze to the paperwork.)

A:

Children?

P:

None.

A:

First name?

P:

I don't know, I still can't recall it, not yet.

A:

Where were you--

P:

Wait.  Am I married?  Is this a dream?  Oh god.  Is this another dream?

A:

This is not a dream.  You are very much awake.

P (with a touch of panic in her voice):

How do I know you're telling me the truth?  Oh God.  How can I tell?  I
don't know what's going on.  Why are you asking me these questions?  

(Lowering her head, she begins sobbing uncontrollably.)

A:

Where were you born?

P:

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky.  

A:

First name?

P:

I don't know.  I wish you'd stop asking me that.

A:

Marital status?

P:

I'm married.  Wait, I'm, I'm a widow.  My husband is dead.  I'm a widow.

A:

Date of husband's death?

(The patient slowly gathers herself and looks at the discharge

administrator.)

P:

Uh, he's been dead for a little while now.  He died a month or so ago,
right?  Yes, I'm a widow and my husband is dead.

A:

Cause of death?

P (speaking in a low voice that almost escapes the administrator, she
responds very slowly with):

I killed him.

Robert Leslie Newman

Personal Website-

Adjustment To Blindness And Visual impairment

http//www.thoughtprovoker.info

NFB Writers' Division, president

http://www.nfb-writers-division.net 

Chair of the NFB Communications Committee   