Starbound Lovers

The other morning I woke up from the most vivid dream. Usually I tell myself I'll remember this dream or this dream would make a great story, but of course, with few exceptions within minutes of waking the dream has faded or I realize that what made perfect sense in the dream world is totally incomprehensible in real life.

I dream in color. There's sight, sound, sensation and sometimes even smell, but I don't recall ever having a dream that included  taste - up until this one. I woke from this dream with the taste of apples, vanilla, cinnamon and whipped cream on my tongue.

My sweet preference is chocolate, the darker the better. I'm not a big fan of pancakes, waffles or pies, but in this dream I was eating a dessert that seemed to combine all three. The dessert wasn't beautiful to my eyes, just a layered concoction of apple pie filling, pie crust, waffles, crepes and whipping cream, but with each bite flavor burst on my tongue, rich and delicious. I never wanted to stop eating it. The tastes lingered on my tongue long after I woke.

As writers we're told to use the five senses in our writing - sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. This is great advice. Using the five senses helps the reader connect with the characters and the story. In romance this is especially important to help create deep point of view. While sight, sound, touch and smell is used in books, I rarely read taste. And sometimes when it's used in love scenes I find myself giggling. Her breasts tasted like honey. Can breasts taste like honey or nipples like cherries? I won't even go into what other parts of the body taste like.

 Here are a few paragraphs from THE CHRISTMAS VILLAGE where I've used the sense of smell to set the scene and draw the reader in.