"Lies" Official Release Statement!

The buttons have been pressed. "Approve." "Publish." Here we go. Round three of this incredible adventure is about to begin. Wow. Thank you.
— Oliver Dahl (@OliverWDahl) March 11, 2014

Sometimes I think the 140 character limit on tweets just isn't enough. Yet this tweet really encapsulates my feelings very well. Both books that I've previously published have brought something new and exciting into my life--really changing it for the better.

And I am SO PROUD of this book. At this point, I feel like "Lies" is my "Mona Lisa," my crowning achievement so far. I don't know that I anything else I have ever written can really compare. It's that good. (Or at least, I think so, anyway).

And TODAY, March 11, 2014, I am able to change my life even more by adding a third addition to my published repertoire. (Ooh, I like that word. Repertoire). And to have this addition be a work that I am as proud of as I am is already incredible. "Lies," this beautiful historical fiction novella about the Salem Witch Trials, means a lot to me.

Why March 11th? Well, on this date in 1692, Ann Putnam Jr. first showed symptoms of affliction by witchcraft. (source) Ann is the main character in "Lies," the entire story being told from her point of view. The real plot of the story historically began 322 years ago. 322 years ago today. These kinds of things blow my mind. What I wrote about actually happened. Sure, I bent and twisted things into fiction to fit the story, but the basic events actually happened! I love historical fiction for this reason.

322 years ago. That's strange, isn't it? 1692 seems like it took place longer than 322 years ago. 322 years is only four 80-year-old lifetimes ago. Giles Cory, a victim of the Salem Witch Trials, was over eighty years old when he was pressed to death. If the time span of his life happened just four more times, we'd be here again in 2014.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that history isn't too far away. It's fun and interesting to feel closer to it than we thought we were. "Lies," I would like to hope, is a great way of accomplishing that.

Summary:
Salem Massachusetts, 1692: Tituba curses two young girls, but Ann Putnam Jr. isn't one of them. In order to help save her friends, Ann develops a plan to accuse the remaining supposed witches of Salem. As the death count rises, each lie buries her deeper and deeper under a curse of her own doing. This tragic experience of guilt, abuse, power, and love gives a first-person view into the spine-chilling months where neighbor turned on neighbor at the word of a little girl.

Learn more about "Lies!"
Grab a copy on Amazon!
Find other places to purchase at www.oliverdahl.com/lies

Thank you for being a part of my journey. Hopefully this is just the beginning.
Oliver Dahl

"Lies" Release Date Announced!

March 11, 2014

The above date marks the day in which my 3rd book will be released. "Lies," my first endeavor into historical fiction, is from the perspective of Ann Putnam Jr., during the height of the Salem Witch Trials.

Unquestionably my best writing yet, I am so excited to get this out to you guys. You are going to love it.

You can learn more on my website, at www.oliverdahl.com/lies!

You can also download a two chapter preview absolutely free on NoiseTrade, genuinely one of my favorite websites on the internet. (You can download your preview here). (PDF, ePub, and Kindle format)

 NoiseTrade is a collection of eBooks, audiobooks, and mostly music that the artist encourages you to download for free! Tips given help fund upcoming projects, tours, production costs, and advertising to help get the artists/authors off the ground. There are some phenomenal albums and eBooks to be found there!

You can CLICK HERE to be notified when "Lies" is out, and to see a countdown!

March 11th. Get excited, guys. I sure am!

Oliver Dahl

The Nightmarers Preview 4

"I'm Sam. I can help you."

5 days and counting. The 4th exclusive chapter of The Nightmarers. 3 short steps away from publication. The 2nd book in The Dreamers. 1 epic addition to the award-winning series. The next time I post, it will be for The Nightmarers' release. Who's excited?! (Other than yours truly, of course). 5...4...3...2...1...

Let's get this started! I'll present to you Chapter 4 of The Nightmarers, and then we'll party on. Look for the entire book in both print and eBook format on Amazon.com. You can look for its smoky blue cover to appear on my author page on February 12th. It will be $2.99 on kindle, and $9.99 paperback. I hope that if you enjoyed The Dreamers, you'll pick up its sequel, too. (And hey--even if you didn't like it!) Of the people I've heard back from about what they thought, I've heard only that The Nigtmarers is even better than its precursor. I think you'll feel the same way. So... Give it a whirl! For less than a coffee, you can get it on your eReader. Or less than Chicken McNuggets, if you don't spend money on coffee. Or, less than... something that's 3 dollars, if you don't buy either of those. If you haven't read The Dreamers yet, you can do so by clicking here.

Well, I'm getting distracted just like Sam does. You came for the excerpt, so let's have at it! Without further ado... Chapter 4 of The Nightmarers.

* * *

Still in shock from my new narcoleptic recruits, I was not yet ready for Sandi. I was in the middle of a lesson with Kris and Andromeda. I was explaining to them how other people dreamed, how they simply came to the Dream Realm in their subconscious form, and how injuries that happen here don't affect their physical bodies on earth. I was reading out of my newly published copy of The Dreamer's Handbook.

I was referencing this handbook, trying to answer all of their questions. (They reminded me of myself in that aspect), when I suddenly just felt... strange.

“Hang on,” I murmured. The twins glanced at each other, side-long, in that style that kind of irritates me, leaving me to wonder what they were thinking. I pursed my lips and vanished from the room, a copy of me, made in smoke, swirling into nothingness in my place.

I didn't know where I needed to go; but when I arrived, I knew I had come to the right place. There was just... this feeling in my gut, telling me that I was in the right spot.

I had rarely ventured here, so I knew very little about it, other than Thep's bad experience with the sand crabs.

I was in Paradisa, one of the seven different territories of the Dream Realm. Malfix, the villain of the Dream Realm, had owned it, previously, so I tended to stay away from it. Malfix had been bent on owning and controlling all of the Dream Realm. By having complete control, he thought that he would be able to take the Dreamers' powers and make himself master of the Dream Realm and Earth. You can see why I was reluctant to go there.

To my left was a jungle, thick with undergrowth and palm trees. To my right was another of the territories that made up the Dream Realm, the Ceruvian Sea, stretching with the sand and jungle for miles and miles.
I was standing on a perfect beach, the waves lazily tickling the soft, pale sand. On this particular stretch of pristine beach, there were dozens, maybe even hundreds of people soaking up the sun and surf. The breeze, billowing whiteclouds, barbecues, and sand castles added to the paradisaical feel of the place.

Everyone looked at peace, happy to be there. Everyone except a girl, not 15 feet away from me. Sandi. She sat numbly, looking out to sea, watching the sun set while wiping tears from her eyes. I approached her and introduced myself.

“I'm Sam. I can help you.”

She looked up at me. “You don't even know me.” She replied softly

“I may not know you, but I... I know what you're going through. Grab my arm, I want to show you something.”

Fortunately, she didn't need a lot of convincing. We vanished just as the sun slipped completely under the surface of the sea.

* * *

What do you guys think? Let me now in the comments! I always love reading each and every one of your responses. I usually get back to you, too. This is one of my favorite chapters in the book. I loved being able to describe such an idealistic scene, that was fake all along. It felt like a scene from Inception. :) I also love the way Sam extended his help to Sandi. We see that he's a nice guy, with others' interests at heart. He's just the kind of all-around-great guy that I aspire to be like. A fun fact for you: the name "Sandi" means "defender of others" or "defender of man". I thought this was interesting, because as Dreamers, that is their ultimate goal. No matter what the other trials are, it all comes down to helping mankind. Sandi is kind of the model Dreamer for their group as a whole.

Catch your interest? Buy The Nightmarers now on Amazon.com!

Comment prompt: I did this in an earlier post, but it never really took off. Paradisa, the paradise land Sam meets Sandi in, varies from person to person. Some see it as the tropical beach, others see it as a lake in the mountains, or a large mansion on rolling hills. What would your paradise be?

Again, I hope you liked it! Please feel free to ask any questions, tell me what you thought, and what your Paradisa would be! I hope you guys are looking forward to The Nightmarers!

Dream on!

Sam Kullen

&

Oliver Dahl

The Nightmarers Preview 3

Well, it's that time of the month again! Today, I present not only Chapter 3 of The Nightmarers, but also exciting news as to its release!

The Nightmarers will be live and published on... [drumroll!] February 12th! The news is out, the word is final! Look for it on that day on Amazon, or request it from your local bookstore!

Now that we have our exciting news behind (or rather, ahead) of us, I present to you... Chapter 3 of The Nightmarers!

If you missed the previous excerpts, they can be found at the links below:

The Nightmarers Preview 1

The Nightmarers Preview 2

Enjoy, and happy reading!

* * *

In the blazing cold where the Ice Caves used to be, I had but one thought. Where were they? I had no idea, but they were beginners and I decided that was a good enough excuse.

Then again, checking my watch, I saw it was still quarter 'til. These kids still had a few minutes.

With a start, I realized I didn't even know their names—or... anything about them! I made a mental note to find out.

I shivered. I showed up nearly half an hour early, so... where were they? I tapped my feet on the ice, trying to keep them from freezing.

Finally, there was a blur in the air, and two figures appeared. One was wearing a large T-shirt and sweatpants, while the other, slightly shorter, was wearing pink fleece pants, and a large T-shirt as well.

By the time they finally came up, it was nearly ten after the hour! I couldn't help but give a slight complaint.

“What took you so long?” I chided.

The boy answered, “What? I didn't think this would work!” The girl was pale-faced.

“Kris... where are we?” she murmured. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and worried eyes. I guessed she was about thirteen.

“I don't have a clue, Andromeda” The boy, Kris, replied. He also was around thirteen and had brown hair spiked up above his forehead.

“Why were you late?” I asked again.

The two (siblings? twins? friends?) just now seemed to notice me.

“What?” they asked in unison.

“Why were you late?” I repeated, much slower than necessary.

Andromeda glanced side-length at Kris. Kris nodded slightly.

“Sorry... we have... sleep issues.”

“Sleep issues?” I asked, incredulously

They looked at me like I was some martian.

I guess I was to them. I realized I was being kind of rude.

“Look, sorry.” I apologized. “I just wanted to know why you were late meeting me here.”

“That's okay,” Kris said, shrugging it off. “We told you—we have sleep disorders. We're twins, and we were born with narcolepsy. Both of us took longer naps than usual in the day, and so we couldn't fall asleep sooner.”

I was shocked. I couldn't think. Well, I could, but the only thing that echoed in my brain was, How ironic! The first Dreamers I get have sleeping issues! This was perfect. Just perfect.

“How bad is it?” I asked, numb.

“Not bad,” Andromeda assured. “We just have to take naps in the day, and then we're fine.” Kris nodded.

“Okay.... Never mind that. I've got a lot to tell you.”

* * *

Catch your interest? Buy The Nightmarers now on Amazon.com!

What do you think of this twist in events? Let me know in the comments below, and tell me what you're looking forward to most in The Nightmarers!

Dream on!

Sam Kullen & Oliver Dahl

The Dreamers is Finally Out!

The symbolic burning letter "D" and the cover for The Dreamers...

That letter is just everywhere!

Hooray! The Dreamers is out! After hours of writing, hours of editing, and hours of revising, it has all payed off! The Dreamers began in November, and now, over 8 months later, it is complete! Now, finally, as a published author, I am unsure how to describe the feeling. It's sort of... unreal. It is amazing that now anybody in the entire world can read my book--read the words that I wrote, and (hopefully) enjoy them! Who knows... maybe years from now the day August 9th will go down in history as the day The Dreamers was published! I hope that you enjoy The Dreamers as much as I did! Any day now, I can go to a bookstore, and set up a book signing, or do stuff like that! It's a very rewarding feeling. As I have said before, being an author must be one of the most rewarding jobs out there, even if you don't earn much money--the feeling of knowing that someone out in the world has read your work is a very satisfying feeling.

Every member of my family has helped in some way to this book, (perhaps excluding 15-month-old sister) and so we made kind of a party out of publishing. As I am self-published, most everything I did was on computers. I didn't need to mail anything in, I just downloaded the file and followed the online instructions. This basically means I could publish by the push of a button! Pretty cool! We took a video of the final button-push. Here it is!

There we are! Hooray! It's out!!! I hope you all get a hold of and read it. I really hope you enjoy it! PLEASE tell me what you think by taking the poll on the bottom of the blog. I really would LOVE to hear from you. Feedback is always awesome to have!

The Dreamers is available:

-in some bookstores, and if yours doesn't carry it, PLEASE request it!

-in some bookfairs, mainly school bookfairs. If you are a student whose school does bookfairs, PLEASE request it, again!

-on Amazon.com,

-directly from my publisher, HERE.
-Barnes & Noble (.com)

-some academic and public libraries,

-and many other places as well. It is also available on some other online and offline retailers

List price is $9.99--Thanks SO much for reading and buying, and by all means--enjoy!!

Dream on!

Sam Kullen

&

Oliver Dahl