Benjamin Medrano's Blog, page 2

July 14th 2025 Update

Bad news first this time around. The various interruptions of late completely disrupted my grasp of the story thread of Circle of Ashes, so I didn’t get much writing done this past week, I spent most of it struggling to write. I think I’ve almost gotten back to where I need to be to write properly, but I’ll find out for sure tomorrow.

In any case, the first week of Talyn: Blooming has gone pretty well for me, and I’m quite happy with the response so far. I’m hoping the next few days go well, ...

Talyn: Blooming Released!

Talyn: Blooming is now out! Or at least it’d better be, I got everything to Amazon early, dang it. I’m in bed when this post is coming out. I hope you all enjoy it!

I got a bit done on Circle of Ashes this past week as well, though the holiday and my wife taking a staycation to work on the house interfered a bit. This may happen later this summer as well, as we’re getting the ancient wiring of our house brought up to date (our house was built in 1944, and I’m pretty sure it’s original wir...

June 30th 2025 Update

Good news, Talyn: Blooming has been examined thoroughly, had a whole bunch of errors eliminated, and is formatted and ready to be published! I uploaded it to Amazon, so everything is set for the release on July 7th, and the manuscript is with Podium so they can prepare it.

On the other hand, I didn’t get much done on Circle of Ashes, as I spent a lot of the week doing a deep dive into Talyn: Blooming. As this upcoming week has a holiday, and my wife took some time off work, I’m not sure how m...

June 23rd 2025 Update

Hello everyone! I’m back from my trip, and while I didn’t get quite as much writing done as I would’ve preferred, Circle of Ashes is up to about 45,000 words! That’s enormously better than I’d been half-afraid of, and I’m quite happy with the story thus far.

I did have an interesting time on the trip, though, seeing a couple of museums and some other interesting things. Nothing too impressive, aside from touring the USS Midway, which was… much larger than I’d realized. I knew aircraft carrier...

June 2nd 2025 Update

Circle of Ashes is up to about 12,500 words, and I’m hopeful that I’ll get a significant amount of writing done this week. However, the next couple of weeks are going to be a bit crazy, with a trip happening, so I can’t guarantee a lot of writing over that period. I also may not put up update posts during it, but we’ll see on that.

Anyway, not much else to say about it. Editor is still working on Talyn: Blooming, as well, so nothing to announce until I get it back.

May 26th 2025 Update

I read through Temple of the Sun this past week, and spent a little time figuring out how I wanted to start the next book of Through the Fire, which is currently titled Circle of Ashes. I’m pretty happy with the title, but it could change. We’ll see if I do, but I probably won’t. I did end up deleting the original start once before properly getting into it, which put me behind, but that’s how it is sometimes. I think the first version was lacking. Anyway! It’s currently at ~2,500 words, so I did...

May 19th 2025 Update

Alright, a week of relaxation down, and I got nothing productive done except putting up the pre-order for Talyn: Blooming. It’s set for release on July 9th, and the pre-order link is below.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8VB8XSZ

Beyond that, I’m working up to the next Through the Fire book, the sixth in the series. I don’t have a title yet, but I know the vague outline of how I want it to go, and know how I want the story to end. We’ll see if the characters let me pull it off. Hopefully I’...

May 12th 2025 Update

I’ve sent Talyn: Blooming off to the editor! I got it to her a week earlier than expected (I wrecked my throat reading the book aloud in a week, ugh), so with any luck it’ll get back to me a little faster. Based on the timelines, I’m assuming I’ll get it back the week of June 20th if it hits the upper end of what she expected. That being the case, we’re looking at an end of June/early July release date. I’m planning to set up the pre-order this week.

Anyway, this week, my goal is to relax a l...

May 5th, 2025 Update

I’ve begun my final editing pass on Talyn: Blooming, and if I manage to keep my schedule, I’m looking at completing it this week. Then it’ll go to the editor. However, the new editor I’ve chosen works at a different pace than my old one, so we’re looking at an early July release date for the book. I’m intending to set up the pre-order page after I’ve sent the manuscript off.

I also have some art to share! This is art of Laodice and Talyn, illustrated by Denny Ibnu. The art was funded and chos...

April 28th, 2025 Update

I’ve completed the rough draft of Talyn: Blooming! Thus far, the reviews from alpha readers have been very good, so I’m hopeful that’ll continue. It’s currently at about 137,500 words in length, which includes a short story after the end of the book but before the next one which would’ve felt out of place to include in either.

I don’t have a release date for the book yet, I need to find out my editor’s schedule, then I’ll be able to put it up for pre-order. This week, I’m going to be transfer...