For the readers: can you tell us a little bit about your book and the characters?

● Crown of Blooms is about a 15 year old pastor’s son who starts to develop new and confusing feelings about the new boy in his youth group. It’s a story of growing up and queer awakening in the context of the evangelical church. The main character is Kayden Moses. He’s a sweet, sensitive, shy, and a real people pleaser which makes it even more difficult that he has never been able to live up to his Father’s expectations, compared to his twin sister Delilah who is the clear favorite. Kayden starts building a friendship with the new boy in youth group, Alex. Despite going to the same church, Alex is far less sheltered and close-minded than the people Kayden’s used to hanging out with and as the two start to get closer, Kayden starts to question a lot of the beliefs he used to take for granted, starting him on an enlightening  but scary journey of deconstruction. 

What are you working on now?

● Right now, I’m finishing up the next book in the series Crown of Thorns. The goal is for a 2025 release but we’ll see. I don’t want to give anything away for my readers but I will say that I think this next book as well as the final book, Crown of Roses, goes to some really important places in exploring what it means to navigate the world as a queer youth. I’ve been working on a romance series. I’m learning that not everything I create has to be the next American novel. Sometimes you gotta write trashy kissing books. It’s good for the soul. 

Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?

● While the literal events of the book aren’t reflective of my life, a lot of the internal and social conflict is based on my own experience growing up in the Southern evangelical, non-denominational but actually baptist-lite church. That includes some of the way his parents are characterized. Again, they’re not at all one to one representations but the ways in which Kayden experiences his parents as these sort of looming figures that dispense God’s will to him, I think it might ring a few bells for my siblings. 

Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?

● Writing Kayden was definitely cathartic and really pushed my literary skills and I’m really proud of the character I created. However, as far as which character was most fun to write, I’d have to say Delilah, Kayden’s twin sister. She walks this tightrope of performing this sort of traditional, modest, Proverbs 31 femininity while also having a naturally cunning, direct, somewhat aggressive personality. She’s someone who fully buys into the beliefs of her church and her parents and she seriously prides herself on it. But pride cometh before the fall and all that. As someone who never fit well into the church environment, it was fun to write someone who actually knows how to play the part. As far as least favorite characters to write, there’s a group of boys that are Kayden’s sort of friends. Writing the sort of naked hatefulness that comes from adolescent boys who feel empowered to be hateful was difficult at times but I thought it important to express that, especially for people who don’t come from this culture and may not understand just how ridiculous it gets. 

What is your favorite passage/scene in your book?

● There’s a scene toward the end where, after making a big step in his relationship with Alex, Kayden goes to youthgroup alone. His sister isnt even there. I won’t spoil it but after a moment of catharsis, Kayden ends up walking home in the snow and it gives him this moment of quiet. After so much of the boon has been these intense interpersonal experiences, finally it’s just him and his thoughts. Finally he can just take a moment to reflect, to wonder, to exist before his life fundamentally changes forever.  

What kind of research did you have to do for the story?

● I didn’t do much research for this book because the church and the community is all based around my lived experiences. I think anyone who’s been to an evangelical youth group meeting will see that. However, at the end, we’re introduced to the place where Kayden will spend the majority of the upcoming sequel, Crown of Thorns. And for that location, I did have to do a lot of research. That included looking up old court cases. I took a lot of inspiration from places like Dr. Phil’s Turnabout ranch, teen wilderness programs and  the experiences of celebrities like Paris Hilton and Drew Barrymore. I won’t spoil it though I’m sure some of you know what I’m getting at. Let’s just say that Crown of Thorns introduces some horrors that are as outlandish as they are real and that realness meant quite a bit to me. 

Lightning Round Questions

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

● I don’t want to lie to my dear readers. It’s just been nothing but fanfiction for months. Fanfiction was what made me discover myself as a writer and I cannot resist the siren song of a03. Specifically Hurt/Comfort or Forced Proximity. That’s my jam. 

Favorite social media site?

● TikTok for good stuff, Instagram for mind melt garbage, YouTube shorts when I really feel like a degenerate. 

Favorite Superhero or Villain?

● Mirko and Dabi from My Hero Academia. I love a buff woman and an evil, stinky man. 

Favorite TV show?

● I have not hyper fixated on any show as badly as I’m hyper fixated on Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel in over a decade. Vivziepop, count your days. 

Sweet or Salty?

● Salty. A family box of Cheezits hates to see me coming. 

Any Phobias?

● Metal swing sets and I’m not even joking. If people are swinging next to each other, it makes me nauseous. If they’re swinging in opposite directions, I’m hyperventilating. If the top metal bar is bending while they’re swinging? I’m leaving the area. 

Song you can’t get enough of right now?

● All 2 U from season 2, episode 9 Apology Tour of Helluva Boss. I reiterate, Vivziepop and Andrew Underberg (a close friend of my brother?!?!?) count your days. 

2024 Movie you’re most looking forward to?

● The Minecraft Movie only because I need answers about Jason Momoa’s villainous wig. Otherwise, I’m really hyped about Joker 2 and Wicked. I’m a huge theater kid if you couldn’t tell. 

Do you play video games? If so what are some of your favorites?

● I have terrible fine motor skills so my gaming is usually limited to pretentious walking simulators and text based adventures. Beginners Guide, Doki Doki Literature Club and Papers, Please come to mind. However the most profound gaming experience I’ve ever had (and maybe the most profound narrative experience period) is A Dark Room. It’s an iOS take. Don’t look up anything about it. Just play it. Please. You won’t be disappointed. 

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:

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.