Blog Tour: In the Forests of the Night - Kersten Hamilton - Author Book Picks & Giveaway

Kersten Hamilton is here today with an Author Book Picks post courtesy of the Teen Book Scene blog tour for her newest release, In the Forests of the Night. Thank you for being here today, Kersten! You can follow along with the tour here, or by clicking through the banner. Enjoy! 

Hi, Corrine! Thank you for having me on your blog today. It is hard to write about my favorite books because there are so many of them. I would say that there are more old books than new books in my library—and I have lots and lots of books. When I was a teenager, I decided to read all of Western literature starting with Beowulf. I am failing gloriously—there are just too many books and not enough hours in a life to read them all. I have worked my way forward through most of the classics, though.

I have found many, many authors to love, but my all–time favorite would be George MacDonald. He wrote mythopoeia, my favorite obscure genre. His writing, in both his novels and short stories, dealt with metaphysical questions. MacDonald was fearless in questioning his characters’ (and his readers’) assumptions about themselves and reality. I adore books that make me both feel and think. His books inspired my Goblin Wars series.

I like Charles Williams, who wrote unsettling paranormals such as All Hallow’s Eve long, long before Paranormal was a genre. I enjoy the books of Charles De Lint, who was writing in the dawn of the Urban Fantasy and is writing still. I love the mythic elements in his books.

I liked Zenna Henderson’s The People stories. I love Neil Gaiman’s writing especially his short stories and novels such as Neverwhere or The Anansi Boys.

I enjoy an occasional Regency Romance such as Grand Sophie, by Georgette Heyer, mysteries like the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters, and the science fiction of Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov, who influenced me greatly. Asimov believed that writing should be like a pane of glass—the reader should not even be aware of the writer, just of the story they are entering. I believe that, too. The less my readers are aware of me, and the more they are aware of my characters, the better! I gobble up the books of modern MG and YA writers such as Rick Riordan and Francisco X. Stork. I adore Harry Potter.

My writing/inspiration shelf has books like Save the Cat!, a book about screen writing by Blake Snyder, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

I also read books that are very difficult for me to even touch, such as Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. I read it because want to understand that he was a human—and how a human could accept such evil, even convincing himself that it was good. It feels strange and sad, touching his mind through a book.

I could go on forever—I have left out centuries worth of great books. If I had three wishes, at least two of them would be for more time to read!

Kersten

Thank you for being here today, Kersten, and thank you for sharing this book list with us!

Kersten Hamilton can be found on her website.

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The battle against goblinkind continues . . . but which side will Teagan be on?

Teagan, Finn, and Aiden have made it out of Mag Mell alive, but the Dark Man’s forces are hot on their heels. Back in Chicago, Tea’s goblin cousins show up at her school, sure she will come back to Mag Mell, as goblin blood is never passive once awoken. Soon she will belong to Fear Doirich and join them. In the meantime, they are happy to entertain themselves by trying to seduce, kidnap, or kill Tea’s family and friends. Tea knows she doesn’t have much time left, and she refuses to leave Finn or her family to be tortured and killed. A wild Stormrider, born to rule and reign, is growing stronger inside her. But as long as she can hold on, she’s still Teagan Wylltson, who plans to be a veterinarian and who heals the sick and hurting. The disease that’s destroying her—that’s destroying them all—has a name: Fear Doirich. And Teagan Wylltson is not going to let him win.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Giveaway

Kersten Hamilton has graciously provided Lost For Words with a copy of In the Forests of the Night for giveaway. 

Thank you, Kersten! 

The giveaway is International.

Giveaway will end December 10, 2011.

Please fill out this FORM to enter. Comments, while appreciated, will not be counted as entries.

Thank you!