Blog Tour: Cameo Renae - In My Dreams

Hey everyone! I am the 12th stop of the In My Dreams Experience tour. Cameo Renae, the wonderful author of In My Dreams, is stopping by today to tell us all about the musical inspirations behind the novel! I will also have details about a giveaway at the end of this post. If you haven't been following the tour, there were 11 stops before me and 2 after me. Check out all the other tour stops here. The other blogs also have other fun guest posts, awesome interviews, and great giveaways!

Check out the Goodreads page for In My Dreams and read the novel synopsis here:

It was happening again. The dreams. The nightmares. It was something seventeen year-old Elizabeth "Lizzy" Hayes thought she'd outgrown; dreams that would come true; detailed premonitions of how people would die. This time she dreams about her boyfriend, Michael Young, and soon discovers that he's been found... dead.

Michael hasn't crossed over because he was murdered, and now his murderer is coming for Lizzy. His spirit won't rest until she is safe, and as a newbie spirit, the easiest way for him to make contact is through Lizzy's dreams. When she dreams, it's as if he hasn't died.

Lizzy must learn to pull on her inner strength to survive horrifying events. Meanwhile, in the spirit world, Michael learns everything he can about his supernatural gifts to help. But will it be enough to save her?



Now, without further ado, please welcome Cameo Renae!!

A Little About the Book:

The setting for In My Dreams was in Alaska. The reason was because I actually lived there for almost two years. My mom, dad, brothers and their families, all live in Wasilla, Alaska. We moved back to Maui, Hawaii, after my husband’s mother passed away.

While we lived in Alaska, we loved it. The changing seasons, the snow (which we don’t get in Hawaii) was magical to us. There were places of untouched beauty everywhere. I knew it would be the perfect setting for my story.

In My Dreams is a Young Adult book. I’d say the age range is from 15-17 and is a supernatural romance/thriller. The characters are few and simple. The two main characters are Elizabeth “Lizzy” Hayes and her boyfriend Michael Young. They’ve been best friends from childhood, and have planned to spend the rest of their lives together… UNTIL… Michael is killed. (I don’t want to give too much away!) This story is about the love that they shared, and how it breached death.

Songs of inspiration

Music does play a significant role in my writing. I find that if the music I’m listening to, feeds the mood of the scene I’m writing, then my writing seems to flow much better.

Music is a powerful tool. It can alter and set a mood, the atmosphere, and your emotions. When I work out… (haha! A rare thing these days! :) I don’t want to listen to sad or mellow music. I gotta pump up the volume, and the bass, with music that gets me hype.

It’s the same for writing. When I’m writing a sad piece… I want that sad, mellow music. If the scene is scary, then I like that eerie, creepy music. The right type of music will bring me that extra emotion which can help and add to my writing, and hopefully… to the reader. I find that I am an emotional writer. I want my reader to feel, and experience what my characters are feeling, and music has definitely been a big part of that.

In My Dreams wasn’t written with music on all the time, but when the right music was on while I was writing… Oh, it made it so much sweeter.

As I was in the middle of writing In My Dreams, I wanted to find a song that went with the theme of the story. Halo, by Beyoncé, seemed like a great fit, but after Google-ing, I happened upon the perfect song: I’ll See You in My Dreams, by Giant. I’d never heard of the group, but there was a link to a video of the song on YouTube. So…I clicked play, and immediately fell in love with the song. The music had a sort of sad eeriness to it, but the words were dead on. I knew then, that I had to use it in the book, and I did.

The reason… While watching a show with a medium, he said that our loved ones can communicate with us in different ways. Music was one of them.

Here is the link to the YouTube video that sparked a moment of In My Dreams.

If you read the book, you’ll see that the song fits perfectly. If you haven’t read In My Dreams, I hope you will. :o)

I want to send out a special “Thanks” to Mickey @ imabookshark for having me, and for the cool idea for this post. ;)

Check out the other In My Dreams Experience tour blog posts
and enter to win a giveaway here.

Giveaway Alert!

I have one ebook of In My Dreams to give away!!! Who wants one?! Here are the details:

• Leave a comment with your name and email address/twitter handle and you're entered. Let me know which format you want as well if you have a preference.
  
• Leave a separate comment for one extra entry if you tweet about the interview/giveaway. Please include direct link.
  
• Must be 13 or older.
• International contest!!!
  
• You don't have to be a follower, but it's appreciated of course!
• Ends at 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, 8/4/11.
  
• Winner will be picked with random.org.
• Questions? Email me at imabookshark AT yahoo DOT com!

Good luck!