Nightborn Virtual Book Tour

Book Excerpt

Florida, USA—Sometime soon

Alice saw the wave. It was a beast. It rose slowly at first, the way a predator prepares to strike—silent, inevitable. It quickly gained speed, swelling into a towering monster, a force of nature, as if the ocean itself had decided to swallow her whole. The wave surged, easily 30 feet high, dark and roaring with a ferocity she could feel in her bones. It moved toward her with the relentlessness of fate. She turned, panic seizing her as she raced up the beach, her bare feet slipping in the wet sand. The ocean was closing in—the world was closing in on her. Her breath came in jagged gasps, but the wave, too quick, slammed into her, yanking her under. Her body twisted through the water, eyes stinging, lungs burning, desperate for air, clawing at the debris swirling around her—plastic, broken wood, seaweed, dead fish—but there was no solid ground to cling to. The current pulled her deeper, its grip tightening like cold fingers around her throat. She gasped for air, choking on the water, the world a dark, crushing void. She couldn’t see. Every nerve in her body screamed for release, but the ocean kept pulling, tumbling her in every direction, turning her body like a puppet with broken strings. She was drowning. No—she was going to die. Something in her snapped. Her feet hit something solid. Hard. Stone? She couldn’t tell. All she knew was that she had to rise. She shoved upward, throwing her weight toward the surface with every ounce of strength she had left. Her body screamed, but she pushed harder, until her head broke through to air. For one split second, she inhaled—but the water dragged her down again, relentless, hungry for her life. She fought the instinct to panic. She couldn’t let it win. Not today. Just breathe. Just breathe, Alice. Instinctively she let herself float, stilling her body, letting the sea carry her, accepting the weight of the water around her. She couldn’t fight it anymore—but maybe she didn’t have to. Her feet found solid ground again. She shoved upward, defiant, gasping as she broke through. Sunlight blinded her. Alice jerked awake, the sharp taste of salt lingering on her tongue, her body tangled in the sheets. The echo of the wave still thundered in her ears. The sunlight slanted through the bedroom window, blinding. Her pulse thrummed in her neck as if the sea still had its grip on her. “You’re okay. You’re okay. It was a dream. Just a nightmare.” What if it wasn’t just a nightmare? Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, Alice’s feet hit the cold floor. Had Swiss psychiatrist and dream analysis pioneer, Carl Jung ever felt this unsettled after one of his dreams? Had his own night visions ever made him question his grasp on reality? Her eyes flickered to the bedside table and her Red Book: the dream journal she’d named after Jung’s own. Ever since she was young, she’d written down her dreams. But this one felt radically different from the rest. It was too real, though it clearly wasn’t literal. She lived more than an hour from the nearest beach and had never been to it. Was the dream a symbolic glimpse into her own future? A warning? Or something darker, deeper? It was just a dream. Maybe it was just all the energy she’d poured into teaching Jungian dream analysis spilling out cathartically in a nightmare. The feeling of drowning clung to her. She grabbed her journal and scribbled out every detail of the dream. The ocean. The wave. The suffocating terror. Jung had called the act of recording dreams an act of self-analysis—so why did this one feel more like a clear and present danger than an analysis? Was it the forbidden mystery Jung had hinted at in his Red Book—that thin line between genius and insanity where revelation could be found? Was her obsession with dreams driving her mad? It was her calling, her passion. Perhaps, as director of the new program in Jungian Studies at the University of Central Florida, she could teach her students what she had dreamt and encourage them to analyze it; maybe it would be cathartic for them and for her. What if her students were the key to unlocking the deeper meanings of her own dream? She could see herself standing before the class, scrawling on the blackboard, her voice filled with energy as she taught them about using their dreams to peer into possible futures, even to shape reality. Inception—she would reference that for sure, the perfect movie fix to illustrate how the subconscious could manipulate perception and even reality. What better way to introduce her students to the power of their own dreaming minds? Alice pushed herself out of bed as the sinking feeling of the dream still clung tight. Blinking rapidly in front of her bedroom mirror, she forced herself to take deep breaths. Her long dark hair framing the mismatched eyes staring right back at her: one blue, one brown. She had always hated this difference. Always hidden it behind a pair of blue lenses. A perfect illusion of normalcy, her blue lenses. They always worked—ever since she was 14, when her mother had taken her to the ophthalmologist to prevent the cruel teasing at school. Alice slipped them on, as though the simple act could shield her from her nightmare. The rhythm of her repeated blinking to help the lenses settle helped bring a semblance of calm. Something was coming, though; she could feel it. Something was drawing her, pulling her into the unknown. Could she rise above and survive it? Alice dressed the part for her day ahead and stepped out into the bright light of the day. Was the drowning nightmare a message? A warning? And if so, a warning about what?

– Excerpted from NightBorn by Theresa Cheung, Collective Ink, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

 

 

 Author Interview

At what point did you decide to be an author and what was your path to publication?

For me, becoming an author wasn’t a single decision but a gradual awakening. I grew up in a family where dreams and intuition were part of daily life, so exploring the inner world came naturally. After studying Theology and English at Cambridge, writing about dreams and spirituality became my calling, and one book led to another. But NightBorn had a very different path. My traditional nonfiction publishers couldn’t quite picture me writing fiction, so I took a leap of faith and went with a small independent press. It was a risk, but it gave me total creative freedom and it allowed NightBorn to exist exactly as I envisioned.

What do you do when a new idea jumps out at you while you’re still working on a book?

I definitely experience UP syndrome and by that I mean ideas popping up at the worst (or best) possible times. But I’ve learned to make a note, breathe, and stay with the project I’m working on. Dreams have taught me that each idea has its own timing. If it’s meant to stay, it will return. NightBorn survived exactly this way a persistent idea that kept circling back and popping up in my dreams at night until I finally gave it my full attention.

Who is your favorite character to write, and why? And if you can’t choose, who is the most demanding?

Choosing a favourite feels impossible, but Alice Sinclair the psychology professor who finds herself appearing in strangers’ dreams was the most fascinating to write. She’s rational, intelligent, and deeply human, yet forced to face the one thing she cannot control: her own subconscious. The most demanding character, however, was the evil antagonist lurking behind the shared nightmares. To write that presence, I had to dig into the shadow side of dreams – the fears, the illusions, and the power of manipulation. It required a different kind of attention and emotional energy.

Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot, or write organically?

My process is a blend. I outline the emotional beats and key turning points, especially the psychology and dream symbolism but once I’m actually writing, the story becomes far more fluid. I let intuition lead. Because dreams are organic and unpredictable, I wanted the narrative to have that same sense of discovery. So I plan enough to feel grounded, but I write in a way that leaves room for surprises.

What are some books or authors you would recommend to readers?

I always recommend Carl Jung for anyone curious about the symbolic mind. For fiction lovers who enjoy psychological depth and atmosphere:Stephen King and Shirley Jackson. Their work blends emotion, imagination, and the uncanny in ways that inspire me. And for non fiction dream lovers, of course my own Dream Dictionary A–Z.

Tell us what you enjoy most about writing this genre.

I love psychological fiction because it lets me explore the hidden layers of human experience. Dreams are already stories our minds tell us at night, so turning that into a waking narrative felt completely natural. Writing this genre allows me to weave mystery, emotion, and symbolism together and invite readers into the strange, shimmering place where imagination and subconscious meet.

What have you found to be most challenging about writing in this genre?

The biggest challenge is balance and keeping the story gripping and fast-paced while still honouring the psychological depth I care about. It’s easy to go too symbolic or too intellectual, so I constantly had to make sure the tension stayed high and the emotional stakes clear. But that challenge also made writing my debut novel NightBorn thrilling. It taught me that fiction can be both entertaining and enlightening if you trust yourself to let the characters and story speak through you.

About the Author

 

Theresa Cheung
is an internationally bestselling author and public speaker. She has been writing about spirituality, dreams and the paranormal for the past 25 years, and was listed by Watkins Mind Body and Spirit magazine as one of the 100 most spiritually influential living people in 2023.
She has a degree in Theology and English from Kings College, Cambridge University, frequently collaborating with leading scientists and neuroscientists researching consciousness.

Theresa is regularly featured in national newspapers and magazines, and she is a frequent radio, podcast and television guest and ITV: This Morning’s regular dream decoding expert. She hosts her own popular spiritual podcast called White Shores and weekly live UK Health Radio Show: The Healing Power of Your Dreams. 

Her latest book is the paranormal thriller, NightBorn, available at Amazon US and Amazon UK.

You can visit her website at www.theresacheung.com or connect with her on X, Facebook, Instagram or Goodreads.