Do You Deja Vu? I know I do.
Hey, haven't I written this once before?
I don't know about you, but I certainly have had my fair share of those creepy "deja vu" moments when you can almost recall, moment by moment, something that is happening or is just about to occur. You can call it a bit of released psychic energy, a knot in the time-space continuum, or a connection to a past identity, but I've experienced enough of these wacky instances to know that our timeline is not a direct one.
In the world of Robert Tonner's doll line--appropriately called Deja Vu--the heroine has more than an inkling of what's about to happen. She has a hazy, and then clearer, recollection of where she's been, who she's been, and what she's been doing.
That's such a fantastic concept, because every single one of us has had that eerie chill up the spine and then the immediate recognition of "hey, haven't I seen that before?" Sure, with the state of modern TV and movie-making, it might just be a case of plagiarism and Hollywood highjacking (remakes and sequels are blockbusters these days), but in real life it's something to ponder.
Tonner's dolls embody three different lives--but they are spread among one single entity. In modern-day Los Angeles, the girl in question is Penelope Brewster. Obviously with so many stories unfurling in her mind, she's headed to Hollywood to make a name for herself. After all, in the land of celluloid dreams, she's the perfect catalyst for envisioning with her eyes and mind wide open.
In her past lives, Penelope has been a flapper smack in the middle of the Roaring Twenties and an ambitious dress designer at the court of Marie Antoinette. Both of these eras are perfect stomping grounds for learning how to deal with contemporary cads and cunning cutthroats (and TInseltown is abounding with them).
When I was offered the chance to write the Deja Vu premiere book with Robert Tonner, I jumped at the opportunity. I instantly knew these characters inside out and felt their destinies flow from my fingertips. Their adventures seemed almost second nature to me, and Robert and I agreed on how their travels across the book's pages would float like a runaway hot-air balloon (yep, the book has hot-air travel)!
So, for me, being involved with Deja Vu is like coming home to a special, well-remembered friend. I'm not always sure what she's going to say to me, but I have an inkling that we might have shared the exact-same warm-hearted laugh in prior times.
Come to think of it, haven't I written this once before?
