{Book Trailer} Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton

I adored Kersten Hamilton's first Goblin Wars novel, TYGER TYGER, and the book trailer is amazing. If I hadn't been hooked by the cover and synopsis, this trailer definitely would have caught my attention!

Be sure to check out my review of TYGER TYGER, here.

Guest Post: Kersten Hamilton (Author of Tyger, Tyger)

Guts and Gaps: Creating Male Characters

By Kersten Hamilton

Author of TYGER TYGER

I am a huge fan of the male gender. I have spent a lifetime studying guys – brothers, fathers, friends, a lover, and two sons. Like a field anthropologist, I have lived among them. After much up-close and personal study, I think that in our literary YA culture, we do not always give guys enough credit for what they are: male.

Sometimes, we write them as if they were large women with body hair issues. Or worse, accessories — pretty things with rock-hard abs to hang on the arm of a kick-butt heroine. Or, worse still, creatures who are smarter and stronger than the dumb, weak heroines they have fallen in love with.

Out of respect and admiration for the guys I love, I try to write honest-to-testosterone guys into my books. To be able to do that with integrity, I not only study guys in the field, I study books and movies by guys about guys.

Like Rocky, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. Stallone understood exactly how to create a male protagonist with a compelling and honest love relationship. Give them guts and gaps:

Paulie: [talking about Adrian] You like her?
Rocky: Sure, I like her.
Paulie: What's the attraction?
Rocky: I dunno... she fills gaps.
Paulie: What's 'gaps'?
Rocky: I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps.

In Tyger Tyger there are three very different guys, all with as many guts and gaps as I could manage to write into them:

Mr. Wylltson, gentle, literary man, who loves his wife Aileen, a wild Irish girl. Finn, a scrappy street fighter who has no words to wrap around his feelings for Teagan. And Aiden, who is only five, but is trying very hard to grow into a man.

Each one of them is as absolutely male as I can make them, and therefore completely loveable.

I must admit that the kind of book that I like best has a romance between two strong characters, equally matched but delightfully different from one another.

Characters who have gaps. Who need each other.

Tyger Tyger is that kind of book.

_________________

I loved each and every one of Hamilton's male characters, so it was great to hear her thoughts and feelings behind writing them!

Be sure to check out my review of TYGER TYGER here!

ALSO, to celebrate the novel's release, Kersten is giving away a Kindle e-reader! Check out the details here on the Teen Book Scene site and don't forget to collect the letter R from this post... you'll need it to enter!



Review: Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton

Title: Tyger Tyger (Goblin Wars, #1)
Author: Kersten Hamilton
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pub. Date: 11.15.2010
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Keywords: Mythology, Goblins, Love, Ireland, Family
Pages: 322
Description (from GoodReads):
Teagan Wylltson's best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures--goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty--are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems.

Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too . . . and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right.
The goblins are coming.

TYGER TYGER has renewed my love affair with all things Irish. The mythology, the culture, the boys... Kersten Hamilton's first Goblin Wars novel showcases all three.

I loved the mythology incorporated into this novel. One of the reasons I often find YA fantasy lacking, is that the world building leaves something to be desired. When utilizing mythology, the world is already built, yet their are so many different ways to interpret and things to explore. I appreciate a world built from scratch, but, when done right, using a preconceived world and characters can be just as compelling. I think Hamilton did this successfully.

At the novel's start, I wasn't sure I'd connect with Teagan. In fact, I don't really think I connected with some parts of her personality at all - I didn't really enjoy the passages where she is working with animals at her internship - but I did like her character overall. She is relatively level-headed and definitely driven, yet she was willing to believe in this fantastical world of myth and legend. Also encouraging, I actually thought she was a great match for the romantic lead... which is important when I really like the guy!

I can easily identify Finn as my favorite character. He's Irish, he's a hero, he's in love. I can't think of anything that would have made him more appealing.

I can't wait to read Hamilton's next Goblin Wars installment! I wouldn't mind rereading TYGER TYGER and I might even seek out the original stories that inspired Hamilton.