Ronit J

March 2024 was a very difficult month, I’ll be honest. On the one hand, I made some very good progress on my WIPs, but on the other I didn’t work for a third of the month.

But, I made a promise to myself to post on my blog at least once a month. So, here I am keeping my promise, sharing things of value.

My WIPs as of March 2024

Untitled Fantasy Stand Alone – Title Reveal coming soon

My WIP’s first draft is now at about 57,000 words. For context, I’ve deleted over 8,000 words of my original draft, and rewritten a lot more. I’m basically reworking the first two acts of the novel, and adding two POVs that I believe will help balance the pacing and tone of the novel. It’s these two major parts that are taking up the most time.

I’m a hybrid plotter-pantser, but for this novel I mostly pantsed my way to the end. While I loved the experience, I am finding the edits to be more hard work than I originally intended.

I need to start calling this by its title, which I should finalise soon. If all goes right, I’ll do a title reveal in early April, along with a rough plan I have for my next few projects. Until then…

Abandoned by the Gods (Short Story Collection) – COVER REVEAL coming soon

That’s right! I’m finally ready to do a COVER REVEAL! I made the cover myself, and I’m really happy with how it’s turned out. It’s perfect for the vibe and tone of the collection. I’ll talk about my process for how I made the cover in the cover reveal post. So, stay tuned for that!

Since my last post, I’ve had more beta readers give me feedback, which makes me all the more confident about moving on to the next step. I’ll be doing one round of edits before putting out a call for ARCs. I originally intended this to be published in early May, but I miscalculated how long beta reading might take. Just to be on the safer side, I’m going to push this to late May/early June.

Finally, as I’m done with beta reader feedback and final edits, I will put a call for ARC readers. If you’re interested, keep an eye out for that, or subscribe to my newsletter to get notified!

Help! My Dog Is The Chosen One! – BBNYA Awards

I submitted Help! My Dog Is The Chosen One! for the BBNYA awards!

At the time of writing this post, they haven’t yet announced my book’s participation, but the forms are filled, the documents are submitted, and everything is confirmed.

More updates coming soon. Until then, read more about Help! My Dog Is The Chosen One!

In the meantime, if you want to read the book, you can buy it from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers! Available in ebook, paperback and hardcover formats!

Books Read in March 2024

March 2024 was slow, and mostly because I was busy with packing and moving (updates below). Also, I started reading Oathbringer, which is the biggest book I have read in a while, and took up a lot of my time. However, I did manage to squeeze in some novellas. I needed palette cleansers, and I didn’t want to fall behind on my reading challenge.

I also did my first beta-read for another author! I’ll talk about when the right time comes, but I was really happy to be involved. I can’t wait to start talking about that book.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the books I did read this month.

Rising Flux by Jonathan Weiss – ★★★1/2

A prequel novella set some 70-years before the main series, Rising Flux takes us to a dystopian future where techno-magic and sentient machines take centre stage. Heavily inspired my Dune, Rising Flux was a mysterious and intriguing read.

The point of this novella is to give you a glimpse into the author’s main series, and Rising Flux does a brilliant job at it. If you’re considering reading the main series, but aren’t sure, this novella would be a good starting point IMO. It definitely convinced me to read Molten Flux.

The book is available for FREE to the author’s newsletter.

Ruins of Smoke by Joao S. Silva – ★★★★

Another prequel novella set in the past, Ruins of Smoke is an action-packed account of the Smokesmith’s past. We see what is obviously a key historical event through the eyes of four distinct characters, each expanding the lore and magic-system of this world.

Ruins of Smoke was a finalist in the Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship (SFINCS 1), and I can totally see why. It’s a great read and makes a very strong argument for why you should read the Smokesmiths series.

The book is available for FREE to the author’s newsletter.

War Song by Michael Michel – ★★★★★

Yet another prequel novella set 73 years before the main series!

This was an brutal delight to read. I’m not going to say too much about it, except that it made me think of Malazan. Also, this is my first review on the SFF Insiders website, so… check it out!

P.S: The book is available for FREE to the author’s newsletter.

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson – 80% completed

I’m hoping to catch up on all my Cosmere reading before Stormlight 5 is released. That means 2 Stormlight books, 1 Stormlight novella, the Lost Metal and the Sunlit Man. I don’t know if I can make it, but reading Oathbringer makes me want to pause all my other reads and power through Sanderson’s work!

Now, I’m only done with 80% of this book, so whatever I say next is in reference only to that.

Oathbringer was everything I expected it to be. World-building, RICH. Characters, PERFECT. Expanding on the word, CHEF’S KISS. I didn’t think Sanderson would top Words of Radiance, but he did. Of course, it’s subjective what you like better, but for me Oathbringer is on par with Words of Radiance, if not a tad bit higher. The ending is what will decide, so I’ll talk about that in my next month’s post.

I was hoping to finish this in March, but the first week of April seems more likely.

Other Updates in March 2024:

Now for some personal updates. I won’t be doing too many of these, but March was a slow month because of some things in my personal life, so I think it’d be appropriate to mention.

We moved to a new home!

After a little over two years, the wife and I moved out of our first apartment together.

Why am I mentioning this? It’s precisely this one update why I wasn’t able to write and edit enough this month. I hadn’t anticipated how much time packing and moving would take, not to mention settling into our new home and reorganising everything here.

But, it’s all done, and I’m back to writing and editing at my former pace.

SFF Insiders!

Not sure this counts as a personal update, but I’ve joined the SFF Insiders team! I’ve been reviewing books on Goodreads for over a year now. I started writing those reviews as a practice to verbalise my thoughts and analyses, which could help me better understand my own writing and take decisions.

I’ll continue to do the same, but on the SFF Insiders website! In fact, my first review is already live on the website. Check it out!

Lastly…

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading! I’m trying to make it a habit of posting more regularly, and I think I’m getting a hang of it.

As mentioned earlier, I’m going to put out a call for ARCs soon, and my newsletter is where you’ll hear it first! Subscribe to my newsletter to receive updates on the release, deals, giveaways, and more! 

Thank you for reading, and have a great day!