GetToKnowTheBook: Author Victoria Roder 'The Dream House Visions And Nightmares'

Victoria Roder lives in central Wisconsin with her husband Ron and a house full of pets. She enjoys camping, shooting bow at targets, snowshoeing, and motorcycle riding. Let’s get to know Victoria Roder’s book, The Dream House Visions And Nightmares.

My Mom is famous for biblical and inspirational quotes such as, ‘Do unto others’, and ‘What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger’. She is also the person that told me repeatedly that I have a good imagination and should write books. I had a rocky start to family life until my parent’s adopted me at the age of seven. It didn’t kill me, so in fact, mom was right it made me stronger and in my shyness I turned to creativity.

I began having recurring dreams about a house that my birth family lived in for a brief period of time when I was a child. Even with the passage of time, in the dreams I remained a young girl. I could see myself standing on a desolate street void of sound, lights, or cars. Next, instead of watching myself I starred through my own eyes at the ominous house. The dream never progressed, and I never entered the house. Each time I woke up I knew that I had experienced the dream before. The dream began to trouble me, so I discussed it with my sister Tammy. She suggested I write it down, in the hope that it wouldn’t bother me anymore. I began recording the details of the dream and then instead of it not bothering me, it consumed me.
Those dreams became the premise for my paranormal romance novel The Dream House Visions And Nightmares. It is a murder mystery wrapped in a paranormal ghost story. Apparitions and vivid dreams reveal clues of mystery, murder, and age-old revenge.

Recurring dreams of a house Hope Graham's family rented when she was a child, taunt her nights with images of a woman in a bloody nightgown pleading for help. Dream sequences of children metamorphosing into rats, blood spewing out of windows, and walking across decaying bones, foretell of sins of the past and forewarn of danger in the present. In an attempt to end the agony of her sleep deprivation, Hope travels to her hometown...only to discover that the truth can be more frightening than a nightmare.

A romance develops when Hope meets Brock, the business owner next door to her former home. He offers Hope all the things her ex-husband couldn’t: romance, friendship, support, encouragement, tenderness, understanding, and love. He’s her sounding board, her confidant, and her romance when she needs a break from the intense mystery surrounding the former home that is haunting her. Can the budding romance survive Hope’s scarred past?

Excerpt: The Dream House Visions And Nightmares, Asylett Press 2009.

I looked up and down the dimly lit street. There was no evidence of life. Nor were there any sounds. No dogs barking. No horns honking. No children playing. Nothing. I focused on the house-on its paneless windows, weathered boards and dilapidated porch sinking into a sea of overgrown grass and weeds-and nausea overcame me as an overwhelming moldy odor permeated the air. The look of the house didn’t make my skin crawl; it was the essence of it.

I watched the dilapidated house-it moved closer. Perhaps it lured me to it. I began to shiver. I looked down at the white cotton nightgown that I wore. Silk embossed flowers decorated the bodice. I was still straining to hear a sound when I realized, blood had saturated my gown until it had become a second skin.
I felt a tug on my gown. I looked down-Rae’s hair cascaded over her face as she clasped my hem through the fence. She pleaded, “Please, help me, please. Can’t you hear my children screaming?”
I struggled to get away…


The Dream House Visions And Nightmares is available on the publisher’s website asylettpress.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com. To find out more about me and read an excerpt, please view my website www.victoriaroder.com