I’ve had dreams before. Of oceans and jungles and the creatures lurking there. I’ve propelled
myself off rocky cliffs, jumped from skyscrapers, and been tossed off bridges. There is a fine
line between nightmare and fantasy, where evil meets perfection, darkness shadows light, and
angels and demons converge in their various altering forms.
When I first set out to write Jungle Eyes, I wanted to intertwine those elements that either haunt
or illuminate our dreams. The fantasy? To live on a tropical island, amidst the virgin vegetation
of the jungle, in all of her natural beauty. A world where love could blossom between man and
woman like an exotic wildflower, an allusion to the original couple in the Garden of Eden.
Life would be breathtaking, adventurous, and free of modern conventions, technology, and the
harsh effects of industrialism. A place where the island honeymoon could last a lifetime.
The nightmare?
There are creatures in the jungle. Creatures who watch, creatures who wait patiently for prey.
Creatures who must eat. Because there are no rules in the jungle, merely the struggle to stay
alive. Survival of the fittest, where only the strong will survive. One can hardly call it a
competition when you’ve found yourself on the wrong side of the food chain.
So here was the ultimate juxtaposition. Paradise in its purest form. And hell right alongside of it.
What pleasure to encounter such a beautiful place at the price of inevitable pain.
When Henry washes ashore, there is a new world before him, where pure waters fall and wild
animals roam. What first appears to be utopia is merely a glass façade, whose transparent shell
will crack, subtly revealing bits and pieces of life, not as human or man, but as a survivor. A life
where the strength of body heavily outweighs the strength of mind. Where basic necessities
outride all else: food, shelter, clothing. Because what would dictate physical urges more than the
will to survive?
In my mind, Jungle Eyes was the cultivation of my greatest aspirations and fears. The love of a
good, strong man and the possibility of losing him. The home of an island dweller, happily
distanced from the threat of strangers and the pain they might cause. Seclusion. Isolation. The
ability to connect with the inner self within the palm of nature’s wondrous creation.
The fantasy. The nightmare. The dream.
No story is perfect. No setting. No style. No tone. No mood. No metaphor. No imagery. No
syntax. No diction.
Words exist in light of glowing imperfection, as we all do. But there is beauty in imperfection, in
nightmares, in fantasies, in wild, kaleidoscopic dreams. Where the natural meets the ideal, reality
emerges like a twisting, tangling vine that leads to the tree of life, bounteous and flourishing. The
roots of that tree are fed by a cool, sparkling brook, which runs parallel with every underlying
insecurity, apprehension, and anxiety. Because the reddest rose could not be so without the
thorns that shield it.
There is no day without night, no triumph without fear, no heaven without hell.
Often, I have found the nightmare clinging to the fantasy, hiding behind it, like a wolf in sheep’s
clothing. Those things that have been designed to scare, to terrorize, to evoke even the slightest
ounce of fear within us, are perpetually bound to what we desire most.
But there is no need to run from our dreams as if they were some bloodthirsty panther lurking in
the night, prowling and stalking beneath the glow of moonlight. The truth is, the subconscious
mind only exists to elucidate the desires, actualizations, and aspirations of the conscious mind.
So stop being so afraid of your dreams.
They’re not chasing you.
Sleep with the nightmare and wake with the fantasy. Because neither can exist without the other.
Dream Big. Dream Loud. Dream Often.
Chase after that bloodthirsty panther and never look back, because everything you have always
wanted is waiting for you in the jungle.
About the Author
LINDSAY MARIE MILLER was born and raised in Tallahassee, FL, where she graduated
from high school as Valedictorian. Afterwards, Lindsay attended Florida State University
and graduated Summa Cum Laude with an English Literature major, Psychology minor,
and Specialized Studies in Markets and Institutions. Lindsay is the author of the romance
novels: Jungle Eyes, Me & Mr. Jones, and Emerald Green. Jungle Eyes is the beginning of
a new romantic action/adventure trilogy. Emerald Green is the first installment in a four-
part series of Young Adult romantic thrillers. And the New Adult romantic thriller, Me &
Mr. Jones, will be accompanied by a sequel. In her free time, Lindsay enjoys singing,
playing the piano and guitar, and writing songs. The author resides in her hometown of
Tallahassee, FL, where she is currently working on her next novel.
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Books by Lindsay Marie Miller
Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Suspense, Thriller
Title: Emerald Green
Author: Lindsay Marie Miller
Release Date: June 7, 2015
Available in Paperback & eBook
Synopsis
On a chilly December night in Savannah, Georgia, seventeen-year-old Addie
Smith dreams of an alluring young man, too mysteriously handsome to be real.
When spring semester commences the following week, at Maple Creek High, a
new student, named Tom Sutton, arrives, bearing a striking resemblance to the
beautiful stranger from Addie’s dream. Addie feels inextricably drawn to Tom, and
his rare, unwavering resiliency, as the enchanting nature of first love takes hold.
But when a cold-blooded criminal returns to Savannah, in pursuit of a long
forgotten possession, Addie must confront the darkest secrets of an elusive, hidden
past that threaten to destroy her future.
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Genres: Romance, New Adult, Suspense, Thriller
Available in Paperback & eBook
Title: Me & Mr. Jones
Author: Lindsay Marie Miller
Release Date: October 7, 2015
Synopsis
Finley O'Connell is a shy, reserved college student, who has no intention of ever
trusting another man. At nineteen, Finley spends her Friday nights alone, studying
clinical psychology to ease her mind of the abusive childhood she has yet to
overcome. Her new professor, the young, charismatic Cabel Jones, begins to take
an interest in Finley, whose first instinct is to run. But when an ordinary
experiment turns to bloodshed, Finley must rely on Cabel, as the two hide away in
a rustic, secluded cabin in the wilderness. Plagued by deception and fear, Finley
soon finds herself in the arms of the one man on campus who can never truly be
hers.
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Title: Jungle Eyes
Author: Lindsay Marie Miller
Genres: Romance, Historical, Action/Adventure
Release Date: November 20, 2015
Available in Paperback & eBook
Jungle Eyes Trilogy: Book 1
Synopsis
In the spring of 1899, Henry Rochester boards a ship on the docks of New York
Harbor and sets sail across the Atlantic. Desperately seeking freedom and
adventure, Henry fails to anticipate the violent ocean storm that will destroy the
ship, murder his fellow comrades, and leave him stranded on a deserted island.
However, Henry is not alone in paradise, as a beautiful young woman, named
Elaine, acquaints him with the enchanting, yet evil nature of the jungle. As the two
quarrel, reconcile, and bond, love blossoms between them like an exotic wildflower.
But when the tide turns, bringing an unescapable wave of danger with it, Henry
and Elaine must face the callous brutality of the uninvited.
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