SP: Hi Ronie! We’re so excited to have you here on the Spinning Pen! We’ve heard in the YA sphere everyone loves your Droseran saga. Word on the street is you’re an incredible writer and your books have mind-blowing twists! Tell us all a little bit about your series.

RK: I’ve spent the last dozen years writing to my brand—Rapid-Fire Fiction—but I finally found a publishing home for my much-beloved series, The Droseran Saga. I’ve always dubbed it Firefly meets Dune … and warned people that while this series falls solidly into the Science Fiction genre, it’s a Space opera, light on science (Ronie doesn’t “science” and liberal with the melodrama and romance for an epic adventure across Quadrants.

SP: Wow, sounds exciting! How do you manage to make your books so suspenseful and deep? What craft techniques would you recommend to other writers wanting to make their books more fast-paced?

RK: Keyword that pretty much answers both questions—ruthlessness. *cue evil laugh* Suspense and depth comes out of not protecting my characters. Don’t bubble-wrap them! Let life hit them, and hard. If life is going to pummel me, I’m not going to go easy on my characters. And really, who can relate to that person who never has anything go wrong or faces brutal realities? As for craft techniques—again, that ruthlessness is vital: avoid wordy dissertations on life and go for the Cliff’s Notes of facts; for action scenes, say it with me, “Fragments are our friends.”; and last, treat backstory like a good spice that’s best consumed in light, flavorful applications.

SP: Where do you come up with your ideas? Dreams? Bad pasta? Interning at NASA? Or…??

RK: Ideas come from all around—people watching, TV watching (has anyone seen the show Flashpoint—I want to write like that!), the proverbial “What if?”, and yes—dreams have definitely shown me parts of books or even entire plots!

SP: Do you read Young Adult? What are some of your favorites? What do you love about YA books and how are they different from writing Adult?

RK:Absolutely!! I’m smitten with Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles (still trying to figure out how she captured my full attention across SIX books!), Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward series, the Aurora Files by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman, Nova McBee’s Calculated series, and can I please count DUNE as a YA title? Please?

SP: We read that you are a military brat and write in the Paramilitary genre too. What are some ways growing up around the military and marrying a veteran has influenced you to write?

RK: It has influenced me greatly! I made sure when the Droseran Saga found a publishing home that I provided a way for my military/paramilitary readers to engage—so even in my space opera, there is a military thread. Writing about military heroes is a passion for me, and regardless of an actual military within the story, the heroic character doing battle for loved ones translates across genre.

SP: For those of us already scouring the interwebs for your books, where should we go??

RK: Best way to find and reach me is Instagram, and my handle is @kendigronie but I also have an epic website that is regularly updated: www.roniekendig.com. Also, I have a Droseran Saga Facebook group for all things Marco ( #marcomylove) and Drosero.

SP: Ok, we’re almost done and it’s time for the lightening round! Early bird or night owl?

Night owl so hard.

SP: Most obscure hobby?

A new one I’ve fallen in love with is florals—wreaths, garlands, etc. They are challenging but so rewarding!

SP: Word you can never spell? This may be a trick question.

This is embarassing … embarrasing … embbarrassing …

SP: Alright, time’s up! We’re so sad to see you go! Womp. Womp. BUT…there’s way more where this came from. Where can we go to read more from you?

Brand of Light, Droseran Saga #1

***2020 Carol Award Winner, Speculative***
***2020 Realm Award Winner, Science Fiction***
***2020 Alliance Award Winner, Reader’s Choice***

There’s a price on her head, and it has everything to do with the brand on her arm.

Tertian Space Coalition has blessed every planet in the quadrants with high technology, save one: Drosero. But in spite of their tenuous treaty with the ruling clans, TSC has plans for the backward planet. And they’re not alone.

After a catastrophic explosion, Kersei Dragoumis awakens in a derelict shuttle, alone, injured, and ignorant of the forbidden technology that has swept her into a nightmare. The brand she’s borne since childhood burns mysteriously, but the pain is nothing to that when she learns her family is dead and she is accused of their murders.

Across the quadrants, Marco Dusan responds to the call of a holy order-not to join them, but to seek a bounty. Gifted-or cursed-with abilities that mark him a Kynigos, a tracker sworn to bring interplanetary fugitives to justice, Marco discovers this particular bounty has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with prophecy. One that involves the hunter as much as the hunted.

“This new Christian science fiction series is an epic story in the making… Readers will eagerly await future books after becoming engaged in Kersei’s redemptive arc.” —Booklist

Dawn of Vengeance (Droseran Saga #2)

A haunting prophecy upended his identity. Now it demands his life.

Once a formidable bounty hunter, Marco Dusan is plagued by insecurity as he tours the realm he now rules. This quiet, backwater planet is not as untouched as he’d once thought. Evidence of collusion between Droseran factions and the powerful Symmachians with their forbidden technology litters his encounters. Worse, all signs indicate Xisya, the alien who tortured him, is still snatching Kynigos Brethren–but to what end?

Lance Corporal Eija Zacdari works hard to win a coveted place on the Symmachian hyperjump program, but instinct tells her their intel is flawed. Despite nearly failing the tests, she is assigned to the team-and lands in the middle of a bewildering conspiracy.

Haunted by a prophecy that promises pain and war, Marco forges alliances to protect the primitive world against Symmachia’s devastating influence. But one truth becomes painfully clear: the biggest threat to their world may be much, much closer to home.

Shadow of Honor (Droseran Saga #3) – releases June 2022

Book 4 Coming April 2023