First, here's more about this novel:
When Annabelle flees her abusive husband and moves into an 1860's farmhouse, she soon learns that she is not alone; she shares her home with Christian, the ghost of a poet who killed himself in 1917. Christian, wanting nothing but solitude, tries to scare Annabelle away, but once they come together while she is dreaming, they fall in love. The clock is ticking for Christian, for moments after his hanging his fiance magically cursed his spirit to be stuck on earth for one hundred years, and his time is almost up.
With Annabelle's ex threatening her and the spirit she has fallen in love with on the verge of disappearing, Annabelle becomes obsessed with staying with Christian, and will do anything to be with him.
Being in love with a ghost is bad enough, but for Annabelle, discovering that her true love will be crossing over at any moment pushes her over the edge of reckless behavior.
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
ISBN-10: 1684339402
ISBN-13: 978-1684339402
ASIN: B09NXMRHV2
Print length: 163 pages
Purchase a copy of Shadow of Love on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list.
About the Author, Amy S. Cutler
Amy S Cutler, author of A Shadow of Love, earned her master’s degree in Creative Writing from Goddard College. Most recently she was published in Slut Vomit: An Anthology of Sex Work, and featured in the Tales to Terrify Podcast, among others. Her writing focus is suspense, horror, science fiction, and ghost stories. She can be contacted through AmysHippieHut.com.
---- Interview by Nicole Pyles
WOW: Congratulations on your novel! Where did your novel idea come from?
Amy: That’s a good question – I certainly did not set out to write a love story! I have always been in love with ghost stories and the idea of an afterlife. I have quite a bit of experience with haunted houses, as the house in the story is based on my parents’ house in upstate New York. It began with an image of a woman moving into the house all by herself, and the simple question of, what would it be like to live here all alone, knowing that there is a ghost living with you? The story had no clear path when I began writing, and this love story between a living woman and a ghost just sort of emerged.
WOW: I'm so intrigued that you based the house in the story on your parent's house! So, what was your revision process like?
Amy: Revisions frighten me! Revisions create a ripple effect, and one must be so diligent in making sure that any changes made are followed through with. About a third of the way into this novel, I changed the point of view from third to first person. I’m so happy that I did that, but it was a challenge to make sure that every single “she” was changed to an “I.” I had read the pages several times and still found sentences like, “Annabelle gazed out of the window,” when clearly it should have read, “I gazed out of the window.”
Once I was finished with the novel, I printed it out and read it as slowly as I could, making lots of notes in the margin. Once I went back and made any changes/fixes, I asked a few other people close to me to do the same. After that, I hired an editor and was both amazed and horrified by what she found. Once my book was accepted by my publisher, Black Rose Writing, they recommended the ProWritingAid software, which I personally love and will likely use for future manuscript revisions.
There were so many eyes on my story, and I had read it so many times, but I was still so scared when I received my very first copy that I would find mistakes.
WOW: The revision process is such a challenge! Why did you decide to go back and get your master's degree in creative writing?
Amy: I have wanted to write books for as far back into my life as I can remember, yet I always stopped at short stories. I LOVE writing short stories, they are easy for me and it's pretty much instant gratification. Novels seemed daunting, yet it is always what I have wanted to do. The waves of life make it so easy to forget your dreams. Thinking of this one day, I had an epiphany that if I wanted to truly live the life I have always wanted, I needed a push. Going back to school gave me the push that I needed, and it is the best decision I have made for myself.
While at Goddard I learned the most important life lesson thus far: Do not ask for permission to be who you are. You do not need anyone’s permission but your own, and while there, I granted myself permission to be a writer.
WOW: What a fantastic lesson! How did writing flash fiction and short fiction pieces help you write your novel?
Amy: When I sit down to write a piece of flash fiction or short story, I just write. The idea surfaces, I sit down, and before I know it, the story is finished. When I sit down to write a novel, I spend a lot of time thinking. Of course, a novel is way more involved than a shorter piece – you’ve got more characters,
more plot, and most importantly, more words. The benefit of having experience with short fiction is that I have learned to just write; to stop thinking (aka researching, aka procrastinating), and just put fingers to the keyboard and put words on the page. Sometimes I think that if I didn’t write short stories, I would never find the ability to get out of my own head and work on a novel.
WOW: I love how short stories have helped you! I'm quite fascinated by where you work for your day job! As an Executive Manager of a ski area, does that inspire your writing at all? And if so, how?
Amy: I think that being a writer inspires how I do my job more than my job inspires me as a writer. Yes, of course the people that surround me at the ski area definitely give me lots of good material and I could base a character off so many of them, but it’s my work as a writer that gives me insight into people. Creating characters and making them multi-dimensional requires being able to see the many sides of people and has taught me that just because a person acts or presents themselves in a certain way does not mean that is all there is to them. It helps with customer service issues, how I deal with a problem or complaint, and just the way I treat people in general.
Being in a winter business also gives me time in the summer to really focus on my writing life. While we work year-round, there is a lot less pressure in the summer months, and I thoroughly enjoy my more relaxed schedule. There is, however, something to be said for the noise of the mountain during the winter, the hum of the snow guns and chatter of people tend to make my mind wander and nudge me into pulling my laptop or notebook out even on the busiest of days.
WOW: That's so profound that your writing helps you see people as more complex and not just one-sided. What are you working on now that you can tell us about?
Amy: I am so excited about the novel I am working on. This story resonates with the space I am in my own life, grappling with large questions of my soul’s purpose. This is a very mystical story, and one of the secondary characters from A Shadow of Love plays a larger role in this still untitled story of reincarnation, a soul’s journey, healing, fear, sorrow, and love.
WOW: That sounds so exciting! I can't wait for it to come out. Thank you for your time and enjoy the blog tour!
---- Blog Tour Calendar
October 3rd @ WOW! Women on Writing
Join us as we celebrate the launch of Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love. Read an interview with the author and enter to win a copy of the book.
October 5th @ Sadie's Spotlight
Sadie spotlights A Shadow of Love and features an excerpt from the book.
October 6th @ Create Write Now
Mari L. McCarthy shares a guest post by Amy S. Cutler about the importance of learning how to self-market. A must-read post for authors!
October 8th @ Life According to Jamie
Jamie reviews Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love. Don't miss this exciting book!
October 10th @ Amy's Booket List
Join Amy as she reviews Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love.
October 12th @ Word Magic
Join Fiona as she shares a guest post by Amy S. Butler about the importance of finding a writing community.
October 15th @ What is That Book About?
Find out more about A Shadow of Love by Amy S. Cutler in this book spotlight.
October 16th @ Celtic Lady's Book Reviews
Read a review of Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love.
October 17th @ Jill Sheets' Blog
Join Jill as she interviews author Amy S. Cutler about her book A Shadow of Love.
October 18th @ A Storybook World
Deirdra features Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love.
October 19th @ Beverley A. Baird's Blog
Bev reviews Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love.
October 20th @ Knotty Needle
Join Judy Hudgins for her review of Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love.
October 21st @ Beverley A. Baird's Blog
Join Bev as she shares a guest post by Amy S. Cutler about the story behind the haunted house in the novel.
October 22nd @ Lisa Haselton's Reviews & Interviews
Join Lisa as she interviews author Amy S. Culter about her book A Shadow of Love.
October 24th @ Girl Zombie Authors
Read a guest post by Amy S. Cutler about why ghost stories are so popular.
October 25th @ Four Moon Reviews
Join Samantha as she reviews Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love. You can also win a copy of the book too!
October 27th @ Girl Zombie Authors
Come by Chris' blog again and read a review of Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love. You can also enter to win a copy of the book too!
https://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com/
https://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com/
October 29th @ Boots, Shoes and Fashion
Visit Linda's blog for an in-depth interview with author Amy S. Cutler about her book A Shadow of Love.
October 31st @ Author Anthony Avina's Blog
Visit Anthony's blog for Amy S. Cutler's guest post about finding a publisher.
November 1st @ Choices
Join Madeline as she features a guest post by Amy S. Cutler about the first draft process.
November 2nd @ Jessica Belmont's Blog
Jessica reviews Amy S. Cutler's book A Shadow of Love.
November 3rd @ Write Advice
Read Amy's guest post about how she found the idea for Shadow of Love and turned it into a story.
Read Amy's guest post about how she found the idea for Shadow of Love and turned it into a story.
November 4th @ Author Anthony Avina's Blog
Read Anthony's review of A Shadow of Love by Amy S. Cutler. A paranormal book you don't want to miss!
***** BOOK GIVEAWAY *****
Enter to win a copy of A Shadow of Love by Amy S. Cutler by filling out the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway ends October 16th at 11:59pm CT. We will announce the winner in the Rafflecopter widget the next day and follow up via email. Good Luck!
Great interview! :)
ReplyDeleteAmy, I once switched a manuscript from first to third and boy, it's such a pain to catch everything! I admire you for taking that on. I'm also a huge fan of ProWritingAid and use the program for freelance article writing. Their plagiarism check also comes in handy for my editing work. I remember your fantastic flash, "Clean Slate," that won second in the WOW fiction contest. I've shared it with so many writers I know, and it still haunts me! It's a great example of a psychological twist. I'm so glad short stories and novel writing go hand in hand for you. I just picked up a copy of your book. Good luck on your blog tour! It looks like a great one. :)
I loved this book! I'm a reader of psycho thrillers but a family member recommended this book and I loved it. Thank you Amy for bringing a twisted individual to remember what a relationship, regardless of what type, can do for a person. Cant wait for your next novel!
ReplyDeleteWow thank you both so much! And a huge thank you to Nicole, as well. I am having a blast on this book blog tour!
ReplyDeleteUnique concept that I cannot wait to read!
ReplyDeleteSuch a fun read to curl up with!
ReplyDeleteWow great book with a great concept .
ReplyDeleteHow do you make the time to write?
ReplyDeletenice interview
ReplyDeleteHow did you come up with the idea for this story.
ReplyDelete