Author Interview: Hazel McBride and A Fate Forged in Fire
Book Summary:
To become the first queen in centuries, a powerfully blessed blacksmith must use her wits and fire magic to overthrow the corrupt powers ruling her kingdom—while also fighting her growing desire for one of her dragon-riding adversaries—in the first book of a sizzling Celtic-inspired fantasy romance duology.
Once a territory built on matriarchal rule and values, Tìr Teine has since grown frail from a long line of fruitless kings. The most recent of which have ruled under the influence of the True Religion, an oppressive group who have steadily poisoned the region with their anti-magic teachings.
Born to rule and blessed by fire, Aemyra has begrudgingly lived in hiding rather than risk her life in court, waiting in anticipation for the current king’s death so she can bond to his dragon, claim her throne, and protect her people. But when the king dies and Aemyra is ready to take what is rightfully hers, her ambitious plan is foiled and she is thrust into a game of vicious politics and plots.
Her biggest adversary is Prince Fiorean, a dragon-rider and one of the most powerful fire wielders in the territory. Cold, arrogant, and blindly supportive of his corrupt family, he is everything Aemyra despises. But as chaos engulfs the court, they find themselves reluctantly entwined, forced to forge an uneasy alliance—one that quickly ignites into something more dangerous than either of them expected.
Behind enemy lines and slowly falling for her so-called adversary, Aemyra uncovers just how far the rot of corruption has spread, and what she may have to sacrifice to claim her throne.
Meet the Amazing Author herself, Hazel McBride
Brooke: You’ve shared that A Fate Forged in Fire is based on Scotland, where you are from. Are there any particular regions or landmarks that inspired Àird Lasair?
Hazel: Àird Lasair really feels like an amalgamation of the most dramatic parts of Scotland. You have the imposing red brick castle at the top of a hill with snow-capped mountains rising behind, a sprawling loch and a bustling city.
When I was constructing the map of Erisocia - the wider world in which these books take place - I drew inspiration from the Hebridean Islands and Highlands of Scotland.
When looking at trade routes for each territory, I had to be careful in constructing rivers, port towns and roads then think about how people would move and live within the world. Also accounting for weather which, as we know, is not always favourable in Scotland!
For Àird Lasair, they have the loch which eventually feeds out into the sea so they can bring trade right into the heart of the city by boat as well as fish directly from the water themselves. Being surrounded by mountains, the city is largely protected from the northern winds and of course provides nests for the dragons!
The crumbling Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness and perhaps Inverness Castle were inspirations for this mythical city. I’ve been lucky enough to travel extensively throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland - and there are no shortage of castles and stunning mountains to draw inspiration from.
Scotland has such incredibly dramatic landscapes - whether it’s the Quiraing on the Isle of Skye or Fingal’s cave on Staffa - it’s easy to imagine magic thriving there.
Brooke: How is the experience of writing for a Big 5 publisher different than when you independently published your previous young adult series?
Hazel: The process of writing isn’t much different, but everything else is night and day. For me, I struggled as an indie author because it requires you to be a ‘jack of all trades’ and turn your hand to all aspects of publishing - many of which I am simply not good at. Formatting and typesetting being one of them. There are so many indie authors who do a fantastic job of getting their stories out there and there are so many options now that allow authors to make their own choice of which route they want to go down to publish - but ultimately for me I enjoy having a team behind me to rely on and help. I enjoy marketing and being on social media as well as writing, but I’m happy to leave the rest to the professionals in their departments! I feel so unbelievably lucky to have a team of women behind AFFIF who are equally as passionate about the story as I am.
Brooke: You and your husband truly are an adorable couple. Congratulations on almost three years of marriage! How did you two meet?
Hazel: We met almost ten years ago when I was living in Tenerife and he was on holiday! We often talk about how many things had to fall into place for us to even meet - his initial holiday in Greece was cancelled and they moved it to Tenerife, they asked the hotel bartender which club to go to and he recommended the one I was at with my friends. Even in my early twenties, I wasn’t out at the club very often so the fact we met at all was like the stars aligning. I wouldn’t say it was love at first sight but given that he was a head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the club I spotted him immediately, went over to have a chat and the rest is history! We did four years of long distance before I eventually packed up my life and moved to the Netherlands.
Brooke: Outside of A Fate Forged in Fire of course, what other releases are you excited for this year?
Hazel: The Knight and the Moth is one of my most highly anticipated reads and I’m sure I’ll be reading it in every spare moment I have while on my own book tour since it comes out the week before AFFIF.
Dream by the Shadows is Logan Karlie’s indie-turned-trad Gothic fantasy releasing in August. I was obsessed with Labyrinth as a child so I cannot wait for this lush YA release.
Marve Anson’s Firstborn of the Sun is set to be an EPIC fantasy tale with Gods wielding immense power and African mythology which I cannot WAIT to dive into.
Voidwalker by SA MacLean & Ascension by ST Gibson.
Brigitte Knightley’s ‘The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy’ is coming out in July and I cannot wait to hold the physical copy in my hands. I was lucky enough to blurb for her and read an early version last year and it’s utterly fantastic and hilarious.
Similarly, as a former fanfic author myself, Alchemized and Rose in Chains are going to solidify Dramione girl summer as the fanfic girlies get their moment to shine.
Plot Twists & Passion: A Fate Forged in Fire
Brooke: I’ve seen so many fantasy novels start with women being undervalued, doubted and stuck in a male-dominated political system, similar to our current world. Your series does a bit of the opposite- transports us to a world in which the original political system was matriarchal, with the birth right of power going to the female line. Did you have inspiration for a matriarchal political system, or was this something that came to you organically?
Hazel: I formerly worked as a zookeeper so being exposed to matriarchal structures such as those of elephants, or cetaceans - even in some cases the role of female apes - helped me to understand how matriarchy might look in a human society.
It is hardly a utopia, but the focus is much more on community and people fulfilling roles based on individual strengths rather than sex. Men will typically fall into roles requiring more physical strength because they have an advantage there, but women would more often be in positions of power because they are valued for their wisdom. We can look at the role of grandmothers in the animal kingdom - females of certain species live far longer than males and well past their reproductive years simply because the intelligence they hold is so valuable for the collective.
While writing a society like this - where women are quite simply respected and valued members of said society - it really makes the patriarchy seem idiotic.
Additionally, I wanted to write a FMC who was utterly capable (if a little bit over-confident) in her skills. As a blacksmith, she is tall, has broad shoulders and is packed with muscle. Meaning she can wield a sword just as well as a man. Her depth of magic allows the scales to tip even further in her favour - but her arrogance is definitely her fatal flaw.
I have plans to write a prequel to AFFIF where we follow Aemyra’s ancestor as she lived 200 years prior to AFFIF within the heart of the matriarchy during the fifty year war. It will look vastly different to the crumbling matriarchy Aemyra lives within - fighting against a patriarchal system using religion as a means to gain power over women.
I didn’t expect so much of the sexism and misogyny within the book to be quite so reflective of today’s society but there are definitely some scary parallels in there with regards to women’s rights. In some instances it was cathartic, in others I had to unpack some of my own internalized misogyny, and other times it just made me angry. But maybe that’s the point.
Brooke: You’ve shared recently on threads that you’ve had a new experience- “one star reviews because my FMC is Bi”
When you wrote A Fate Forged in Fire, did you expect any negativity over Aemyra’s sexual preferences?
Hazel: Quite possibly I was a bit naive to think a bisxeual FMC who has an on-page female love interest would be accepted in the mainstream. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
I typically don’t read reviews, but a friend mentioned this to me. As these reviews came from advanced readers, I want to make sure no one with homophobic views has the opportunity to read my future books in advance and it has been mentioned to my publisher.
AFFIF hasn’t really been marketed as a queer book, but the matriarchy is queer-normative where love and gender in all forms is widely accepted and appreciated. The wider cast of characters represent all forms of sexual orientation and gender identity - some are spoken about in book 1, others will come to light in book 2. I didn’t want any character to have to ‘come out’ on page, so the reader will find out organically where the story calls for it.
As a bisexual woman myself, I have experienced a lot of prejudice and bi erasure - especially now I am married to a man. But writing Aemyra, a bi woman who has unapologetic love for both women and men, was so healing for me.
Brooke: A Fate Forged in Fire has some incredibly descriptive scenes, and you’ve done a phenomenal job making the reader feel like they have a front row seat to the drama unfolding. Do you have a process for writing such intense scenes, or does it unfold as you write?
Hazel: I’m pretty sure this is where my neurodivergence helps massively in writing. A lot of scenes play out like a movie in my head and sometimes I can hit that hyperfocus and four hours of writing will pass and I’ve not even noticed.
I always write with noise-cancelling headphones and a playlist of soundtrack music. I sometimes will try to match the vibe of the songs to the scene I’m writing. Two Steps from Hell is a great one for writing battle scenes. AFFIF also has its own reading playlist which you can find on Spotify by searching ‘AFFIF Instrumental’.
Before I even began writing the story, I constructed a 100+ page worldbuilding document for all 5 territories of Erisocia and I think having that clear picture of what every location, character and clan looked like helped me paint that for the reader. Books have always been a special interest of mine, and now I’m writing my own, Erisocia definitely feels real to me. It makes me so happy to be able to bring readers into this world in an immersive way.
Brooke: For readers patiently waiting to get their hands on their copy of A Fate Forged in Fire, can you share more about what they can expect with the magic system and role that dragons play?
Hazel: The majority of people in Erisocia worship the 5 Goddesses who correspond to the five territories. Each Goddess can choose to bless a child with elemental magic, marking them as ‘Dùileach’ (Doo-lach). This means ‘of the elements’ in Scottish Gàidhlig.
The Goddesses are not benevolent, and are incredibly discriminate with their blessings - often favouring women of a certain matriline. They can bless one person with a tiny drop of magic and another with a deep well of power. Aemyra is one such Dùileach with the ability to wield fire. Those who are blessed with magic can also Bond to magical creatures of the same element in order to amplify their Goddess given magic. Within fire territory we see dragons, phoenixes, chimeras, firebirds and more.
Magic is an exchange of energy and with each use it will take a little more from your body. So if you are Bonded to a large, strong creature like a dragon, you will be able to use more magic before you lose consciousness or die.
As the largest and most powerful creature in Erisocia - dragons are the power players politically and can tip the balance in any war. This is why Aemyra is desperate to Bond to one of the last three dragons in existence, the golden Kolreath. But at the beginning of our story he is Bonded to the king - so she must wait for him to die, or orchestrate his death herself.
Are you as excited as I am to jump into Erisocia? A Fate Forged in Fire releases May 27th, 2025 -
reserve your copy ASAP before it sells out!
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Thank you Hazel McBride & Delacorte Press for gifting me an advanced reader copy of A Fate Forged in Fire, and allowing me the opportunity to learn more through this interview. This post has my honest thoughts and opinions, and I truly cannot wait for the world to read it!