The Dream Doctor Mysteries by J.J. DiBenedetto Book Tour and Giveaway :)


Dream Student
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Prequel
by J.J. DiBenedetto
Genre: Paranormal Mystery

Sara Barnes has her life totally under control. All she has to worry about is college exams, Christmas shopping, applying to medical school--and what to do about the cute freshman who has a crush on her. And everything is going according to plan, until the night she starts dreaming other people's dreams.


It's bad enough that every night is a theater of her friends' and classmates' secret fantasies. Worse yet are the other dreams, the dark ones featuring a strange, terrifying man committing unspeakable crimes.

As the nightmares increase, Sara's life becomes a blur of waking and sleeping, of terror and urgency. Because if she was given this dream-sharing gift for a reason, it must be to stop the killer madman she's come to know all too well. But how can she stop him when she's just a student, and they're only dreams?

Dream Student is the thrilling prequel to the Dream Doctor Mysteries.


**Start the series FREE!!**

From Dream Student (book 0 prequel) – Sara realizes her dreams are real

I glance at the front page, and then I look again. There’s a photo there. I grab the paper out of his hands, completely ignoring his protest, and I look closely at it. I’ve seen her before. No. No. It can’t be. It’s not possible. The girl in the picture looks exactly like the girl in my dreams. It’s not possible, except that I’m seeing it with my own eyes. I start reading the story. “Seventeen-year-old Amelia Morgan–high school senior–found murdered–body discovered on Old Tree Road…” No, no, no. I read it again, and the words don’t change. Of course they don’t. No. Yes. I just start wailing, shouting nonsense. I’m standing in the middle of the room screaming my head off. Ray comes out to me, puts his hand on my shoulder, starts to tell me to calm down and I push him away, shove the newspaper in his face. “It’s her! It’s her! It’s her, and she’s dead!” She’s dead, she’s dead. She’s dead and I saw it and she’s dead and–and–that’s all I know. She’s dead and I saw it and it’s all real and–and what? I don’t know, so I keep on screaming.



Dream Doctor
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 1

Between adjusting to life as a newlywed and trying to survive the first month of medical school, Sara Alderson has a lot on her plate. She definitely doesn’t need to start visiting other people’s dreams again. Unfortunately for her, it’s happening anyway.


Every night, she sees a different person and a different dream. But every dreamer has one thing in common: they all hate Dr. Morris, the least popular professor in the medical school, and they’re all dreaming about seeing him – or making him – dead.

Once again, Sara finds herself in the role of unwilling witness to a murder before it happens. But this time, there are too many suspects to count, and it doesn’t help matters that she hates Dr. Morris every bit as much as any of his would-be murderers do.

**only .99 cents!**



From Dream Doctor (book 1) – Sara sees a dream about murder

Sara is in an office, a very cluttered office. From the titles of the books scattered all about, it’s clear that it belongs to of one of her teachers, but which one? She searches around fruitlessly, until the door opens and in walks Dr. Morris. It’s his office, but not, she knows, his dream. Whose, then? The answer comes walking in right behind Dr. Morris – an older woman, an inch or two taller than Sara, her hair just beginning to gray, a frown on her face. Sara thinks she’s seen the woman in the halls – she is, Sara thinks, Dr. Morris’ secretary. I won’t be ignored, Abraham!” she shouts as she slams the door shut behind her. “Not after so many years, not after everything I’ve done for you!” Dr. Morris sits down in his chair, leans back, sighs deeply. “You’re being childish, Maureen. This is a delicate time, and I cannot allow any suggestion of impropriety if I am to be the next Dean.” The secretary – Maureen – does not sit. She glares at Dr. Morris, momentarily speechless. Then she picks up a crystal paperweight from his desk and hurls it at the wall, where it shatters instantly. “Really!” Dr. Morris stares at her with a combination of alarm and contempt. You liked that, Abraham? Then you’ll love this!” Maureen digs into her purse, pulls out a pistol. She aims it with shaking hands at Dr. Morris. Maureen, calm yourself!” Good luck becoming the Dean with a hole in your head!” Maureen shouts as she pulls the trigger…

***
I wake up with the sound of – was it a gunshot? – echoing in my head. What the hell are they getting up to next door? No – not next door. It was a dream, it was – of course, Dr. Morris again. I remember it all now. This time it was his secretary. He’s having an affair with her – I don’t see how else to interpret “I won’t be ignored.” I think it’s safe to assume that Dr. Morris isn’t the type to have a pet rabbit, so I guess she just decided to escalate straight to murder. That’s officially four different people who’ve dreamed of killing him now. I wonder if he has the slightest idea just how many people hate him? Yes, I think he probably does. And no, I don’t think it bothers him one bit.


Dream Child
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 2

Dr. Sara Alderson can deal with eighty-hour workweeks as a resident at Children’s Hospital. Dealing with crises in the Emergency Room or the OR is second nature to her. But now she faces a challenge that all of her training and experience hasn’t prepared her for: Lizzie, her four-year-old daughter, has inherited her ability to see other people’s dreams.


After Lizzie befriends a young boy on a trip to Washington, DC, and then wakes up in a panic that night because of a “bad funny dream,” Sara knows exactly what it means: her daughter is visiting the boy’s dreams. Complicating matters is the fact that the boy’s father is a Congressman, and he’s dreaming about a “scary man in a big black car” threatening his Daddy. 

Unraveling a case of political corruption and blackmail would be hard enough for Sara under the best of circumstances. But when she has to view everything through the eyes of a toddler, it may be an impossible task.




From Dream Child (book 2) – Sara gets a nasty surprise

At two o’clock we’ve got an appointment with one of our outpatient kids and her father. Grace Sorrentino is a very cute seven-year-old who unfortunately has Type 1 diabetes. She’s been in and out of the hospital ever since she was first diagnosed last year, but she’s been doing better the past couple of months. Usually it’s her mother who brings her in, but today her father will be here, and that’s the cause of some commotion on the floor. Even Laurie is flustered, and she never gets flustered. “God, Paul Sorrentino. I hope Security knows he’s coming, I’m going to call down there and make sure.” I know the name, but I can’t quite remember how or why I do. I keep hoping that it’ll come to me, but at five minutes to two I have to ask, and I get an incredulous look from Laurie. “I know we don’t have a lot of free time, but you don’t live in a cave, for Heaven’s sake! Paul Sorrentino, the mobster? Do you seriously not know that?” Oh, my God. I did know that, but I never connected it with the reality of Grace and her family. “Of course I know who he is,” I answer. “I just - I feel like an idiot now.” “I always wondered why you weren’t as nervous, especially when Grace first came in,” Laurie says, shaking her head at my lack of awareness. “I gave you credit for being more professional than the rest of us and not letting who her father was interfere with how you treated her, but you were just oblivious the whole time!”



Dream Family
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 3

Dr. Sara Alderson didn’t think she had a problem in the world, when she walked into the office for her first day as a partner in her own medical practice. And then the police showed up and arrested her for a crime she couldn’t possibly have committed. Twenty four hours later, after a horrifying day and night in jail, Sara comes home a different – and completely broken – woman.


Clearing her name is her first challenge, but that’s nothing compared to the task of rebuilding her shattered psyche. And the only way she can do that is with the help of the supernatural dreams, the same dreams that have nearly cost Sara her sanity – and almost got her killed – in the past.




From Dream Family (book 3) – Sara has serious trauma

Dad, don’t say it. You don’t have to.” Yes, I do, Sara. I know in my heart it wasn’t an accident. And I also know it happened – he did it because whatever happened in those two days, it ate away at him until – until there wasn’t anything left inside.” Does he think that I’m like Uncle Albert? Is that why he’s telling me all this? He grabs my arms, turns me to face him. “If I had kept at him, made him talk about it, maybe he could have worked through everything. Maybe getting it out would have helped him keep hold of himself. Maybe he wouldn’t have,” his voice finally breaks, “Sara, I don’t want to lose you the way I lost my brother. I failed – everyone failed him. I’m not going to fail you, too.” I’m not – Dad, I’m…” Does he really think I could ever – that I’m so far gone? That my one night in jail compares with what happened to his brother? To getting shot and seeing friends killed right in front of him? I know that more happened to you than we saw in the courtroom,” he’s gripping my arms tightly. “And I know that if you don’t talk about it, it’s going to – you will end up like Albert. We’re not meant to carry things like that around inside us. Nobody can do that, not for long.” What do you want from me?” I’m fighting to keep my voice level. Talk about it. You don’t have to tell me or your mother. But you’ve got a brother. And a best friend who might as well be blood family.  And your husband. You know how I feel about him. If I could have picked out someone for you, I wouldn’t have dared to ask for someone half the man Brian is. You have all these people in your life who love you. You have to talk to someone, and you have to tell it all. And I’m going to keep on you until you do. I love you too much to lose you.” He really does think I’m that far gone. And the truth is, I’m afraid he’s right.

Waking Dream
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 4

After nearly a decade of visiting other people’s dreams, Sara Alderson thought she had made peace with her supernatural gift. Until one night, while watching her husband dream, she saw someone else watching him, too: a mysterious woman in a red dress.


The woman in red keeps appearing in the dreams of Sara’s husband and his co-workers. Sara doesn’t know if this mystery woman is trying to steal her husband, drive him mad or something even worse. All she does know is that now she has something she never imagined: a nemesis. And the only thing more dangerous than a nemesis who shares her ability to step into other people’s dreams, is one who knows far more about that ability and how to control it than Sara does.




From Waking Dream (book 4) – Sara remembers her first kiss

This isn’t right. Mom and Dad think that Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery are home. They have no idea that Belinda and her brother Vince are home alone, and they definitely have no idea that Vince is throwing a party. I don’t know why I’m even here. I don’t want to be at a party with a bunch of juniors and seniors I don’t even know. We’re sitting in Belinda’s kitchen, just her and me. “So how big is this party supposed to be?” Belinda shrugs her shoulders. “You know Vince. It could be a hundred people.” A hundred? Now I really don’t want to be here! But I don’t want to leave Belinda all alone. She’s my best – my only close friend at school. I can’t ditch out on her. Here comes her brother now, with one of his friends, a short, stocky guy I think I’ve seen in the corridors at school. They’re each carrying two cases of beer – I wonder which one of them has a fake ID, or maybe they got somebody to buy it for them? They set the beer down on the kitchen table right in front of us, and open one of the cases. “Here you go, ladies,” Vince says, handing Belinda and me each a can. I don’t want – I’ve never even had beer before! But everyone else is opening theirs and toasting each other. I – I don’t have to, but Belinda’s my friend, right? I open mine, salute them and take a sip. I barely swallow it down without spitting it out; how does anybody drink this stuff? Belinda doesn’t like it much more than I do, but she forces her beer down, and I follow suit while the boys laugh at us. Hey, Belle, why don’t you put out some food?” She’s told me she hates being called Belle, but she’s not going to get her older brother to stop doing it anytime soon. I go to help Belinda set out several bowls of chips, and then she goes up to her room to change. That’s all I need – not only will I not know anybody, but I’m going to look like crap compared to everyone else. I thought my sweater was cute, but I’m sure Belinda will be back downstairs in five minutes with an outfit that puts me to shame. And I can’t even borrow anything from her – she’s only a couple of inches taller than me, but she’s at least three sizes bigger. Oh, well. As I watch her go up the stairs, I see something hanging from the ceiling at the foot of the staircase. Mistletoe. I start to wonder who hung it there when there’s a hand on my shoulder, and I turn to see Vince. He’s not much taller than Belinda, but he seems bigger somehow, or maybe that’s just my imagination. I can smell the beer on his breath; we’re only a few inches apart. He’s looking up at the mistletoe, too. He puts an arm around my waist and pulls me still closer. I let him; he is cute. And I’ve never had an older guy show the slightest interest in me before. Is this why he didn’t complain about Belinda inviting me? Does he have a – a thing for me? He’s leaning in towards me, coming closer. I tilt my head up to meet him, I close my eyes, and I feel his face just an inch from mine, then his lips are touching mine, and – I – God! I go limp, I don’t respond, but I don’t have to; his lips and his tongue are doing all the work – then from out of nowhere there’s a voice. Belinda’s voice, loud and shrill: “Jesus, Sara! Get your tongue out of my brother’s mouth!” And then I feel her hands on my shoulders, pulling me away from Vince. I don’t look at her; I run straight into the kitchen, grab my coat from the back of the chair, and I’m out the back door before anybody can say another word…

Dream Reunion
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 5

Dr. Sara Alderson is heading back to college for her ten-year class reunion. Her husband and two of her children are coming with her – and so are her supernatural dreams.


One of her old classmates is becoming more frantic with every passing night. Sara can’t see his face, but she can see everything else in his dreams, and he’s coming closer and closer to committing a desperate act to try and save his business. Sara’s the only one who can save him, and his family – if she can figure out who he is and what he’s planning in time.




From Dream Reunion (book 6) – Sara reveals an embarrassing secret

“You want me to tell you a secret?” Now he looks at me more curiously; I’ve really got his attention. “I thought you didn’t keep secrets from me.” There’s almost a playful hint in his voice; he’s trying. The kids are already downstairs, and I’ve got their attention, too, especially Lizzie and Grace. “This goes way back, when I was Grace’s age – maybe a year older. I guess I was thirteen.” They’re all staring at me intently now, and I realize I’ve built this up too much already. “It’s nothing earthshaking. Just a little embarrassing.  Grace’s poster made me think of it.” “Tell us, Mommy!” Lizzie is quite insistent and Brian’s very nearly smiling now. “Well, when I was thirteen, I – I kind of had a crush.” Grace rolls her eyes. Her thoughts might as well be written on her face: I don’t have a silly crush on Orlando Bloom! I just think he’s handsome and a good actor, that’s all. It’s perfectly normal. That’s what I told myself, too. Brian asks, “On whom?” He’s definitely smiling now, and fighting to keep laughter out of his voice. It’s worth a little embarrassment to lift his mood. I say it quickly, as though I’m tearing a band-aid off. “Rick Springfield.” Before Brian can respond, I say, “And don’t judge! I was thirteen!” “’Jessie’s Girl?’ That Rick Springfield? Seriously?” “I said, don’t judge! And anyway, he wasn’t just a singer! He was Dr. Noah Drake on ‘General Hospital.’ I was only interested because of that.” And that’s what I told myself as I stared up at his poster on my wall every night for six months, too. Brian buries his face in his hands and mutters something that might be “I bet. That and the leather pants.”

Dream Home
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 6

Dr. Sara Alderson thought she was securing her and her family’s future when she moved them to a small town in New York and took a job as Chief of Pediatrics at the local hospital. Unfortunately, things aren’t going quite according to plan. For one thing, she has enemies at work who resent her from the moment she sets foot in the hospital.


For another, she’s visiting the dreams of an old man who’s seeing nightly visions of a storm that will wipe out the entire town. He’s convinced that the visions are true – and as winter closes in, Sara is starting to think he might be right.




From Dream Home (book 6) – Sara experiences a winter storm

For the next two hours, I’m the only person on-duty. Shelly Gianetti arrives at eight, and she’ll be stuck here all day. Both of our new nurses already had out-of-town plans for Thanksgiving before we hired them, so she’s here until eight o’clock tonight, when Maxine returns. “Everyone’s fine, Shelly,” I tell her when she arrives, tightly clutching a cup of coffee. “You don’t look so hot yourself, though.” I can hear her teeth chattering. “Heater on my car’s broken,” she says, sipping the coffee. The warmth – and the caffeine – begin to revive her a bit. “What a morning for it. It’s going to be even worse going home tonight. I just heard – temperature’s going to get down into the single digits. The roads will be sheets of ice.” I walk over to the corner of the waiting room, where the ancient TV is mounted on the wall. The weatherman for Channel Seven is talking, calling for eight inches of snow in New York City, “and a foot or more in the Hudson Valley.” I crane my neck and strain my protesting eyes to try and read the numbers on the map behind him. “Twelve to fifteen inches,” Shelly says. “They said two to three inches when I was driving in this morning!” Out the window, I can see that it’s coming down a lot more heavily. The bare branches of the trees out in the lot are already covered with snow – and they’re also swaying alarmingly in the wind. We can both hear it, too; Shelly looks at me nervously when an especially strong blast rattles the front door. I give her a weak smile in return. “I guess they were a little bit off with the forecast.” But how can they be this wrong? They have radar and satellites and all of that. It’s a science – they always say it is, anyway. I know things can change quickly, but this is ridiculous. By ten o’clock, it looks like even the forecast of over a foot of snow is conservative – and the wind is getting worse, too. The front doors are rattling constantly now, and even some of the windows are, too. And then, looking out at the parking lot, which is a true winter wonderland now, I see it – one of the trees that’s been swaying finally gives way, and a huge branch comes crashing down. I hear myself shouting, “Look out!” even though nobody’s outside, as the branch smashes right onto the roof of Shelly’s blue Toyota, shattering the windshield. I hear her come up behind me, and she begins cursing. But after a minute or two, her curses turn into hysterical laughter. “Guess I don’t need to worry about the heater anymore, do I?” The noise attracts just about everyone else who’s working this morning: Glenn from the Pharmacy; Andre, who’s manning the snack bar today; and Vincent and Alicia, our orderlies. “You know, that’s going to kill the trade-in value,” Glenn says, putting an arm around Shelly. She goes right on laughing; not that it’s actually funny, but what else is there to do? Besides, she did buy the car from his brother in the first place, so if anyone can joke about it, it’s probably him. She’s just calming down when the whole building shakes five minutes later and the lights flicker off momentarily, followed a second later by an echoing boom. None of us take that with any humor at all. “That was the substation over on Quail Run, I think,” Andre says, his voice wavering. Our house is only a few blocks from that station – I wonder if the electricity is out at home?

Dream Vacation
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 7

Thanks to her unique ability to step into other people's dreams, Dr. Sara Alderson has solved murders, unraveled conspiracies and saved lives. But when a crisis hits close to home, even her supernatural gift might not be enough to avert disaster.


On a family vacation to Paris, Sara's fifteen-year-old daughter Grace disappears without a trace. The only way to find her is through Sara's dreams. But her gift has taken an unwanted vacation, and without it, Sara has no idea how to rescue Grace. In a foreign city, with no clues, and her dreaming talent failing her for the first time, Sara must figure out another way to find Grace before it's too late.




From Dream Vacation (book 7) – Sara’s daughter Grace runs away

What’s going on? I – I was sleeping, but there’s a sound. Banging, louder and louder. And yelling. It’s – oh, God. It’s the door. It’s Lizzie. She woke Brian up, too – he’s halfway to the door already. Two steps later, with me right behind him, adjusting my pajamas as I go, he’s at the door. He opens it and Lizzie runs inside immediately. “Mom! Dad! It’s Grace! She’s gone!” What? What did she say? Grace? Gone? That doesn’t make any sense. How could she be gone? They’re all in the room together, next door. Where would Grace go? How could she be gone and her siblings not notice it? Brian’s as confused as I am. “Lizzie, what happened?” “Grace! She’s gone! She even took her new boots with her!” Lizzie’s grabbing my hand, pulling me back towards the door. Her boots? I feel my legs go out from under me suddenly and I have to grab onto the door to hold myself up. My head is spinning. I feel – I don’t even know – nauseous, for a start. It all hits me: I know exactly what happened. If she took her boots – if she snuck out of the room – there’s only one thing she could be doing. “How long has she been gone?” I try to keep my voice level, but I don’t really succeed. “I don’t know, Mom. She woke me up, just for a minute, and I thought she was going to the bathroom and I closed my eyes and I guess I fell right back asleep. I didn’t look at the clock. But then just now, I had to go, and she wasn’t in the bed. And I saw her boots were missing.” She blurts it all out without taking a breath, but she’s still managing to keep herself calmer than I am. I glance at the clock: it’s 12:15 AM. We got back a little before eleven. Ben and Steffy were nearly asleep on their feet, and Lizzie wasn’t far behind them. So, say they actually got to sleep by a quarter after eleven. Grace must have been pretending to sleep, and then as soon as she thought all her siblings were out for good, she made her move. She probably waited at least fifteen minutes, and then after she disturbed Lizzie, she probably sat there in the bathroom for another fifteen minutes or so, just to be safe. So she probably left the room half an hour ago. “Brian, go down to the lobby, see if there’s anyone there. Ask if they saw Grace. And then go outside, maybe she had second thoughts but she’s afraid to come back up.” I turn to Lizzie. “Did she take the room key?” She shrugs. Of course she didn’t look for that – she came to us immediately. Exactly what she should have done. “That’s OK, I’ll come and look in your room.” Brian’s already got his shoes on; a moment later he’s out the door and halfway to the elevator. Lizzie and I go back to the kids’ room. The twins are still asleep; I can’t imagine how Lizzie didn’t wake them up. Even without turning the lights on, I can see the room key on the table in between the two beds. Why didn’t she take it? How did she think she’d get back into the room without her siblings knowing, if she didn’t have the key? There are only two answers. Either she just didn’t think at all, the same way she didn’t think about how she was going to get home from Coney Island with no money a couple of weeks ago. Or she doesn’t plan on coming back.

Fever Dream
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 8


Dr. Sara Alderson isn’t used to her patients dying for no reason. When a young boy succumbs to a mysterious illness that defies all her efforts to treat it, she refuses to accept defeat.


After two months of questions, Sara has attracted the attention of powerful people who don’t want their secrets uncovered, and will go to any lengths to make sure they stay hidden. 

Now, time is running out for Sara to unravel the mystery before anyone else falls victim to the illness. And before her career, her family and her freedom are taken from her by enemies she doesn’t even know she has.




From Fever Dream (book 8) – Sara is losing a young patient

This shouldn’t be happening. I don’t understand it. I haven’t had a patient like this in years – not since my first months of residency. Connie Marchetti brought her son to me three days ago because he couldn’t shake a cold, and now I’m fighting to keep him alive.
And I’m losing. Two days ago, I sent out a full panel of blood tests, including several things that I would never normally check on an eight-year-old boy. He must have some sort of auto-immune disorder, but he’s been my patient for three years, and there’s never been the slightest sign of it. And, anyway, boys are far less prone to most auto-immune diseases than girls are. There was never any reason to suspect it. There is now, though. I’m fighting to save him, but his own body is fighting against me. I haven’t been able to get his temperature below a hundred and one, I haven’t been able to get his breathing anywhere close to normal and he hasn’t eaten solid food in close to a week. “Damnit, Michael, I didn’t save you three years ago just so you could die on me now!” Yelling at him isn’t going to help, but I don’t know what else I can do at this point, except to admit defeat and send him to a bigger hospital. Someplace with more resources to, hopefully, figure out what’s going on with him and treat it in time. Three years ago, Michael Marchetti and his sister Celia were trapped in a basement during that awful winter storm. I went into Celia’s dream and figured out where they were, so that they could be rescued before they froze to death. But dreams aren’t going to help now. The answer, if there is one, is in his bloodwork, or, far more likely, in the mind of another doctor who can see whatever it is I’m missing. I don’t want to do it. But the patient has to come first. I stand over Michael’s bed for a couple of minutes, watching him sleep, seeing his troubled breathing and his almost complete lack of color. I really don’t have a choice. I leave the room, and the person I want to see is passing right by me in the hallway. “Shelly, can you get hold of Connie Marchetti? I need her to come back in right away.” Either Connie or her husband have been here pretty much non-stop since Michael was admitted, but she had a meeting at school with his teacher this afternoon. And her husband David works at the Indian Point nuclear power plant, twenty minutes south of here. He had a safety drill today, and obviously he couldn’t get out of that. But I need to speak to at least one of them in person, and right away. “I want to send Michael to Mount Sinai.” It’s the best children’s hospital in New York; there’s nowhere better to try and figure out what’s wrong with him. My head nurse stares at me. “Are you serious?” I hold her stare, which is all the answer she needs. “You think it’s that bad?” “I don’t know.” He could recover by dinnertime tonight. He might be home tomorrow, trying to sneak a peek into the closet and see what Christmas presents are waiting for him. I’ve had it happen before – patients suddenly turning the corner, all on their own. But “could” and “might” aren’t good enough. I can’t bet his life on them. “I’m afraid it might be.”

Dream Wedding
The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 9

It ought to be a joyful time for Dr. Sara Alderson. Her daughter, Lizzie, is about to graduate college, and marry her longtime boyfriend. But the family’s happiness is shattered when a drunk driver seriously injures her teenage son in a hit-and-run accident.


Now, instead of planning her daughter’s wedding, Sara must fight to save her son’s life. And when she discovers who the drunk driver was – someone she thought was a colleague and a friend – she has to fight her desire for revenge. Because Sara knows she has the power to visit the driver’s dreams, and in those dreams, she holds the power of life and death. 




From Dream Wedding (book 9) – Sara’s son is in a car accident

The patient is still alive. And I don’t think he has spinal damage. But that’s the extent of the good news. He’s still unconscious, which is a mercy for him, but I can’t evaluate him for any neurological issues until he’s awake. He’s got three broken ribs. His left tibia is broken, too – shattered is probably a better word. And his left knee is a mess. He’s going to need surgery to repair it, if that’s even possible, considering how bad it is. Oh, and he’s got at least three broken bones in his right arm as well. That’s almost trivial in comparison to everything else. The leg and arm have been immobilized, even though the odds are that the patient won’t be awake to try and move them any time soon. I have to force myself to think of him as “the patient” rather than my son. I’ve seen enough accident victims, from my very first night as a volunteer EMT, to medical school, right up until today, that I know the procedures for assessment and treatment by heart. That helps keep my mind off who the patient is. If I let that discipline slip, I’ll be useless to him.
The patient has another problem. He’s still hemorrhaging. I’ve already done an ultrasound, and Amanda agreed with me that it’s almost certainly damage to his spleen. I think – I know – we’re going to have to operate. If Marsha Pierce weren’t on her way, I would have started already. And here she is, with Shelly Gianetti right behind her. Shelly gasps at the sight of the patient. Marsha puts an arm around me and asks for a rundown. I give it to her, and when I’m done, she lets me go and examines the patient herself. “I think you’re right.” I know I am. I wish I wasn’t. “The only question is, do we do the procedure here, or transport him to a level one trauma center?” I already thought about that. It would take fifteen or twenty minutes to get an ambulance here, and then an hour drive to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, which is the closest trauma center to us. “I don’t know if we have that much time.” I’ve already wasted twenty minutes waiting for her as it is. “We have to do it now.” I give her a moment to object. I think, if she really did believe I was wrong, that she would. Even though the patient is my son. Especially because he’s my son. But she doesn’t object. “Let’s scrub in.”

Dream Fragments:
Stories From the Dream Doctor Mysteries

The novels don’t tell the whole story!


Readers of the Dream Doctor Mysteries know that Sara and her family have a very busy life outside the pages of the ten Dream Doctor Mysteries, and here’s your chance to peek into it.

Twelve stories are included in this collection, and you’ll discover what happened on Sara’s final Spring Break of college; Lizzie’s first day of school; Betty and Howard’s first trip out of the country; and much more!




J.J. DiBenedetto is author of the Dream Series and the Jane Barnaby Adventures and lives in Arlington, Virginia with the love of his life and a white cat who rules the roost. 


His passions are photography, travel, the opera, the New York Giants, and of course writing. 

Mr. DiBenedetto is devoted to writing books with a sense of mysticism to entertain and perhaps invite his readers to suspend belief in a way they might never have.

Since he was very young , he has always been intrigued with the supernatural and things that can't be explained rationally.

By always asking way too many questions, it piqued his interest to the point of setting his writing off and running when he grew up! All the curiosity building up all those years were finally getting put into words to captivate readers. And it hasn't ended. His main goal is to share all the stories he has inside, putting pen to paper. And that's how the Dream Series was born.



Judging Books By Their Covers

Here’s the cover of Dream Doctor, the first book of the Dream Doctor Mysteries:
It’s not the original cover. I changed it last year, when I retitled the series (it was first called simply “the Dream Series”). This is what the previous cover looked like:
Both covers were designed by a fantastic cover artist, Emma Michaels (www.emmamichaels.com). I gave her basically no direction, other than the genre of the series and a couple of words for the tone and feel of each individual book. But even that wasn’t the original cover. The original cover was hand-painted by a good friend and artist, to whom I gave VERY detailed direction. And while it’s really cool (at least I think so!), in no way does it do much as far as selling the book. See if you agree: The artist, Ami Low, did a fantastic job of giving me exactly what I asked for – which was exactly wrong for the book! So I learned my lesson – I’m good at writing, but visual artists are good at, well, visual art, and I should stick to what I’m good at and let the artists do what they’re good at! Speaking of art, here from the archives is my original sketch, done in MS Paint, to illustrate to Ami what I was looking for, for the cover of Dream Doctor: I’d say that my stick-figure skills are right up there with your average first grader! Luckily, I’m a much better writer than I am an artist, and I hope that if you take a look at the book, you’ll agree with me!
Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!


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