Greetings, dear travelers.  I am Sera Kane and I wrote a novella!
The earliest story I recall working on for a lengthy time period—try about two weeks—was during middle school. It was a driven, fast-paced story having to do with teleporting cats. One day, they teleported right off the page and that was the end of that. I still prefer writing fantasy; my imagination loves to go on adventures. I tell myself stories constantly, though now I’m much better at focusing so that I might pen it before it, too, disappears.
Stolen, perhaps, by those mischievous teleporting cats.

Lord of Hearth, Lord of Hollow was surprisingly easy and difficult to write.  It’s always hard to write a book.  The dedication and energy are incredible and, really, it takes a toll on you, heart, soul, and mind.  In this case, however, I was fortunate that Aimes and Keane were both very open.  The world grew around them in an organic, natural way, so much so, that I’m hoping there will be reason to write more in that setting!

One of the things that bloomed into existence, without me even being aware of it at first, was Keane’s race.  Within the story, the terms fae and elf are used interchangeably, and how confusing that could be to the readers.  But those are human terms related to what Keane truly is: an Elfaegaard.  Just from the name you can see why both elf and fae could be applied to him.  Of course, he is fae, rather than gaard, and El? Well, El is actually a title of leadership!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to really explore the more intricate aspects of the Elfaegaard, but keep an eye out whilst you read!  Thank you, dear travelers, for your time and consideration, and I greatly look forward to learning what you think!

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.

Buy Links:

Dreamspinner Press

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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.”

Author Bio:

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.

Social Media:

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