Book Cover Junkie Interviews Coming of Age Literary Fiction Author R.C. Dickens

R.C. Dickens is the pen name of Juniper Ray, a black, queer writer, choreographer, teacher’s assistant and disaster living in Appalachia with big dreams of escaping out to the West Coast. Along with their debut novel, Crown of Blooms, they have worked as a ghostwriter for several years and have published several short stories. In 2023, Juniper won the Webby Award for Best Single Episode of a Podcast for their appearance on Snap Judgement. When they aren’t writing (which is rarely) Juniper enjoys dancing, singing, anime, cosplay and generally being a menace to the general public. 

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ https://rcdickens.wixsite.com/website 

Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRCDickens  

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/rcdickens_author 

Interview:

Tell us about your book! What inspired you to write it?

Crown of Blooms is about a 15-year-old pastor’s son named Kayden who starts to fall for one of the boys in his youth group. What transpires is a story of queer awakening, religious trauma, young love and betrayal. It was inspired by my own upbringing, growing up black and queer in the buckle of the bible belt. A lot of the themes of religion, sexual development, and adolescence are pulled directly from my own life. I would call the book thematically autobiographical in that way. It actually started as a short

story about a boy protesting a pride event who sees his ex-lover across the fence. 

How did you choose the title for your book? Did it come to you right away, before you started writing it, or did it come later?

Crown of Blooms was a very late decision. I’m actually terrible at titles. I knew I wanted to tie together the religious themes, the idea of transformation, and leave room for a trio of titles, as Crown of Blooms is the first in a series. I actually named the third book, Crown of Roses, first and worked backwards from there, titling the middle Crown of Thorns and the first Crown of Blooms. 

Tell us about the cover design process. Did you have a basic idea of what your book cover would be like? Who is your cover designer, and how did you find him/her?

Funny enough, I basically won the cover. The cover designer made a post on TikTok saying, “comment your book idea and I’ll design a cover” and she happened to pick mine. She made this gorgeous cover, and it just fit so well, I had to go with it. I may go for something different with the next book as my sensibilities and plans for this series grow, but who knows. 

What has been the readers’ response to your cover?

People have been pretty responsive to it, and I personally think the cover, combined with the title, communicates everything you need to know before going into this book. 

What tips would you give to authors who are looking for a cover designer?

A good book cover should be equally meaningful and beautiful to you. If you only try to create a marketable cover, you’re gonna end up losing some of your identity as an author. Trust the designer, of course, but don’t forget it’s your cover. 

Anything else you’d like to say about your book?

This book has been such a labor of love. I’m still in the phase of my career where every individual purchase, like, comment, and review means the world to me, so please, don’t think your support goes unnoticed. Also, I’m looking for beta readers, so if you’d like to get an early copy of the sequel, Crown of Thorns, please let me know. Just check out my linktree to know where to find me.