Back in October 2022 I interviewed author Amy Sampson Cutler when she published her debut paranormal novel, “A Shadow Of Love” – you can read the post here :
So I am delighted to welcome back Amy onto the blog for her latest book tour celebrating her latest spine tingling tale, “To Have And To Hold, To Love And To Kill: An Agreement of Souls”. This tale is a delicious mix exploring the theme of reincarnation, with hints of suspense and mystery, love and paranormal elements. I loved it! Here’s a brief book summary before we settle down and chat with the lovely Amy…
BOOK SUMMARY
In her past life, after causing the death of a little boy, Nikki was so devastated that her soul mate promised to murder her in their next life, to make her pay for what she had done. With no knowledge of this, Nikki lives for years as an addict, down on her luck, until she is rescued by Ken, who helps her with all aspects of her recovery. With the help of a few new friends and a cat named Destiny, Nikki turns her life around. What she doesn’t know is that someone out there is destined to kill her, and he is watching, his passion for killing her growing stronger each day.
The question is: Can an agreement made between two souls be broken, and how far will one soul go to keep a promise made in a desperate attempt to save the other?
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
ISBN-10: 1685133428
ISBN-13: 978-1685133429
Print length: 195 pages
THE INTERVIEW
Welcome back onto the blog! I last interviewed you in October 2022, in your book tour for “A Shadow Of Love”, which was your 1st paranormal novel. Who or what inspired you to write “To Have and To Hold, To Love and To Kill”?
Thank you! It feels like 2022 was about a week ago.
I was inspired to write this novel after a conversation with a friend of mine, who is also an energist, or energy healer. I was going through a rough patch at the time, and she told me that perhaps my troubles weren’t a result of anything that I caused in this life. Maybe, she said, it was from a past life. She suggested that it is possible that I even had an agreement with someone from a past life, and that is the root of my current woes.
That really got my wheels spinning, and I just had to explore this!
I really enjoyed reading your book, “ To Have and To Hold, To Love and To Kill ” and I enjoyed the characters of Nikki, Ken, Melissa, Hadeon & Theresa. They were all strong characters! What character did you particularly enjoy writing about? What character was the hardest to portray?
Thank you so much! I really loved telling Nikki’s story, probably because I was so spellbound by the concept that a past life event could be affecting my current life. In general, she was also someone that I wanted to hug. The hard knocks in her life, all from something that she had no knowledge of, made me feel bad, even though I knew that she was the one that arranged those hard knocks.
The hardest for me to portray was Hadeon. When writing a character, I can generally relate to them in some way. Most of us have experienced love, loss, heartbreak, happiness, fear, trauma, etc. But wanting to kill someone for absolutely no reason? I’m happy to say that I do not relate. I can imagine, however, that it’s quite conflicting.
I enjoyed the thriller aspect mixed in with psychic powers, nightmares and the soul mate reincarnation ; and the “relationship” between Nikki & Ken. So, hypothetically speaking, if To Have and To Hold, To Love and To Kill was made into a film, who would you envisage to play these main characters?
I would choose, without a doubt, Natasha Lyonne as Nikki. The raw emotion that she brings to her work would be beyondamazing. For Ken, I’d have to pick Michael C Hall, as he is an expert in playing characters with hidden depths and moral ambiguity.
I love Destiny, the cat. My cats are inquisitive and judgmental too at times. Is Destiny based on any cats you know or have known?
We have two cats – Midnight and Cutie Pie. They are both black cats (unintentionally fitting my Halloween themed life) who have a little air of mysticism. Destiny is not based on them, per se, but I think they would be great friends.
As “A Shadow Of Love” was your first paranormal novel; how did To Have and To Hold, To Love and To Kill compare – was it easier or harder to write? What aspects of either novel didyou enjoy writing the most?
I’d say that “A Shadow of Love” was easier because the story had been in my head for so long before I began. It bounced around in there for years before I went back to school for my MFA and began to write it. “To Have and to Hold, to Love and to Kill: An Agreement of Souls” was a bit more difficult because I really struggled with the decisions that the characters were making, and how it played out. In answer to my life’s problems, I wanted a different outcome, I guess. But the story took a different direction and while that was fun to write – who doesn’t like to be surprised by their own stories? – I had to battle my preconceived notions to where the story was going with the fact that I wasn’t completely in control of that. Talk about a life lesson!
Is “ To Have and To Hold, To Love and To Kill ” available to purchase worldwide?
Yes! It is available internationally through major online retailers, such as: Amazon, Indigo for Canadian readers, and Bookshop.org for indie bookstore support.
Linked here:
To Have and to Hold, to Love and to Kill a book by Amy S Cutler – Bookshop.org US
You’ve written short stories, paranormal novels, etc … which genre would you like to try if you had to pick to write a different style novel?
I am currently working on my first non-fiction piece. It is a true story of a great friend of mine, but me being who I am, I couldn’t help but include a mythological story to weave in between the chapters. I also love to write Speculative Fiction, which of course covers paranormal, but I very much enjoy Science Fiction as well. If I had to pick something totally different, I’d have to go with a good romance novel, although I would have a hard time not finding at least one ghost or other nefarious creature to throw in the mix.
What book are you currently reading for pleasure?
I just finished reading Stephen King’s “Needful Things.” I remembered loving this book when I was much younger and decided to reread it, and I’m so glad I did. Before that, I read “Pride and Prejudice,” as a bit of a palate cleanser for my brain, because that, I choose “Off Season” by Jack Ketchum, which was beautifully savage and just a little disturbing.
Links you would like to share e.g. website/facebook etc.
I definitely have to spend some time updating all of these sites now!
(1) Facebook
(2) Amy Sampson-Cutler (@amyshippiehut) • Instagram photos and videos
BOOK TOUR DETAILS
Lovely to chat with you again ! Fabulous book so thank you very much for sending me a copy to read – I enjoyed it just as much as A Shadow Of Love… ❤️
All photographs have been published with kind permission of Amy Sampson-Cutler.
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