The Cassie Scot Series

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:

My parents think the longer the name, the more powerful the sorcerer, so they named me Cassandra Morgan Ursula Margaret Scot. You can call me Cassie.

I've been called a lot of things in my life: normal, ordinary, and even a disappointment. After the Harry Potter books came out, a couple of people called me a squib. Since I haven't read them, I have to assume it's a compliment.

Personally, I prefer normal, which is why the sign on my office door reads: Cassie Scot, Normal Detective.

You have to understand that around here, when your last name is Scot, people are easily confused. Not only are my parents powerful practitioners, but I have six talented brothers and sisters. Plus, my family hasn't always been known for its subtlety. When weird stuff happens around here, the people who are willing to believe in magic are prone to suspect the Scots.

The day I opened for business I got a call from an old woman who swore her cat was possessed by the devil. She also swore she'd read my web site, which clearly stated the types of work I did and did not do. Exorcisms were on the No list, and while I hadn't specified pet exorcisms, I would have thought it was implicit.


GUEST POST
Why We Write (Writing tips)

There are a lot of reasons to write. Most of us who spend any length of time learning the process, going through draft after draft, and ultimately turning out finished products dream of career success and recognition. Yeah, I want to sell a million books. I want a movie deal — not because I think the movie will add anything to the book (The book is my life’s work, not the movie!) but because Hollywood interest would mean I’d sold enough copies to claim a measure of success.
That’s the dream. My goal is to develop a following of dedicated readers who truly enjoy what I write. If I can count sales in the thousands of copies, I’m happy.
Most writers never even get that far. There are over a million books published each year — most self-published. Most books don’t even sell 100 copies.
So why are we doing this? Why do a million people put books out every year only to sell a handful of copies? And why do they do it again?
I hope it makes them happy.
There are some careers you get into for the money but writing isn’t one of them. I am amazed by how many people think, when I say that I’m a published writer, that I’m comfortably well off or moderately rich. Most think my books will be stocked at Target or Wal-Mart, as if the tiny book sections in either of these stores represents 1/100th of the books published through MAJOR publishing houses, let alone smaller presses.
The dream is fun. Dreaming is a big part of fiction writing, after all! I would never discourage such a practise. But if the dream is why you write you’re in for a world of disappointment. My suggestion: Go do what you love and dream of ultimate success in that area. Dream of being a rock star or a football star or a movie star or a high-powered lawyer or the best cardiologist in the country.
In the meantime, if you still want to write begin from the love of what you’re doing. Here are a few things to love about writing:
1. Research — Some people really enjoy the challenge of putting information together. If this is primarily what you love, nonfiction may be for you.
2.Story telling — If you love to tell a good story then enjoy writing fiction.
3. Using words to create beauty — This may mean you’re really a poet at heart, although some prose can be beautiful as well.
4. Leaving behind a legacy — There’s nothing wrong with telling your own story for no other purpose than to leave it for your children to read.
Whatever you love, find joy in the process of doing it. You can dream fantastic dreams while setting reasonable goals, but you’re going to spend too much time working toward that goal not to be in love with the moment of creation.

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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.

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