Spotlight
Liz Kerin “I wrote this book for inquisitive young minds (and inquisitive adults!) who like their fantasy tinged with darker themes that probe the nature of life and death.”
Can You Tell Me a Bit About Your Writing?
My debut novel, a fantasy epic about the afterlife called THE PHANTOM FOREST, was released by publisher Inkshares in July of last year. Writing this book was a seven-year labor of love for me, and it’s definitely a dream to see it in so many readers’ hands!
SYNOPSIS: Every tree in the sacred Forest of Laida houses a soul. And each of those souls will return to the mortal world for many future lives. But not all of them deserve to.
Seycia’s father told her this story as a child―a story of the most holy place in the Underworld, the Forest of Laida, where all souls go to rest before embarking on a new life. But Seycia’s father is dead now, and his killer has put a target on her back.
After she is chosen for her village’s human sacrifice ritual, Seycia is transported to the Underworld and must join forces with Haben, the demon to whom she was sacrificed. Together, they journey to the forest in the Underworld where all souls grow in a quest to destroy the tree of the man who killed her.
I wrote this book for inquisitive young minds (and inquisitive adults!) who like their fantasy tinged with darker themes that probe the nature of life and death. In a lot of ways, it’s my love letter to agnosticism. When I was younger, I spent a lot of time speculating about the afterlife and the nature of the human soul. I remember wishing the books I read were a little twistier and more metaphysical. I feel like I wrote the book I wish I’d read when I was 17!
- To purchase THE PHANTOM FOREST, visit Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or order from your favorite local bookstore via Indiebound. It’s also available to add on Goodreads. Right now the eBook is on sale for $1.99 on Amazon!
- To learn more about my work, visit www.LizKerin.com (I’m also a playwright and a screenwriter—I like to keep my brain busy!). A preview of THE PHANTOM FOREST is available to read here.
- My Instagram handle is LizKerin (I’m there most often and post a LOT of puppy pictures. You’ve been warned). My Twitter handle is Liz_Kerin.
- If you’re interested in checking out a book trailer, you can view that here! I’m also including a few fun photos – there’s the day I got my ARCs and posed for a million selfies with them, a picture of the pretty candles and bookmarks we sent out for promotion (which I still have available – give me a shout on social media if you want one), a photo from my NY launch event at The Strand, and a photo from the day the book was released, which also happened to be the last day of my honeymoon in Europe!
The Phantom Forest
The Phantom Forest
by Liz Kerin
In this place meant for the dead, she finally felt the weight of life, of connection, of eternity. Nothing was ever lost.―
Liz Kerin, The Phantom Forest
What it is About
Every tree in the sacred Forest of Laida houses a soul. Though each of those souls will return to the mortal world for many future lives, not all of them deserve to.
Seycia’s father told her this story as a child — a story of the most holy place in the Underworld, The Forest of Laida, where all souls go to rest before embarking on a new life. But Seycia’s father is dead now, and his killer has put a target on her back.
After being chosen for her village’s human sacrifice ritual, Seycia is transported to the Underworld and must join forces with Haben, the demon to whom she was sacrificed, to protect the family she left behind from beyond the grave. In this story of love, survival, and what it means to be human, Seycia and Haben discover that the Underworld is riddled with secrets that can only be unlocked through complete trust and devotion, not only to their mission, but also to one another.
About the Author
Liz Kerin is an author, screenwriter, and playwright currently living in sunny southern California. The Phantom Forest is her debut novel and was shortlisted for the 2016 Launchpad Manuscript Competition. A graduate of the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYUs Tisch School of the Arts, Liz is also developing a number of Film/TV projects, adapting a YA series to screen, and workshopping her award-winning play, “Stop-Motion.” She is represented by Verve for both books and Film/TV.
She is also the proud co-parent of two unruly small dogs, both of whom you can meet if you follow along on social media.
Where to Find Them
My Instagram handle is LizKerin (I’m there most often and post a LOT of puppy pictures. You’ve been warned).
My Twitter handle is Liz_Kerin
