The heart of a storyteller never truly settles, always wandering between realms of possibility like morning mist drifting across landscape. My fingers have traced the contours of epic adventures, painted worlds where destiny unfolds in battles between light and darkness, where heroes discover themselves in the crucible of impossible choices.
But stories, like seasons, have their own rhythm of transformation.
Lately, I’ve found myself drawn to quieter magic—the alchemy that occurs when two souls recognize kindred spirits across crowded café corners, the way morning light can transform a simple workshop into cathedral space, how love often arrives not with trumpets and fanfare but with the gentle recognition of coming home. The dragons haven’t disappeared from my imagination; they’ve simply stepped back to make room for different kinds of enchantment, ones that breathe in the spaces between heartbeats rather than in the clash of swords against scales.
This shift began as a whisper, a curiosity about contemporary stories where magic lives not in spellwork but in the patient devotion of artisan hands, where meet-cutes unfold like watercolor bleeding across wet paper.
The Birth of The Art of Unexpected Encounters: A Sweet Meet-Cute Collection
My upcoming contemporary romance collection, The Art of Unexpected Encounters: A Sweet Meet-Cute Collection, emerged from a desire from something different, a celebration of love and the courage of those who take hold of it. The stories for this collection are all about the unexpected connections that bloom when we’re least prepared for them: a wood carver whose timber speaks in whispered tongues meeting a baker whose bread rises with the patience of prayer; gallery lights casting shadows that become conversations between artist and accidental muse; piano melodies bridging the careful distances between composer and listener.
Each story in the collection breathes with the same atmospheric quality I’ve always treasured, but instead of ancient forests, we explore corner cafés where music floats through afternoon light. Instead of mystical quests, we follow the quieter journeys of hearts discovering they’ve been seeking the same unspoken harmony all along.
The first stories “Grain and Rise,” “Gallery Mix-Up,” and “Piano Keys,” will arrive on Amazon in June and July. More stories will come as individual ebook releases and these will come together in late summer or early fall for the full collection.
Stories from the Heart
Alongside these written tales, I’m launching my podcast, Stories from Rene Rose Hawthorne on Youtube and Rumble, where I’ll share audio versions of these stories for free with AI audio provided by Elevenlabs.
A Promise of Return
Yet even as I explore these contemporary realms of romance, the world of Lumiare continues to live in the corners of my imagination. The Dragon and the Rangers story is in need of revision and continuation into their second book, their journey suspended like stars waiting for dawn. This isn’t farewell to fantasy—it’s simply an intermission, a season of exploring different melodies before returning to the symphonic scope of epic adventure.
The Thread That Binds
Whether I’m writing about dragons or dawn, gallery openings or ancient quests, the thread that binds all my stories remains constant: the profound beauty of connection, the need for truth and courage, and the heart of those brave enough to change the world around them, or at least change the moment they live within.
The journey continues, dear readers. Sometimes it leads through misty forests where legends are born. Sometimes it unfolds in workshops where morning light transforms ordinary moments into watercolor dreams. Always, it carries us toward the understanding that love—in all its forms, across all its settings—remains the most enduring truth of all.
Stories from Rene Rose Hawthorne launches alongside individual ebook stories this month. In turn, those stories will join together to form The Art of Unexpected Encounters: A Sweet Meet-Cute Collection. Please feel welcome to join me in celebrating these stories.
Rene (Rose) Hawthorne 