Spotlight & Giveaway: Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire by Erica Hollis

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Erica Hollis to HJ!

Hi Erica and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire!

 
Hi, everybody! Thanks for stopping by!
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

When a cruel, conniving, and truly massive dragon takes over the city, it’s up to Lotte (a girl who can speak to dragons) and Maryse (a girl who’s unafraid of getting her hands dirty) to stop him. But can Lotte trust the girl she’s falling for when she has so many secrets?

Please share the opening lines of this book:

The forest air smells of dew and moss and melted snow as I take in a slow, silent breath.

The end of winter in Nivstede is beautiful, a time of new beginnings and sunlight coming back into the world, but I can’t stand here and enjoy the scenery. I’ve gotten plenty of chances to do that anyway, spending the last week in the back of a wagon.

Each step I take is calculated, and I move only after I’ve examined the ground for any twigs that could snap beneath my boots and give me away. Through the barrier of trees, two voices slink toward me like snakes slithering through the grass.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• While in the process of drafting, I ended up using the online mapmaker Inkarnate to create a map of the entire continent where this story takes place – despite the fact that the story happens almost entirely in a single city. The map has over twenty-five countries labeled with their borders marked. I also have a huge Word document listing every country’s capital city, basic government structure, and primary languages, along with any other stuff I happen to come up with. I hope to use these settings in future books!
• I’d initially envisioned this as a road trip story, with much of the narrative taking place while Lotte and the others are traveling from her small town to the big city where the dragon has taken over. I wound up cutting about 90% of the planned travel time so we could get to the dragon stuff as soon as possible.
• In the first outline of the book, two of Lotte’s friends, Scyler and Danil, were in their mid-20s and a happily married couple. Now, they’re 19 and happily engaged. My editor suggested I make that change so all the main characters would be closer in age. I think it definitely made Scy and Danil more like “cool older siblings” figure than parental ones, which leads to some fun scenes.
• My primary influences in establishing the aesthetic, tone, and overall “vibe” of the story were Dungeons & Dragons, Studio Ghibli movies, and the movie version of Stardust.
• There is a scene where our characters watch a fireworks show together and it is ADORABLE. If I do say so myself.

What first attracts your main characters to each other?

Lotte and Maryse are kind of in the same boat; two girls who have to go it alone due to circumstances beyond their control. Neither of them have much by way of close family, and both have had to take care of themselves for awhile now. Lotte’s earnestness and optimism catches Maryse’s attention, while Lotte is intrigued by Maryse’s clever and sometimes underhanded tactics.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe your main characters”love affair?

Sweet, shy, messy, stressful, and adventurous.
 

The First Kiss…

…leads to a couple tears.

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

Lotte and Maryse, in a brief moment of relaxation:

All at once, before I can think about it or talk myself out of it, I blurt out, “Do you like to dance?”

Her head snaps up, surprised, but then her gaze softens. “I don’t know. I hardly do it.”

“Would…” I swallow and try to sound casual, like her answer doesn’t matter to me in the slightest. “Would you like to? It could be fun, maybe.”

Maryse looks at the crowd of people enjoying the music, before looking back to me. She’s smiling. “Sure, why not?”

I get to my feet and offer her my hand, hoping she doesn’t notice that it’s shaking. She takes it and together we make our way to where everyone is dancing.

I hardly dance, either, but it doesn’t seem like anyone here really cares if anyone actually knows what they’re doing or not. People sway and spin out of rhythm, some clumsily knocking into one another, others dipping or lifting their partners just because.

This makes it easy for Maryse and me to fit right in, her grabbing my arms to place them around her shoulders. Her own arms loop around my waist, and I feel my cheeks burning. Awkwardly, we begin to move, chest to chest, stepping in time to the music as best as we can.

“Thank you,” I finally say. “For today. I had fun.”

“I did too,” she says. “Are we…doing this right?”

“Hell if I know.”

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

Lotte meets the villain of our story:

“I’m not carrying any weapons. I only want to talk. Can we do that, please?”

Silence meets me, but I’m not backing down. The fear hasn’t left me, not entirely, but now it’s supplemented by something else: determination. I have a job to do, and I’m not leaving until it gets done. Even if I have to stand here waiting all night.

“I know you’re here, and I’d appreciate it if you’d come out where I can see you, please. I like to look someone in the eye when I speak to them.”

I finally get a response: a wordless, guttural noise that echoes off the walls, and I nearly jump out of my skin. I can’t help the relieved sigh that escapes me when I realize it’s a snort, a laugh.

Readers should read this book …

…if they love action and adventure, dragons, and slowburn romance!

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I am currently in the process of writing another book set in the same world as this one! It follows a different couple in a different part of the country, but I will say this: if you like royal intrigue, fae, and forbidden love, this one’s for you.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: I will be giving away TWO eARC copies of HEARTS FORGED IN DRAGON FIRE to two of you lovely readers! 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What’s your favorite book or movie featuring dragons? Who’s your favorite dragon?

 
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Excerpt from Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire:

There’s a note on the kitchen door when I get there.
‘Kitchen closed today. Entire staff gone to festival.’
“Great,” I mutter, as a flurry of footsteps comes down the stairs behind me.
“Oh, you’re still here.” I turn to see Maryse, dressed for the day, looking pretty in a light daffodil-colored dress, with a leather bag slung over one shoulder. Suddenly, my black trousers and old, worn tunic feel a bit plain. We stare at each other for a moment, and I wonder if she’s feeling awkward after last night, too. “I thought you’d be out by now.”
“I didn’t sleep well,” I say.
“You’re worried about tonight.”
“Incredibly.”
She crosses her arms, approaching me with a hopeful glint in her eye. “You don’t have to go through with this, you know.”
I shake my head. I hate to let her down, I hate everything about this whole situation, but I know what needs to be done. “Yes, I do.”
She turns her gaze away, shoulders slumping. Still, she doesn’t look all that surprised. “If you’re going, I’m going,” she says. “But I say there’s still time to bail until we’re literally in the room with the thing.”
“Are you going to check out the festival?” I ask, desperate to change the subject.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” A small smile appears on her face as she nudges me in the shoulder. “Aren’t you planning to go?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
She frowns. “Is this about…well, everything, I suppose?”
“It is,” I admit with a small sigh. “I’m not good company right now. I barely slept and I can’t stop worrying about everything and—”
“Okay, okay.” Maryse grabs me by my forearm and tugs me to follow behind her. It’s truly amazing how such a petite girl can drag people along with such little effort. “Come on, you need to get out and enjoy the day.”
“Maryse, you don’t need to—” But she cuts me off again.
“There’s nothing to be done until tonight. Vikker probably won’t send someone to get us until after the feast, so we’ve got the whole day, and I don’t see the point in you spending it by yourself.”
We step outside into the brisk air of the morning, and are almost immediately knocked over by a group of children in animal masks running down the road. One is clutching a paper kite made to look like a giant bird of prey, and the others seem eager to try it out.
Their laughter makes me smile, and I watch them as they disappear down the road, followed by a harried-looking woman who must be their mother.
“What do you do for the feast in Rosburnt?” Maryse asks, leading me down the road, in the direction of a stand selling some truly scrumptious-looking cakes and pies, shaped like frogs and mice and butterflies.
“Pretty much…this.” I gesture around. “Just on a much smaller scale. But all the shops close and everyone spends the day eating and drinking. When I was a kid, my parents would let me get a new toy and I’d go off with a friend to play with them until the sun set. Nana always liked hearing the music in the square. We don’t have any fireworks, though.”
“Oh, you’ll love them.” She gives me a smile. “And I know a spot that’s the best view in town. Stick with me.”
I try not to blush, and give her a gentle nudge on the arm. “I think you want an excuse to hang around me all day long.”
“Well, it’ll be easier for Vikker to find us if we’re together.”
“Oh, yes, because making Vikker’s life easier is always your first priority,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Always.”

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

For fans of Abigail Owen and Samantha Shannon comes a breathtaking, energetic novel where the only way to defeat a dragon is to outsmart it…

Most dragontongues don’t live long enough to learn from their mistakes. Lotte Meer is luckier than most, surviving long enough to communicate with the fierce, sullen, and temperamental dragons who are not above enjoying a human as a light snack. And she has the scars to prove it.

Now a massive, foul-tempered dragon has taken over the town of Morwassen’s Pass, taking the citizens hostage. As long as they bring him their gold and treasure, he won’t reduce their city to a smoking heap of ash and death. Only, the treasure is running out and Lotte—with the help of sharp-tongued, unbelievably cute Maryse Basvaan—is their last and only hope.

But this dragon is more cunning—and more cruel—than any other. Not only is he holding Lotte’s estranged mom captive, but he has a taste for betrayal…and somehow he’s stricken some kind of secret deal with the girl who’s already gone and stolen Lotte’s heart.

Lotte won’t fail. She can’t.

Because if she does…everyone dies.
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Erica Hollis (she/her) writes about queer girls and magic, and getting to do that for an actual job is still unreal to her. HEARTS FORGED IN DRAGON FIRE, her debut F/F fantasy romance, is available in June 2023 with Entangled. Erica’s other passions include cats, book shopping, anime, fairy tales, and being extremely bad at video games but playing them anyway.
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