Interview with mystery author Christine Amsden

Today I have a super-short interview with Christine Amsden - along with book blurbs and an excerpt from Book One. She's the author of The Cassie Scot Series that includes paranormal/urban fantasy romantic mystery novels Cassie Scot, Paranormal Detective and Secrets and Lies.

During her virtual book tour, Christine will be awarding a $50 Amazon or BN.com gift card to one randomly chosen commenter. To be entered to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Award-winning author Christine Amsden has written stories since she was eight, always with a touch of the strange or unusual. She became a “serious” writer in 2003, after attending a boot camp with Orson Scott Card. She finished Touch of Fate shortly afterward, then penned The Immortality Virus, which won two awards. Expect many more titles by this up-and-coming author.

Blurbs:

Book one - Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective

Cassie Scot is the ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers, born between worlds but belonging to neither. At 21, all she wants is to find a place for herself, but earning a living as a private investigator in the shadow of her family’s reputation isn’t easy. When she is pulled into a paranormal investigation, and tempted by a powerful and handsome sorcerer, she will have to decide where she truly belongs.

Book two - Secrets and Lies

Cassie Scot, still stinging from her parents’ betrayal, wants out of the magical world. But it isn’t letting her go. Her family is falling apart and despite everything, it looks like she may be the only one who can save them.

To complicate matters, Cassie owes Evan her life, making it difficult for her to deny him anything he really wants. And he wants her. Sparks fly when they team up to find two girls missing from summer camp, but long-buried secrets may ruin their hopes for happiness.

Excerpt from book one – Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective:

When we went back downstairs, I noticed a door leading to a screened-in back porch and started to turn the handle when my hand froze on the doorknob. My whole body stiffened, and my mouth went dry, so it took me several tries to alert Evan to what I'd seen.

“I found her,” I finally managed, in barely a whisper.

Nancy Hastings, Evan's sixteen-year-old cousin, lay in a pool of her own blood, eyes vacant and staring. Her hair had been a rich, luminous brown but was now matted with blood. It looked as if her throat had been torn out.

“No!” The cry tore from his throat and before I had a chance to stop him, Evan was inside the room and leaning over the body, looking for any sign of life, and probably destroying any trace evidence the police might have collected. But I couldn't blame him. I would have reacted precisely the same way, if it had been my family. As it was, I had to wipe away tears before I could get to my phone and call the sheriff. The need for secrecy had passed.

“Sheriff's department, this is Jane Conway.”

“Jane, it's Cassie. You need to get out to Belinda Hewitt's house right away. There's been a murder.” I hung up before she could ask for more details.

Slowly, Evan rose to his feet and made his way back into the house with me. He had smeared the blood and left footprints on the floor, but somehow none of it had ended up on him. Or if it had, then he had some way of removing it.

“The police are on their way,” I said, not sure if he would be upset with me for calling. Probably not. He looked too shocked to care.

“Yeah.” He leaned against a wall and closed his eyes.

“You should call your uncle.”

“Can I borrow your phone?” Evan asked. “Master Wolf doesn't believe in phones.”

Is your life anything like it was two years ago?

A bit. It evolves. My youngest is in kindergarten now which gives me more time during the day. I've used that time to take on freelance editing/mentoring jobs to help support my writing career. That wasn't true two years ago.

Have you ever had an imaginary friend?

No. My imagination led more to story-telling from an early age.

Do you have any phobias?

I'm afraid of anything that buzzes, especially if it gets too close. I got stung by a wasp on a canoe trip when I was a kid, miles upriver from anyplace we could stop for help. My face swelled up like a balloon and it was probably the most miserable afternoon of my life.

Ever broken any bones?

Nope! My limbs remain intact. (Knock on wood.)

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