10 Things You Didn’t Know About Can Dreams Come True

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Can Dreams Come True

1. The Andrew character took on a life of his own as I was writing the series. I never intended for him to have anxiety, but as I was writing the books I realized he was getting overwhelmed by his image and fame. It ended up creating a big part of the plot for the follow up book, In Over Her Head: Lights, Camera, Anxiety.

2. People ask me all the time how I picture Cecily and I've always pictured her looking like Selena Gomez, which is what I told the cover artist (Cora Graphics). Cecily also has that same sweet vulnerability as well.

3. I watched (and read) a ton of music bios and documentaries while working on this story. Everyone from Ed Sheeran to Elvis, Marvin Gaye, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, George Michael, Amy Winehouse, and many more. It helped me see what that celebrity lifestyle was like with all the pressures.

4. I was very close to my aunt and her friends when I was a teen, so I wrote an aunt character for Cecily to confide in. I think teens need an adult outside of their parents to talk to when they are dealing with something that their friends don't have experience in handling. I still talk to my aunt's best friend every week! We text all the time.

5. Blue Arbor is a lake town that I made up. Since I have a series set in Grand Haven, Michigan where they also visit Saugatuck, I wanted to create a separate town from that. I imagine Blue Arbor as a mix of several Lake Michigan beach towns: Spring Lake, Grand Haven, South Haven, Holland, Spring Lake, and Saugatuck.

6. I visited two piers while working on this story for the music video shoot scene. One was in Holland, Michigan, and the other was in Grand Haven. Going to places in person and walking the path my characters take helps me set my scenes better. I walked the paths that Cecily and Andrew walk in the music video scenes on the pier and the beach path several times to get a feel for it.

7. Cecily feels uncomfortable after her guidance counselor doesn’t seem to put much value in her extracurricular activities which include reading. I wrote in an assistant principal character who gets Cecily’s love of reading to show that everyone has their unique strengths. I think adults can be dismissive of things sometimes because they mean well and don't want us to have our heads in the clouds. Still, our passions are what keep us going and they are valid.

8. Mr. Warwick is loosely based on my father. He loved reading and took an interest in helping his students. I remember him telling me he knew a little girl who loved reading, but she didn’t have books to read at home, so he brought some of his old Hardy Boy books to her classroom so she'd have new books to read.

9.  Music is a huge part of my writing process. I do a playlist for every book I write and listen to it before my brainstorming process. You can find a few of my playlists online, but here's one to check out: https://www.krystenlindsay.com/blog/new-playlist-for-the-cecily-taylor-series

10. The documentary Andrew and Cecily both like is called, "Great Gatsby: Midnight in Manhattan." I found it at the library and really got into it. I'm such a nerd when it comes to documentaries! I checked this one out so many times that I finally just tracked down a copy of my own and ordered it.