Amazon Amazon.co.uk Etopia Press Category:  Horror Publisher: Etopia Press ISBN-10:  1936751194 Type: Fiction Copyright: Jan 14th, 2011 ISBN-13: 9781936751198 How a woman slips from reality into a nightmare... A woman is tempted away from the safety of her husband’s arms by a skillful nighttime visitor. But, they both find nothing is as it seems… Excerpt Forgive me. It was a kiss that brought me here. Soft and gentle. It ripped away my breath and tore away my soul. Now I can’t find my way back. I don’t want to find my way back. I hope you understand. First, there was a single word whispered close to my ear—sweet and warm. Come. I smiled at the nuance and turned towards the voice but, when I opened my eyes, all I saw was the silhouette of my sleeping husband, his back towards me. I closed my eyes again and sank into fitful sleep. Come. Farther away now. Enticing. Promising something else. Something new. I chased the voice through fleeting dreams, trying to see who was speaking—but he stayed just out of reach, out of sight, a teasing phantasm, hiding around corners and whispering from the dark. I awoke frustrated, wanting more. Daylight and real-life humdrum were enough to break the last tethers of fantasy clinging to my soul. The sound of the voice faded away with the day, drowned out by tedious chatter. But the thrill of the chase stayed with me, a gentle pulse between my legs keeping time with my heartbeat. I wanted to hear his voice again. I wanted to return to the dreamscape and hunt him down. Make him follow through on everything that single word promised. I wanted night to return so I could find him again, in the dark. Ridiculous! It was simply a dream. Anticipation carried me to bed at night. I tried to grasp a memory from that first dream, to recapture and hold the voice in the hope that I could perhaps summon its owner forward from the recesses of my mind. When my husband reached for me in the dark, I pushed his hand aside. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and listen. Come with me. Yes! “Let me see you,” I said. Come with me and you will. I tried to follow, stumbling as I chased the shifting form in front of me. He laughed, but still I followed. It was hopeless. I couldn’t catch him. He vanished. And I crumpled...

Steve Emmett
Dreaming Not Sleeping is the first horror to be published by Etopia Press and I've been waiting eagerly for it. I'm not disappointed. Kavan writes beautiful prose that flows off the page. I'd liken her to a 21st century M R James, the horror works that well. I do hope that she produces a full length novel soon. Worth every penny.

Verse
This is an eerie and seductive short story. Just the right kind of bed time reading to send you off to sleep with a smile and a shiver.

Geoff
I loved this story. Julia is a wonderful writer. And when I use words like loved and wonderful, I mean she was able to get under my skin and give me the chills. Not sure what I’ll dream tonight, but this creepy tale will definitely be with me as I drift off...