This book chat won’t be like my others as the book under discussion is my new release, Pink Morning (book 1 in my magical dystopia duology)!

It’s been 2 years since I’ve published a new series and I’m giddy to share Magical Discord with you. Following our book chat style, I’ll start with the usual basics and will then approach it as a reader* and as a writer. 

*PLEASE NOTE: As this is my new book, I could hardly be unbiased even if there were reviews for this book. Additionally, readers need places to be readers which means I wouldn’t have addressed any actual reviews here regardless. So again, this chat won’t be like the others!  

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Pink Morning (Magical Discord 1)
Rennie St. James
Cover by Mary Hastings (Hastings Design Corp)
Published: August 28, 2024

History is written by the victors, and their lies could burn Concordea to the ground.

Kirsi is preparing her students for testing, but they are fascinated by only one subject – the powerful Renderes who rebuilt their city-state after a century of suffering and devastation. The legendary heroes were executed by Rebels after the Revolution. Those same Rebels remain in control of Concordea…and school testing.

Mason knows the deadly truth not shared in the history books. Without the guidance of a Muse, Renderes burn too hot. Magical fire has taken lives before, and the danger is heating up again.

When one of her students disappears, it is Kirsi who will be tested. The teacher will be forced to confront the hidden reality of her world and she’ll need Mason’s help to survive the experience.

Can a teacher learn enough magic to save her students?

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If you’ve read a few of these chats, then you may know that reader criticisms are inevitable and often hit the same main points. Again, I wouldn’t address any reviews of my books as readers need spaces to share their thoughts. I will just share a bit on those oft repeated issues we’ve covered in various book chats. 

World building 
Always essential in fantasy, I have built upon my Rahki world and expanded it which makes world building a little easier to share. Additionally, I love the idea of characters finding new information and realizing they were wrong about something. That was a theme in Rahki and continues in Magical Discord.

As for those world building specifics, this book is set a few hundred years in our future. The USA has been divided and the city-state of Concordea just survived a civil war. Despite the grey future, it’s not dark or angsty. That’s not my thing as a reader so I don’t typically write it either. 

Plot
When it comes to plot, I like knowing what I’m getting into so you can trust the blurb on this one. There are abducted teens who must be saved by their teacher.

Characters
This is a dual-POV story with a romantic subplot (3rd person for both). It also has a bit of a found family theme which is a favorite of mine!

I can’t guarantee you’ll love this as a reader as that’s just not the way this works. However, if you’re open to a magical dystopia, I hope you’ll give this one a try! If you do enjoy it and would like to get on the ARC team for book 2, please let me know.

BTW, you can find 2 related stories on Amazon Kindle Vella: There’s No Such Thing as Magic and Opaque Heart. The second one actually kicks off what I believe will be my next series…and yes, there are dragons! I believe Vella is still only available in the US so my apologies to my international friends.

Now, we’ll move into the writer side and I’ll share a bit more from the perspective. However, as always, you can jump down to the cute cat picture for the links!

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I started the Rahki Chronicles in 2014 so I have certainly learned a lot while writing them and also since then. As it’s been 10 years, I certainly hope I’ve learned a few things anyway! Again, if you’ve followed this Book Chat series, you’ve seen posts about world building, pacing, marketing, blurbs, and more.

This new series was a chance to use what I’ve learned and it’s been exciting work. There are also still many lessons to learn as I start working on the next series. My brand is evolving as I get to know myself better as an author. I definitely have preferences and a developing style.

What’s different
In my first series, there are several different locations in each book and magic is a bit more subtle. There’s also a larger ensemble cast with multiple POVs. However, all of the POV characters are warriors and their training is central to the story. For Magical Discord, the FMC is a teacher who loves books and has never trained in combat. Pink Morning is also set in a single small ‘city’ with no travel. 

What’s the same
I still love the magical reveal and found family aspects of Rahki so those are in play in Magical Discord. I also wanted there to be some similarities to the Rahki characters to show how history repeats and how important free will is.

What I tried
Blurb/ series – I wrote the blurb early and kept updating it to keep me focused. I also completed book 2 before releasing book 1.

Tropes – I wanted to honor the dystopian story tropes while making it my own. It’s a grey world with an authoritarian government. I’m still not yet writing to market, but I think I’m able to understand what I’m offering to readers and who my readers might be.

Pacing – I’m still working with making the 3 Act Structure organic in my writing. It does help me keep a faster pace. However, I’ve also written some shorter stories and that’s helping me adjust my pacing in longer works too. 

What’s next?
One of the short stories I mentioned above was partly inspired by the dragon/ NA trend that you may have heard of with Fourth Wing. LOL! It’s definitely new for me as I’m also giving 1st person a try.

I do want to write ‘to market’ as I’d like for writing to pay the bills; however, I also want to continue to love and enjoy this job. Finding and maintaining that individual balance of business and creativity for myself is certainly an ongoing challenge.

As always, this blog is open to guests so please let me know if you’d like to share news of a release along with a bit of a reader/ writer analysis.

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Many thanks for reading this blatant self-promo post! I do hope you enjoyed it and I hope you’ll consider giving one of my books a try!

Happy reading and writing, my friends,
-RSJ

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Pink Morning is included in Amazon Kindle Unlimited and as a paperback: link is HERE!
Kindle Vella There’s No Such Thing as Magic
Kindle Vella Opaque Heart

Darcy’s eyes also inspire me when I write a character with green eyes!