Song of Souls: The Journey of a Writer

New Author Uses Painful Experience as CatalystFor First Book in Song of Souls Trilogy 

By Karilea Rilling Jungel

One deals with grief in various ways. There are the seven stages of grief; shock and denial, pain and guilt, anger and bargaining, depression/reflection, the upward turn, reconstruction and working through, and finally, acceptance and hope. And somewhere in these stages, after only 18 months of marriage to Dustin, then widowed at a young age, Christen Stovall found a way to give voice to her loss, and her book, Soulbound, was conceived.

“I decided on a trilogy in order for the characters to play out.” Christen explains that even though she picks up side jobs, her primary job is dedicated to taking her characters on a fictional journey. “When I talked to my mom about this effort, she was very supportive of me. My mother lived out in the country, so I invited her and my brother to move into town with me; it would be easier on her to get to her job, and made it financially advantageous to all of us.

courtesy christen stovall

“I started writing as a hobby in my late teens, early 20’s. I wanted to write a book, but felt I didn’t have any new idea (for a novel) back then.  About two years after my husband died, the idea for this story started building in my head, and the characters began evolving. On our vacation to the east coast in 2014, the whole outline of my story came into view, and when we returned home, it took about nine months to get the story written, and a full year before it was finally done.

“To a degree, the beginning story is based on my life. I had been home schooled, while Dustin attended Central High. Dustin and I met each other while we were still in school when we applied for auditions at our community theater. I thought then, and shared with some of the other actors, that ‘I think I really like him.’ This was well after he had been in a car accident in the winter of 2000, and Dustin had worked hard to rehabilitate his mind, body, and spirit. Not long after being in a play with him (The Odd Couple at Salina Community Theater, 2005) we started dating, because I realized the ‘crush’ was as strong as ever. I had noted that although Dustin had always been a deep person; his car accident just added another layer of depth to his persona. We were together for two years before he proposed in 2007, and we married a year later, on October 26, 2008.

“However, because he was not able to become 100% rehabilitated following his car accident, Justin’s depression from continuous physical pain had become too much for him to handle, and he died on May 1, 2012.”

In Christen’s first book Soulbound, her main character, Aislynn, draws upon Christen’s personal experience as a young widow for a character who marries her “soulmate,” only to also become a widow not long into the marriage. In this fantasy world, some soulmates are able to stay connected, which gives them certain abilities. Aislynn learns she will require training to use her powers correctly, in order that she stay sane, and not go ‘crazy’. Aislynn makes the choice to stay a soulmate and becomes soul bound. That’s when her adventures really begin.

Christen acknowledged that other facets of her own personality come through in Aislynn. “In terms of how Aislynn approaches situations, such as when bad things happen, which you can’t control, you can learn to control how it will affect you, and how you will approach your own healing. Whether you are going to be a victim, or a survivor, and grow stronger are characteristics that Aislynn takes on, and I have done the same. Close friendships are important to Aislynn. She uses the same term of endearment as I did. But she is not exactly like me. Some of my other characters are based loosely on my own friends. Family is important to her, and Aislynn feels a sense of responsibility toward other characters, as do I.”

Christen confesses that this first novel was more revealing about what she went through than she thought it would be. “I was nervous at my first reading, because (the story) was intimate to me, and shows what I went through. I’m an introvert, and it is difficult to be that open to others. But the more Aislynn grew, the more I felt I was coming back to myself, as well.” Christen imagines that her second book will show some darker sides of various situations she personally went through while dealing with her grief, which will be portrayed by her protagonist. Her third book will show a softer, accepting side of what Aislynn, as well as Christen, went through.

After Christen finishes the trilogy, she would then like to continue on with a prequel, and other writing projects.

Christen Stovall’s book can be found on Amazon.com (paper and e-book), and can be ordered directly through CreateSpace, as well as Barnes & Noble.