I am proud to welcome author of Rest for the Wicked, Cate Dean, to Celestial Reviews! She was kind enough to leave a guest post, titled,

"Listen to the Music – my writing soundtrack"

I am one of those writers who must have background noise to write. For me, absolute silence means instant writer’s block. So I let the music play, and the words just start to flow.

For Rest For The Wicked it was my favorite, and what I grew up with – classic rock.

Kansas, Styx, Boston, Alias – all of them pounded out fast and slow rhythms while I pounded the keys. I even mention one of the songs in the book.

Music has always been a soundtrack to my writing, a subtle but constant background as the story in my head transfers itself to the page. And the story always seems to choose the music: Carry On Wayward Son played in my head every time I sat down to write this book, and the power and emotion of that song infused itself in the story.

I can’t imagine writing without that backbeat, the soundtrack that shapes not only the story on the page, but becomes part of the soundtrack of my life. I will always connect certain songs to this book, this time, and carry the feelings they pulled out of me.

Even now, as I type this, the lyrics echo in my mind, and inspire me to – go write.

What are your personal soundtracks? What inspires you to stretch yourself, reach beyond the ordinary? I would love to hear your stories, and why you listen to the music.

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Rest For The Wicked (The Claire Wiche Chronicles Book 1)

by Cate Dean

Claire Wiche is an ordinary woman, running her Wicca shop in an ordinary California beach town.

But Claire wasn't always ordinary, and she isn't quite human. She hides a secret, and a past she thought she had put behind her.

A past that is about to explode into her present.
When it does, and everyone she loves is in danger, Claire must face up to her past - and become what she left behind in order to save them.

NOTE: This is a short novel, at just over 40,000 words (125 pages), and has graphic scenes not suitable for the under 17 readers. As one reviewer stated: "This ain't no Harry Potter."