I am thrilled to have one of my favorite people on the blog today. Author and amazing editor Skyla Dawn Cameron is touring with her book River. She has shared the soundtrack with us (with some amazing music selections, I might add) and a great giveaway that y'all are going to want to enter.
Welcome, Skyla!
River
Defiant, nocturnal, moody–though
River sounds like a typical teenager, she’s anything but. River’s a werewolf.
The
life of an alpha female wolf was irrevocably changed the night she was attacked
and bitten, and awoke confused, alone, and human. Three years later,
thrust into a world where she doesn’t belong and living in foster care, River
barely tolerates humanity and still doesn’t know who bit her or why.
But
River isn’t as alone as she previously thought; someone’s been watching her,
someone who holds the answers she’s been seeking. And though the human who
changed her seems to be a step ahead of her at every turn, River is
determined to beat his game and return to her pack and mate.
As
if being stuck in a world she hates, with a life she never asked for, and faced
with a destiny she doesn’t want wasn’t bad enough, River still must find a way
to survive every human’s greatest challenge: high school.
eBook
ISBN: 978-1-927966-02-0
Print
ISBN: 978-1-927966-01-3
Release
Date: August 25 (ebook), September 1 (print)
Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MV6TJFI/
ARe:
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-river-1601109-142.html
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/468771
iBookstore:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/river/id911131898?mt=11
Buy
Direct: http://www.skyladawncameron.com/product/river/
Nook
and Kobo coming soon.
For
a list of tour spots and to find out more about River—including the
first seven chapters free—at http://skyladawncameron.com/river/
The River Soundtrack
I know music plays a part of Frances’
writing process, so when she kindly offered me space to talk here today, it
seemed appropriate to share my own personal playlist from writing and revising River.
I finished my first novel when I was
eighteen and still remember its lengthy soundtrack (epic traditional fantasy
with the theme song “No One Like You” by Sarah Brightman); going back even
farther than that, I was seven or eight writing “chapter” books (very short
chapters) with zombies and monsters based on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.
Music has been a part of my process for as long as I can remember, and
obviously River was no exception.
I first wrote the book over an intense
two week period in October 2003. Living with my boyfriend in my first
apartment, there was no actual office space and we didn’t have a desk, so my
big clunky PC and monitor were set up on a nightstand at the end of my bed. I
spent thirteen hours a day writing, my legs folded up light a pretzel, with
headphones on blasting the same songs on repeat for different scenes.
All was well until the very end of the
book. During the final, deeply emotional scene, when I had headphones on and
the same song on repeat, tears in my eyes...
My boyfriend strolled into the room and
said, “Whatcha doing?”
I think I set him on fire with my eyes.
He never, ever interrupted my writing again. Incidentally, we are also no
longer together. That was safest for all parties involved.
The book’s soundtrack has stayed with me
over the years, so much so that a few of the songs so deeply remind me of River
and her journey that I can’t listen to them in any other context. Revising River
for re-release in 2014 meant adding a few new songs to the soundtrack because
they were too perfect not to have included. Here they are, with a note of the
lines from the book or scene where relevant (otherwise assume it’s an overall
theme song).
Stabbing Westward – “Television”
River’s theme.
Linkin Park – “Numb”
Daryl's theme.
Jeffrey Gaines – “In Your Eyes”
(If you’ve read the book, you know this
song has a prominent role.)
Blue Foundation – “Eyes on Fire”
River stalks Daryl.
Sarah McLachlan – “Building a Mystery”
(Both because River feels like her opponent
is building a mystery, and also because David Usher is in the video and he
looks a bit like I pictured Daryl.)
Florence + The Machine – “Howl”
“Daryl tumbled but I was on him before
he hit the ground, my lips parted in a half-howl, half-scream.”
Korn – “Alone I Break”
River’s rage when she tears up her room.
Evanescence – “Haunted”
River’s nightmares.
Angie Hart – “Blue”
Gary Jules – “Mad World”
Sheryl Crow – “Strong Enough”
River’s other theme.
K's Choice – “Believe”
Moist – “Leave It Alone”
River mourns at her brother’s grave.
BOA – “Duvet” (acoustic)
“I’d rather drown next time than have you
following me”/“I’d rather you be alive and hating me than dead”
Twinbed – “Trouble I'm In”
“Fine. No more words.”
Poe – “Wild”
Chase through the woods/final fight.
Lifehouse – “Everything”
“...if I thought it would make you
happy.”
Sarah McLachlan – “Fumbling Toward Ecstasy”
“We don't need human words.”
And, as a bonus, the theme song for the
sequel, Wolfe:
Johnny Cash – “Hurt”
Skyla is also holding a spectacular giveaway. Jump in on the chance to win these goodies!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Skyla is also holding a spectacular giveaway. Jump in on the chance to win these goodies!
The giveaway is ONLY for US & Canada (due to the movie being Blu-Ray and the regions of Blu-Ray's and shipping costs over seas). Sorry.
