Wednesday, 28 June 2023

A Slice of Cake With... Brittany Hester

Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Brittany Hester. 

Brittany says "Growing up in the foothills of Tennessee, I have always been enchanted by nature, magic, and powerful stories. My one wish was that there were more characters that looked like me in the books I loved reading. 

My hope is to blaze a path for diverse, strong, and authentic characters of colour to enter the forefront of popular fantasy and science fiction in every medium."

What kind of books do you write?

I write character-driven stories that take place in big, diverse, normally magical worlds. Honestly, the more immersive I can make someone feel while they read, the better! As a reader, I’m pulled towards the stories that leave you connected with the characters--you know the ones where you feel like you could run into them when you’re walking down the street--and I strive to create those types of stories. 

Can you describe your writing why?

I want to provide an escape from reality so people can live out a different story in a different setting when they need a break. Honestly, I write the books I needed and wanted when I was younger. As a Black woman, I fill my stories with diverse characters that I would have identified with and who would have helped me identify myself. The world is a unique place filled with people of all different backgrounds and experiences. I do my best to echo that in my own worlds, because stories are windows for people to try and understand some of life’s hardest questions. Within and through them, you can often find the answers you’ve been looking for or even come up with something more. As an author, I’m motivated to tell stories that can do just that. 

Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most

This was one of my favorite scenes from book 2. I just love how their relationship has been building to this conflict for so long, and they finally had this blowup. It was drama, there were tears, and Ren finally saw some vulnerability from Akeno: 

That was all she needed. Ren sprinted into the night. She huffed as she looked around for Akeno until she noticed a small, almost forgotten pebbled path along a line of mid-calf hedges. Ren stared, unsure where to go next until she spotted marble-sized stones that glowed with fluorescent yellow light partially hidden between the plain pebbles of various sizes. 
Without taking her eyes off the path, she followed it until the lush green grass turned into patches of weeds and dirt. When she finally looked up, Akeno stood before a disregarded shed. Elastic-reinforced white bandages wrapped his hands, and a large bag as big as Ren was on his shoulder. 
The spot was ugly, bare, and somehow perfect in its forgottenness. From the way Akeno flung the bag down next to him when he saw her through the bright moonlight, Ren guessed there were no cameras. He would never show so much emotion if he thought people were watching.
“Nice spot.” Ren gestured at the space around them with an apologetic smile. “How’d you find another spot without any cameras?” She took a hesitant step forward when he didn't answer, afraid he would dismiss her. She was more afraid of what would happen if she didn’t try to mend the damage she had caused. 
He turned his back and kicked the bag until it rolled against the side of the shed with a thud. 
“I hope Conal isn’t in there,” she tried again. 
He kicked the bag harder. “What do you want, Ren?”
 He was the opposite of how he had been earlier when she had picked a fight with him. Then he had been a simmering pot of black anger firmly contained under an airtight lid. Now he was explosive. His anger, disappointment, and hurt were tangible, making the air almost too hard to breathe. She had said what she did, and there was no going back. How could she take back the hammer blow of her accusations when all that was left was the shattered glass of her destructive behavior? 
She looked around, suddenly aware that they were out in the open and that anywhere in the shadows around them, cameras could be focused on them. 
“You’re safe, okay?”
“How can you know for sure?”
“Someone I trust told me about this spot before I came.”
“Who?”
Akeno turned and fixed a pointed stare at her. 
“Another secret, huh.” She had meant to poke fun at their fight inside the manor, but the words had tasted too sharp as they came out. Too close to the pain she felt at the truth that there were secrets Akeno felt he couldn’t trust her with. 
You won’t trust him with all of yours, either. 
Akeno tilted his head to the stars as if they could help him conquer whatever emotions were so dangerously battling to come out. “Do you think it’s easy for me to be in this situation with you? Fresh off of carrying your too-still body in my arms? Of hiding those armored rings you still wear? Of watching you and Lennox?”
“What about Lennox and me?” Akeno brushed a hand in her direction like he could wipe away the traces of his words, but Ren only boiled with anger. “We didn’t do anything wrong.” 
Finally, he looked at her, and Ren took a step back from the intensity of his anger. “That’s not the point,” he yelled. 
“Then what is the point, Akeno? Why do you keep bringing it up?” Ren yelled. They were loud, too loud. Ren imagined Sky opening a window and watching from her room as Ebba watched from behind them, eating her stupid late-night snack. It all made her mad, and Ren wanted to let the anger consume her. 
She crossed her arms and stomped over to Akeno, the only sound between them the crunch of the rock under her feet and their panting. 
 “You’re reckless, stubbornly single-minded, and you don’t give a damn about who could get hurt as long as you get what you want.”
“That’s not true,” she whispered. 
“Yes, it is.” He ran a wrapped hand through his hair, and the world stopped. Even Ren stopped breathing as Akeno looked at her. “God, you run right through me, Ren. I can see your wheels turning. You’re not as difficult to read as you may think you are, oh stoic queen of masking—”
“I am not!” She interrupted, but Akeno kept going like he couldn’t hear her anymore. 
“You know the worst part? I’m okay if you want to use me, Ren. I’m okay with being a little pawn in your game, and I hate that. I hate how perfectly fine I am with repeatedly letting you do this to me.”
“It wasn’t real,” Ren protested, although she wasn’t sure which one she was trying to convince. “If you can read me as well as you think you can, you would know it wasn’t real!”
“It might have started out as an act, but somewhere along the way, you forgot you were pretending. You forgot it was me you were throwing punches at. For what?” His eyes were red now like he had spent too much time staring directly into a bright, artificial light. His words were a serrated knife’s blade slicing through her.


Tell us about your latest project

Sunrise and Ashes, book 4 in The Chosen Legacy series is out 30th June 2023. Here's the blurb:

Ren uncovered the council’s deadly secret, and it means make or break for the resistance.

After experiencing the devastating capabilities of the combat-ready bioadvanced machines firsthand, the resistance and their allies realize that the council created the CAMs to wreak destruction wherever they cannot control.

The choice is clear: annihilate the technological monstrosities and their masters, or lose everything they’ve fought for.

Ren always knew getting out from under the thumb of the council carried a huge risk for everyone involved, but the price of overthrowing their overlords has become too high.

The oppressive rule of the council hangs heavy over Ren's head and the entire world. With the CAMs in their arsenal, innocent lives will be sacrificed, hopes destroyed, and families torn apart forever.

While some of the factions are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the council from succeeding, Ren refuses to spend the lives of the people they’ve been trying to free from tyranny.

Love is a choice Ren never believed she would make. The freedom she’s been fighting for is closer than ever, and so is her destruction.

Ren’s desperate search for hope uncovers an unexpected bond that could provide her with the answer she’s been looking for. But her solution could turn out to be more dangerous than the resistance’s plan.

With freedom within reach, she must make a decision that will define humanity’s future.

Can Ren bring an end to the council’s regime without paying for it in blood? If she can’t make the right choice, is she ready to lose someone again?


This series and its diverse cast of characters will resonate with readers because Ren wrestles with the same problem we do today: what do I do if the future I’m moving towards isn’t the future I want? 


What is your favourite cake?

That one is HARD because I love desserts. If I had to choose one, I would have to pick chocolate lava cake. Oh my lanta, the warm chocolate cake, the melted chocolate in the middle…then top it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.


Connect with Brittany here:


Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with J R Lancaster. 

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please get in touch. I'd be delighted to have you.

You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round!


Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me. 
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