BLOG TOUR: Crown of Bloom by R.C. Dickens (Giveaway & Playlist)

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the CROWN OF BLOOMS by R.C. Dickens Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: CROWN OF BLOOMS

Author: R.C. Dickens

Pub. Date: September 1, 2024

Publisher: Juniper Press

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 144

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/CROWN-OF-BLOOMS

 

Kayden Moses has worked for 15 years to be a good pastor’s son. He’s volunteered at every Vacation Bible School, never missed a youth group meeting, and tries to follow the example of his spiritually gifted twin sister, Delilah. However, all his diligent efforts are disrupted when he meets the biggest stumbling block of his life: Alex. He’s the new boy in youth group, bubbly and opinionated and dizzyingly nice to look at. Suddenly, Kayden finds himself caught in a spiral of confusion and asking questions he’s never asked before. Who is Kayden Moses? Because he’s certainly not a good pastor’s son anymore.

Book Playlist:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY3YJoBCEo8jOammsigqx5N41FUFJ2ldk&si=lVF3JPOyfpdQuvxo

If you want the full Crown of Blooms soundtrack, click this link and enjoy. However, here’s the top 10 songs that tell the story of Crown of Blooms.

 

10. God Must Hate Me by Catie Turner

●    When you’re raised being told that a conscious, omniscient God supposedly handcrafted you, it makes all of your flaws and shortcomings feel so cosmically confusing. There’s this constant question that comes with every insecurity. ‘Why would a good God make me this way?’.  This song expresses a lot of how the main character, Kayden, feels about Alex, the new boy at church. To Kayden, Alex is so beautiful, so perfect, that it feels divine. It feels like what an encounter with God should feel like. But because Alex is, in many ways, everything that Kayden is not, with his adoration comes this angry confusion. ‘How can God create something so beautiful then turn around and make me?’

9. Strawberry Blonde by Mitski

●     This song captures the conflict of attraction and jealousy that can happen between black people and their white paramours, particularly when they’re the same gender. There’s that trope of “do I want to be you or be with you?” that I think sits at the heart of Kayden and Alex’s relationship.

8. Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls

●    On top of being one of the best songs ever written, Iris reflects that while Kayden desperately wants to be seen, to be understood, to be known, he’s also terrified of what it might reveal, what it might change. The horrifying ordeal of being known and all that. And it also captures the intense trust it takes to finally let someone in, let someone see the real, ugly, dangerous truth of you.

7. Breakaway by George Ezra

●    There’s this ruinous melancholy to this song that captures what it’s like to walk through life seemingly normal while suffering your own private burden. This is the song that describes the relationship between Kayden and his twin sister Delilah, the way they both
suffer in silence but find solace in each other.

6. Inner White Girl from A Strange Loop

●    This is one of the most potent expressions of what it is to be a queer black boy, to crave self definition while being bound by the body you’re in. If you really want to engage with
black masculinity and queerness, Strange Loop is a must listen/watch.

5. Love Me, Normally by Will Wood

●     It was hard to limit myself to one Will Wood song. The title almost says it all. It also has this escalating, manic, rageful tone that also really expresses how the pressure of performing normalcy builds up.

4. Arsonist’s Lullabye by Hozier

●     Kayden’s biggest struggle throughout this book and the next two is coming to terms with the fact that the passion and desire inside of him can’t be quelled or controlled. Think of this song as sort of a reflection on the futility of trying to fight that fire.

3. I Hear A Symphony by Cody Fry

●    Kayden isn’t just raised as a conservative Christian. He’s also very sheltered and raised around other sheltered kids. There’s so much about the world that he doesn’t know. So when Alex comes into his life with this worldly, Renaissance man perspective, for Kayden it’s like seeing in color for the first time. The simple song of his childhood suddenly becomes an overwhelming symphony.

2. It Will Come Back by Hozier

●    I’m sure I am not the only queer person who experienced a feeling of resentment toward the people you’re attracted to, especially those who make it impossible not to love them. For Kayden, that push and pull, that feeling of losing control because of the emotions someone else pulls out of you, it’s a matter of his immortal soul. I think this song really captures how dire that plea of ‘stop being so good to me’ really is.

1. The Village by Wrabel

●    I included this song because I think it’s a defining song of a generation. It’s a protest anthem of sorts. The saying goes “a child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth”. We see the village that Kayden is growing up in and, without spoiling anything, in the next two books we will see what it means to burn that village down.

 

 

About R.C. Dickens:

 

Juniper-Ray Christian-Dickens(They-He)

Hi! I’m Juniper. I’m an author/ ghostwriter and Webby Award winning creator currently based in Hickory NC. I graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in Creative Writing and Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Cross-Media
Expressions, as well as a double minor in Creative Writing and Philosophy. My
experience includes:

• Copywriting
• SEO
• Proofreading and editing 
• Ghostwriting
• Short and long form
  fiction 
• Screenwriting 
• Narrative Design 
• Stage play
• Creative Development 

I am a terminally sincere starving artist currently looking to not be starving. When I’m not writing, I enjoy anime, horror movies, dancing, and musical theater. 

Sign up for R.C.’s newsletter! (scroll to the bottom of the page)

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of CROWN OF BLOOMS, US Only.

Ends October 22nd, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway