Lord of Hearth, Lord of Hollow by Sera Kane
Dreamspinner Press
Cover Art by Paul Richmond
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Sera Kane here today to share her thoughts about her new release, Lord of Hearth, Lord of Hollow. Welcome, Sera!
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Whom shall we meet upon this road? Spiritkin or stranger-friend, welcome all with giving hands, open smiles.
Hello, everyone. My name is Sera Kane and I’m beyond thrilled to be here to greet you all! Why? Of course you’ve already guessed it, to introduce you to my novella, Lord of Hearth, Lord of Hollow! Join Aimes as he turns up the heat on his own competitiveness to make it as a chef so he can search for his brother. Meet Keane as his enforced solitude suddenly comes to an end and he’s faced with the delicious dilemma of what to do with his visitor.
As I wrote, I was faced with the undeniable problem that Aimes is definitely a cook, a chef in training. And I? Well. One time I was unable to boil water.
Yeah.
Fortunately, I’ve spent my entire life overburdened with imagination and with the aid of someone who does know how to cook—thanks again, spouse!—I was even able to add a recipe to the end of the story! No, it’s not my recipe. I can’t cook. My spouse encourages you to try it out, however, and I definitely suggest using the excess as a dip! Maybe I should ask for him to make it tonight to celebrate…
Besides not cooking, my days are filled with writing and obsessing over words. And plots. And characters. Fantasy is my preferred genre, so everything having to do with Keane, an Elfaegaardian lord, flowed fairly easily. Actually, the entire world bloomed as though it had merely been waiting for my fingers to touch keyboard and thus open the gates.
I would certainly love to do more in this world and have some very vague bubblings of a human prince meeting an El lord himself. Perhaps, if you, the travelers of our world, wish to learn more, I could be persuaded to do so. Hint hint: please let me know! I not only love to answer questions, but I love to know what the readers think!
So, please! Read and enjoy the story of Aimes and Keane, and smile as you know that every cooking reference was blatantly stolen from my spouse. Thank you!
Blurb
Culinary school is hard enough for Aimes Cully without mixing in an utterly underwhelming physical appearance—too small, too delicate, too red-haired, too freckled, too human—added with the inability to magically improve the food—still too human—and facing the too beautiful, too fae-looking Aleksi’s teases and taunts. When rumors surface that Aimes’s older brother’s success is a lie, Aimes is determined to prove them wrong and show that pure-blooded humans are the equal of anyone with mixed blood.
But things get worse after Aimes is caught in a faerie ring and transported to the fae hollow of Lord Keanewyeth Ordorial. As the attraction heats up, it becomes obvious that there’s something wrong in the magical home. A cursed creature appears, and everything becomes jumbled as the secrets of their lives collide into a painful concoction of Aimes’s past and Keanewyeth’s present. But if they can meld their talents, they might be able to save each.
Special Excerpt
Step and hop on cloudy night,
Out again afore moon’s soft light.
Else a price that must be paid;
The lord’s commands are all obeyed.
A molasses pause filled the room, thick and oozing. It was a silence that spoke of the dark curse: Double. Dog. Dare.
Aimes held his breath, eyes focused firmly on Aleksi’s grim and angry face. He knew better than to push the teacher’s pet. He knew better than to open his big, stupid mouth and do the one thing his older brother had warned him against doing ever. You could never be too careful when you were too human. Those with fae blood would always come down harder on those without, so the Cullys had to be better. Be smarter, braver, and more creative. That’s why Markl had kept trying until he was accepted at the palace. That was why Aimes had to make it to the palace, too.
“If you’re such a know-all-fae,” Aleksi announced with all of the dramatic flare of a ringmaster about to bring out the dancing flame wraiths, “then you can just go get some fairy mushrooms tonight. And then you can make your ‘oh, so famous’—” Aleksi punctuated the words with air quotations so sarcastic that a few of their fellows grimaced at the taste of them. “—Faerie mushrooms for Madame LeBanch tomorrow.”
Aimes took in a swift, tremulous breath. He could still get out of this. All he had to do was cut in with a scathing remark now, something that would cut Aleksi’s legs right out from under him, before he had a chance to invoke….
“I double-dog dare you.”
The curse settled over the class like a blanket. Aleksi’s cronies tittered in delight while his rivals watched in disgusted shock. It was a waste of a curse, especially on a nonentity like Aimes. Humans didn’t have the innate magic to effectively challenge a curse, and especially not one as complex as a named dare. Aimes wouldn’t be able to turn the curse back on Aleksi because fae blood always trumped human blood. The reminder of his ineptitude stung.
Aimes clenched his fists, and his pale chin came up sharply. “All right,” he said, trying to pretend that this high-pitched thing was the normal sound of his voice. “I accept.”
About the Author
Sera Kane has loved the written word for essentially forever, in this particular case, somewhere in the range of thirty years or so. She writes to share the fantastical things that go on in her mind on a daily basis. Her secret-but-not-so-secret desire is to write pieces that are impossible to put down. And, also, to kill off a beloved character. She has not succeeded at either of these things, but be warned that she wants to!
She currently lives in southern California, but she’s been quite a few places in her day! Her favourites include Washington– the state, not DC– Texas, and Japan. Her house is filled by an exceedingly tall husband, a very swift son, a derpy German Shepherd, and a grumpy yet loving Shih-Tzu. If she ever won the lottery, she’d have houses in all three of those places and breed Shepherds in at least one of them.
Sera Kane’s Social Media:
In this free short story, we meet Adam Byron and Silas Grant. They’re looking to enjoy a good time during Pride weekend at the Oregon Coast, but they couldn’t afford to stay at the Buchanan House individually. They agreed, online, to share the expenses of one room, no strings attached.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 