Falling Awake Playlist

As I've mentioned before, music plays a big role in my writing. I'm constantly being inspired by songs, music videos and my favorite bands!

So, in honor of release day on Tuesday, I've compiled a list of songs that I listened to and/or drew inspiration from while writing my latest book, Falling Awake.

Here it is:

The Killers – Be Still
Decyfer Down – Crash
Athlete – Wires (basically the theme song for the whole book!)
Morning Parade – Headlights
July for Kings – Blue
Cold War Kids – Hospital Beds
Zack Hemsey – Vengeance
Keane – Higher than the Sun
The Killers – Smile Like You Mean It
Paramore – The Only Exception
Travis – Mother
Art of Dying – Best I Can
Lifehouse – Easier to Be
Fran Healy – Anything
Lifehouse – From Where You Are
Long-view – When You Sleep
Saliva – So Long

Listen, read and enjoy!

I will wait for you...

Coming soon. Very soon.

The Wave

Back in 2010 I saw Keane in concert and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. (Click here to read that oldie but goodie blog post.) Fast forward six years and Keane's lead singer Tom Chaplin has announced he is releasing his own album on October 14th. Yay! I am so excited!

Tom has been through a lot in the last few years and you can read more about his inspiring story and his introduction to the album on his website here.

Below are two music videos to help give you an idea of why I'm anxiously awaiting the full album... (I dare you to not start crying!)

Tom Chaplin's debut solo album is available to pre-order now.

And if you aren't familiar with Keane already, I highly recommend all of their albums, but The Best Of seems like a pretty good place to start...

This wonderfully talented band has been providing me with inspirational music for my books for as long as I've been writing. ~RV

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Summer Tunes

Raw Music

Which Razors hockey player is your ultimate book boyfriend?

Take the quiz and find out!

Capturing the Castle

I Capture the Castle. An intriguing title. A beautiful story.

I saw the movie first (half a dozen times at least) and just now read the book. The movie is an absolute delight, although, I think I'm biased because Romola Garai is my favorite actress. Romola was my muse for Ally in my first novel, Home Ice, which goes to show how much everything is connected in some way or another. I didn't know it at the time, but I added the book to my Goodreads shelf and started reading it on Romola's birthday. Maybe I need to book a trip to Vegas; these coincidences are really adding up!

Who could resist a young Henry Cavill???

The book is British author Dodie Smith's first novel. She later became famous for writing the children's classic The Hundred and One Dalmations. I Capture the Castle was written in 1948 and holds up wonderfully well. The characters are vibrant and each of them eccentric in their own way. You feel like you're right there with Cassandra, experiencing life in the run-down castle.

I Capture the Castle transports you to a place without cell phones, Netflix, and all the modern-day trappings you're used to. It makes you feel like anything is possible--whether or not you live in a castle--and that alone succeeds in making me feel young again. With new beginnings and the possibility of finding love spread out in front of you, this story truly captures your heart...


The movie:


The book:

~I highly recommend both!


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Romola's Birthday Wishes

You Capture My Heart

Free Book Bargains

Buy Island Ice in paperback and get the Kindle version for Free!

You know what? This deal applies to all of my books and not just Island Ice! If you buy a new print edition (or have purchased one in the past), you can buy the Kindle Edition for FREE.

At Amazon, make sure you click on the Paperback version of the title you want...

Then scroll down to Product Details, and the Kindle MatchBook info is there on the right.

Find out more about the Kindle MatchBook program here.