The Dream Maker by Kiera Nixon ~ Author interview and extract

The Dream Maker by Kiera Nixon published a few weeks ago and I’m super excited to be sharing an author interview and extract from The Dream Maker!

‘Follow your dreams,’ everyone says. But where to find one worth following?
For Maatje Finkel, it was four years ago. The first night without her sister.
The night she discovered the hotel . . .

We all dream about what we’d like our lives to be. The necessity of change is deeply embedded into us. It is not enough to remain as we already are. This is where The Dream Maker begins.

Set in a world where stepping into your neighbour’s dream is as easy as knocking on their front door, eighteen-year-old Maatje has been thrust out of childhood, wrapped in her romantic idea of adulthood like a cosy cloud. Reality soon hits, rife with destruction, heartbreak and more wonder than she ever could have imagined. But reality is not something that merely happens to a person whilst following their dreams, it is a direct consequence of their pursuit, and Maatje’s naivety is tangling her dreams with a nightmare that threatens to tear the world apart . . .

Hi Kiera, please can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Thanks, Rachael, for inviting me onto your blog. I’m Kiera Nixon, author of YA crossover fantasy The Dream Maker. I have always been fascinated by the ways words can be used to twist insanity into perfect sense, and thought I better take some responsibility and twist some of it back again.

When did you get the idea for this book and how long did it take to write?

I wrote the first draft soon after leaving university and in a similar position to Maatje. That feeling of being thrust out into the world and told, “You’re an adult now.” Well thanks. What does that mean? I was working as a video editor at the time, so it sat on my computer with the other two novels I’d scribbled down during my commute until I had my own mini call to adventure – drop everything you have worked for and become a poor, starving artist. To be honest, it had been calling me since I was seven. Only at thirty was I wise enough to listen.

What made you want to self-publish this book?

Now that’s a question. Short answer. I know myself. I know where my writing will take me if I continue to improve, and it is a risk I must take to be my own.

Thanks so much Kiera, and now here is a little sneak peek . . .

Partway down the hill, Maatje felt as she always did before stepping into her sister’s dreams – that often invisible, but ever-present, barrier between minds.

This wasn’t her dream. The hotel and boy belonged to somebody else. A stranger.

She stopped walking.

It definitely wasn’t Mum’s or Aunt Marjorie’s. Their minds didn’t feel like this. But who else’s could it be? The new house was miles from anywhere.

The boy must have seen her apprehension. He turned and cocked his head, as though the wind whispered its secrets in his ear. “This is the Manager’s hotel for the tired and lonely dreamer. Everyone is welcome.”

Maatje wrinkled her nose. “That’s impossible.”

No one could fit everyone in their dream. Mum had once tried to invite both Maatje and her sister into hers. She’d had a headache for days.

“There’s only one impossible thing in all the world.” The boy brought a carefully closed fist out of his pocket. “Want to see?”

Maatje nodded.

He opened his fingers. His palm was empty.

“Nothing?” Maatje frowned.

“Exactly.” The boy gave a smile to embarrass the stars. He still had the violin bow in his other hand and shook it out like a rolled-up carpet. It spilt down the hillside, becoming a long slippery slide. “So, you coming?”

***

The Dream Maker is available to purchase at the following stores:

Kiera will be in the #InspiringIndies zone at YALC this year (London Olympia, 16^th-17^th November). Come over and have a chat!

You can also follow her on social: Substack, Instagram and Facebook