Christine Amsden is the author of nine award-winning fantasy and science fiction novels, including the Cassie Scot Series.
Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but Christine believes great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. She writes primarily about people, and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.
In addition to writing, Christine is a freelance editor and political activist. Disability advocacy is of particular interest to her; she has a rare genetic eye condition called Stargardt Macular Degeneration and has been legally blind since the age of eighteen. In her free time, she enjoys role playing, board games, and a good cup of tea. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two kids.
Author Links
Website ➜https://christineamsden.com/wordpress/
X ➜https://www.x.com/christinaamsden
Facebook ➜https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Amsden-Author-Page/127673027288664?ref=hl
The idea for Knot of Souls came to me in November of 2020, after a particularly divisive election cycle. I wasn’t sitting on the sidelines that year; I worked social media for two state senate campaigns where I got a front-row seat to some of the vilest comments you can imagine. The day after the election, I sat down at my computer and wrote three words:
Write something happy.
Joy got her name before she got a plot! :)
Ultimately, I chose to write a story about two very different beings forced by circumstance and mutually assured destruction to work together … and come out stronger on the other side.
Can you give us a blurb so others will know what it’s about?
Two souls, one body …
When Joy wakes up in an alley, she knows three things: she was brutally murdered, she has somehow come back to life … and she is not alone. She’s been possessed by an inhuman presence, a being that has taken over her dying body. That being is powerful, in pain, and on the run from entities more dangerous than he is.
Shade, a Fae prince on the run, didn’t mean to share the body he jumped into. Desperate and afraid, accused of a murder he didn’t commit, he only sought a place to hide—but if he leaves Joy now, he faces discovery and a fate worse than death.
Forced to work together to solve multiple murders, including her own, Joy and Shade discover hidden strengths and an unlikely friendship. Yet as their souls become increasingly intertwined, they realize their true danger might come from each other … and if they don’t find a way to untangle the knot their souls have become, then even the truth won’t set them free.
Can you tell us a little about the main characters in your book?
There are two main characters in this book, Joy and Shade.
Strangely, I was reading a writing how-to book called Story Genius as I drafted this novel, and Story Genius is of the opinion that stories have one main character. They said that even if a story seems to have more than one, if you think about it, there’s a main main character. They provided examples. It seemed somewhat compelling, but … What if both characters are sharing the same body?
Joy is a 23-year-old human woman from the Kansas City area (that’s the skyline on the cover). She’s incredibly kind, a real nurturer, spending her free time serving at a homeless shelter or just baking sweets for a coworker who’s feeling down. She’s also … at least at the beginning … not very assertive. Which is maybe why, when Shade first possesses her, she hides instead of fighting.
Shade is an incorporeal being who has recently been accused of murdering his own maker (Queen of the Fae). Which doesn’t make him the main main character, but it does make him the inciting character. He’s the one fleeing judgment. He goes to Kansas City where he once lived as a human and had a human child. He sees one of his own descendants (Joy), dying, her soul leaving her body. And there he chooses to hide, not because it’s convenient (in some ways it isn’t), but because he’s always cared about family.
At first, Shade and Joy seem to be opposites, but actually, they’re complements. Both are defined by past trauma, one powerful but in need of learning to trust, the other trusting but in need of claiming power.
Together, they work magic. Literally and figuratively. I hope you enjoy their story!
They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?
I agree, but I’m not sure if it’s author-defined so much as reader-defined! I work to make my books unputdownable from page one, but I understand that emotional connection grows and builds over time until the magic moment where each reader feels that tug. When I myself reread this book earlier in the year (to prepare it for publishing), I was especially drawn into Shade and Joy’s Memphis road trip, which begins in Chapter 10 and ends with important, life-altering changes for each of them.
Does your book carry a message?
Yes – that two different people can come together to work for a common good. Although if you just want to enjoy the story of two people fighting over the same body, that’s fair, too!
Where can we pick up copies of Knot of Souls?
Knot of Souls is available in print and ebook formats through Amazon, and is free with Kindle Unlimmited.
What's your next project?
Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?
This is my new favorite book. It’s not a romance, like some of my others, but the central relationship is no less intimate for being a friendship. If you loved my Cassie Scot books for thee character, family drama, magic, and connection, then I think you’ll love this too.
Thank you for having me!
Giveaway: Christine Amsden is giving away one 2 epub copies of the 4-book Cassie Scot series (gifted through BookFunnel! This includes Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective, Secrets and Lies, Mind Games and Stolen Dreams
- By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
- Two winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one epub copy of the 4-book Cassie Scot series.
- This giveaway starts July 1 and ends September 26.
- Winner will be contacted via email on September 26.
- Winner has 48 hours to reply.
