Guest Post and Giveaway: Half by Eli Lang

Please help us welcome author Eli Lang today on the tour for her new novel, Half. Eli’s talking literary inspiration today, and there’s also a great giveaway so be sure to check out those details below.

Welcome, Eli!

Fantasy Books That Inspired Half

I’ve always been into fantasy, and a lot of those books inspired me to write my own fantasy book, Half.

Finder by Emma Bull:  This is one of my favorite fantasy books ever.  I like how Emma Bull blends our real world with a fantasy world, and how that blending is seamless and elegant.  There’s a mystery in here, but for me the book is about friendships and new relationships and finding your place in a world that’s not quite yours.  I think when I was writing Half, part of what I was writing was a love song of sorts to Finder.

The Cygnet and Firebird by Patricia A. McKillip:  Another of my very favorite books.  This is a gorgeous fantasy about dragons, but also about romance and finding yourself and your place, and the past, and family.  I could read this a hundred times and I think it would transport me every single time.  I’m pretty sure I’m never even going to come close to the amazing, gorgeous imagery Patricia McKillip uses, but I do think it’s definitely influenced the way I create worlds and talk about magic.

Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater:  This is a bit of an odd one.  It’s YA, for starters, and is sort of a spin-off book of another trilogy about werewolves.  And there is some werewolf stuff going on here.  But for me, this book is two things.  It’s a romance, and a gorgeous one.  And it’s a story that’s as much about the city it takes place in—Los Angeles—as it is about its characters.  I wanted to write something set in a place that had that same real-world-yet-somehow-completely-magic feel.  Half isn’t set in any city in particular, but the way Los Angeles felt to me in Sinner influenced how I wrote about the locations in Half.

Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett:  Dragons again.  Yeah, I do have a thing for dragons.  I’ve heard mixed reviews on Havemercy—it seems to be a love it or hate it book, and I do understand where the people who don’t love it are coming from.  I love it, though.  There’s dragons, and there’s a mysterious illness, and war, and a tense plot, yes.  But I think it’s really a book about family and romance.  There’s a sweet love story that I could read over and over and never get tired of.  And there’s a story about family and siblings and how pasts and presents are connected.  I adore both of these things.  And both of these are themes that show up a lot in Half.

Prosperity by Alexis Hall:  Okay, I’m sort of cheating here.  But… Alexis Hall is my favorite author and I think he writes amazing fantasy.  And while I didn’t read this while I was writing Half, I did read it while I was doing the biggest revisions.  Alexis creates worlds and characters and scenes and magic and, jeez, sentences, in a way that makes my breath catch.  And when I read his work, I always think about how I can do better—not to catch him, because I don’t think I can, and I don’t want to, but just to try harder, write better.  His writing makes me wonder what I can do to be a better writer.  And his fantasy worlds bring my imagination to life.

~Eli

About the Book

Living between worlds has never been comfortable, but it’s where I’ve always fit: between human and fey, illness and health, magic and reality.

I’ve spent the last six years looking for a cure for the nameless sickness eating me up. If I believed there was one out there, I would keep searching. But there isn’t, so I’ve come back home, where my past and present tangle. Come home to live . . . and to die.

But my father insists I meet Kin. He’s a healer, and determined to help, even though I’m not so hopeful anymore. But Kin isn’t what I expected, in any way. He sees me, not my illness. He reminds me of what it’s like to be alive. And I can’t help falling for him, even though I know it isn’t fair to either of us.

Kin thinks he has the cure I’ve been looking for, but it’s a cure that will change everything: me, my life, my heart. If I refuse, I could lose Kin. But if I take it, I might lose myself.

Now available from Riptide Publishing

About the Author

Eli Lang is a writer and drummer. She has played in rock bands, worked on horse farms, and has had jobs in libraries, where she spent most of her time reading every book she could get her hands on. She can fold a nearly perfect paper crane and knows how to tune a snare drum. She still buys stuffed animals because she feels bad if they’re left alone in the store, believes cinnamon buns should always be eaten warm, can tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the tardigrade, and has a book collection that’s reaching frightening proportions. She lives in Arizona with far too many pets.

Connect with Eli: Website || Blog || Facebook || Twitter || Pinterest

The Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Half, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Riptide Publishing credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 18, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!