About the Book

Book: The Nightmare Virus Author: Nadine Brandes Genre: YA Science Fantasy Release date: July 16, 2024 Some viruses go after the body. But the Nightmare Virus goes after the mind. When dream technology goes wrong, a virus spreads across the globe,trapping people in a universal dreamscape. They call it the Nightmare Virus.Cain Cross is determined to find a cure . . . if he can decipher his brother’s chicken-scratch formula notes. But when he gets infected, he has only 22 days until he’s trapped in the mental prison forever. Now, every time he falls asleep, he must fight in a Nightmare Arena until he earns his freedom to live in the “new world” that exists only in the mind. Then he finds a way to manipulate the Nightmare—to change it by mere thought. Forced to navigate a world of nightbeasts, mistblades, and half-truths, Cain turns his focus to survival. When the Emperor offers him a LifeSuPod—and access to a cure—in exchange for a dangerous favor, Cain thinks he’s found a way out. But Cain’s new power threatens to take him on paths that jeopardize his very soul. Will he continue searching for a cure, or will he swear allegiance to the Nightmare? And the bigger question might be . . . will he even have a choice?

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About the Author

Nadine Brandes has been known to do wild things (like ride a sleeper train across Russia) in the name of book research. She’s the four-time Carol Award–winning author of seven young adult books and has been a professional fiction editor for over a decade. She is passionate about Jesus, motherhood, and creating with the Creator. When she’s not busy inventing worlds and magic systems, she’s adventuring through Middle Earth with her Auror husband and their four Halfling children.

More from Nadine

“Really, God? Now?” That was my reaction when He told me it was time to sign a contract for The Nightmare Virus less than two years after a global pandemic. “No one wants a book with the word “virus” in its title.” That was the first of many moments that revealed this book was not my choice to write or publish or even title, but was instead the Lord’s. I’d had the idea for over a decade. And while it had nothing to do with the 2020 pandemic it arose from the concept that this world is not our home. This world is temporary and yet, during our time in it, we—as Believers—know the path to freedom out of darkness. It was a story I was waiting and waiting to write and share with the world and yet when God said “Go” I argued with Him. I was convinced this was the worst time to try and publish this book. I told Him I’d have no time to write it (as a mama of 3 children in 3 years with another one on the way at the time.) Yet God said, “I’ll make the time.” And He did. He paved the way for this book—both in my imagination and in my practical life—and that’s the best road an author can walk, one where her King has gone before her. This book is unlike anything I’ve ever written and I know that can be either a very good thing or a very bad thing, haha. But God has made it evident that He has a purpose for this story, not the least of which was to draw me closer to Him while writing it. As I prepared this blog post I thought I could talk about the characters or themes or plot…but you’ll encounter all of those things when you read it. Instead I chose to share the heart journey behind it. Readers may pick it up because of the title or perhaps they’ll pick it up in spite of the title. No matter how the story finds its way into their hands, I know that it is the Lord who got it there. And I can’t wait to see what sort of sparks come from it.

Interview with the Author

What helps you to write? Do you eat snacks, listen to music?

Prayer, tea, and a window! Haha those are my three “musts”. I need to pray before writing sessions to make sure I’m entering in to them with the Lord. I never want to write a story in my own strength! Tea is to bring delight and tasties to the writing time, as well as to keep my hands busy when I’m not typing or writing. Holding a warm mug gives the soul sustenance! And the window is for inspiration and the many hours of blank staring while I mentally try to somersault through planning out a scene.

If you could travel back in time, what time period would you go to?

Ooh, I love this question! But first I have to answer your question with a question: How long would I stay there? Because if I’m just going for a visit then I’ll definitely jump back to Bible times and hear Jesus teach in person for the three years of his ministry (can you imagine?!). But if it’s permanent, then I’m going to need a lot more time to think about this question, haha. I’d love to be in England during the Jane Austen time period and have some writing sessions with Jane. 😉

What is your favorite hymn and why?

Be Thou My Vision. I am a visionary and so desire that my visions for life, for my heart, for my writing, for motherhood, and for ministry would reflect Him and be a vision richly guided by my Lord.

What is one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you?

I do a lot of hands-on research for my books—whenever I can! I’ve walked a tightrope, climbed rock walls, eaten a raw potato, cooked marsh cattails (and ate them!), rode a sleeper train in a different country, worked as a sea cook, traveled the Panama Canal, driven a dogsled….all for book research! It not only helps my stories come that much more alive, but it helps me dare to adventure. It also often involves my family and loved ones in the writing and research process, which makes for such good memories!

What inspired you to write this book?

If anyone’s read even the blurb of my debut novel, A Time to Die, it may come as no surprise that I spend a lot of time thinking about the brevity of life. Not in a morbid way, but in a way that inspires me to be purposeful and intentional. This new book of mine—The Nightmare Virus—may seem like an intimidating topic of a virus sending us into an alternate world that is perishing much faster than the one that we’re in, but it helped me put in perspective our own world. Time is short, and as a daughter of Christ I know the “cure” for the world. Am I sharing it or speaking about it as if our world is dying? It was questions like those—that challenged my faith and forced me to examine how I was handling the gospel—that inspired this story.