Happy Halloween! Interview & Giveaway for a Treat with Kersten Hamilton

I'm so excited to have this awesome author with us today! I love her writing and her books are amazing. Welcome to Immortality and Beyond Kersten Hamilton. May I offer you a beverage?

KH: I'll take a tantalizing tea, thank you!

BK:  I have read Tyger Tyger, (See my Review), which is now available in paperback and loved it! I'm currently reading In the Forests of the Night and it is just as good as the first! Now that we're all settled in my lair, I'm so de-bite-fully glad you stopped in.

KH: Um…what's that dripping from the fridge? I mean the red stuff? Never mind. Let's just get on with the interview!

BK: *grinning*

BK:  Please tell us a little bit about your current release...

KH: In the Forests of the Night is the continuing story of Teagan Wylltson, Finn Mac Cumhaill and all of the evil creatures that want to kill them. Action. Adventure. True love…lots of true love.

BK:  What inspired this particular novel/book?

KH: A goblin I met when I was a child, from The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. Lina was a dog–like beastie with green eyes lit by amber fire, and a huge mouth with icicle–like teeth. Curdie, the hero of the story, could feel the real hand of any creature inside its flesh glove, and when Lina put her paw in his hand: “a shudder, as of terrified delight, ran through him…instead of the paw of a dog, such as it seemed to his eyes, he clasped in his great mining fist the soft, neat little hand of a child! The green eyes stared at him with their yellow light, and the mouth was turned up toward him with its constant half grin; but here was the child’s hand!”

When I read those lines I felt it. I felt the child’s hand inside a rough paw glove, and I knew I wanted to pull a child out of a goblin one day.


BK:  When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

KH: I’ve always known. Sure, I wanted to be an astronaut, an animal trainer, and sail on the Calypso with Jacques Cousteau, but it was always in addition to being a writer.

BK:  How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?

KH: I read old books. Seriously, I spend a lot of time in the classics. It does give me a different perspective on fiction…and life.

BK:  What was the hardest thing about writing this story?

KH: Life, actually. It was trying to shake my dreams out of me. I was surrounded by death, sickness and disaster. But I finished the book. Take that, life!

BK:  What character was your favorite to write for in this story? Why?

KH: In this book, it was Teagan because I got reveal the wonderful character she has inside to my readers.

BK:  Which was your favorite scene to write?

KH: I think it was the one where Gil, the phooka boy, called Finn a Sexy Beast. Or maybe when Finn pulled his shirt off and…well, you're just going to have to read the book for that one!

BK:  Will this become a series? If so, what inspired it to be a series?

KH: It was always going to be a trilogy, but…it may just expand.

BK:  Now for a little fun, and into your everyday life, What is a day in your life like?

KH: I thought you said we were going to have fun? I do this every day! Get up. Drink Coffee. Start writing. Go to the gym, or run errands. Then read, read, read! And in the evening…I write some more.

BK:  What do you like to do when you're not writing?

KH: I'm almost always writing. But when I get the chance, I do like to hunt dinosaurs through the badlands of New Mexico.

BK:  What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?

KH: That I am carrying shrapnel in my arm. And I married the man who put it there. In his defense, he did kill the rattlesnake he was aiming for.

BK:  What do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?

KH: I read everything. Seriously. Right now I am reading Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler—just to see what he was like as a human—an evil human. But my favorite writer of all time is George MacDonald. He wasn’t a bit evil.

BK:  Please tell us one piece of advice you were given as an author that you carry with you when you write?

KH: It's advice from Jane Yolen: BIC. Butt in Chair. That's the only way to get the book done!

BK:  What is one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers/authors?

KH: Read old books. If you want to stand out from the crowd of new writers, read and learn from old books.

BK:  What are you currently working on?

KH: A magical realism novel that deals with suicide, the Catholic Church, undead school administrators and bad reality shows.

BK:  Where can readers connect with you?

KH: At http://www.kerstenhamilton.com

BIO: http://home.comcast.net/~kerstenhamilton/aboutkersten.html

Synopsis: 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.

Excerpt: Teagan Wylltson blinked, and tried to focus on her five–year–old brother. His best friend Lennie, a pudgy, pimpled eighteen–year–old was holding him up so that Aiden could see Teagan’s perch on the roof of the porch. Lucy, the sprite who had taken up residence in her brother’s hair, was zipping excitedly around his head.
“Come quick!” Aiden yelled again. “Thomas is growing feathers!”
“The man’s shape shifting.” Finn said. He had taken her hand to pull her to her feet, and he hadn’t let go. Every molecule in her was suddenly vibrating at a higher rate, and webs of electricity spread over her entire body. It felt good. Really good. But it did make it hard to focus.
“Where’s Mamieo, then?” Finn asked.
“She was sitting beside him when I went through living room,” Teagan said, dropping his hand and stepping away.
Focusing right now would be a good thing. Finn’s grandmother hadn’t been happy when they’d dragged a wounded shape shifter out of Mag Mell, but she’d promised not to harm the creature—so long as he didn’t do anything unnatural.
“Do you think she’ll consider this—?”
“Unnatural? I’m sure of it.”
“She wouldn’t—”
“Do away with the creature?” Finn rubbed his chin with the two good fingers of his wounded hand. “I doubt it. But I’d best go check on them just the same. Thomas might be needing some help.”

Giveaway: I would like to give away a signed hardcover copy of In the Forests of the Night! Simply leave a comment for Kersten telling her what you would do if you were being hunted by goblins, with your email address to enter. Contest ends Nov. 4.

Now available in paperback at Amazon

Read my Review HERE - where it all began.