Mastodawn

Almost There: Chapter 25, Audiobook Prep, and Channeling Salvador

I can’t believe I’m writing this, but I am officially on the second-to-last pass of The Ordinary Bruja! Chapter 25 out of 40 is polished and less than a month stands between me and release day. Thank goodness for local printers, because this timeline would be impossible without them.

This pass isn’t about rewriting the story—I already know from early feedback that the story is strong. What I’m working on now is how the story flows: tightening the pacing, smoothing out clunky dialogue, cutting down on repetition. It’s the final sanding before the book goes out into the world, making sure readers have the most seamless and immersive experience possible.

But beyond these edits, there’s something else I’m really looking forward to—voicing the audiobook.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I have a flair for dramatics. (All those drama classes really do pay off eventually.) And when it comes to Salvador—the ghost who thrives on manipulation and superiority—I know exactly how I’m going to bring him to life.

I’ll be channeling a very specific Tía. The one who came back from Nueva Yol acting as though she didn’t even know what a coconut was. To this day, we still laugh about that moment in my family, because it was such a perfect performance of “I’m above all this.”

That energy? That pompous, inflated self-importance that thinks proximity to whiteness makes someone superior? That’s Salvador to a tee. Only, in his case, it’s not funny—it’s dangerous. His arrogance feeds the psychological horror of The Ordinary Bruja because it’s rooted in something real: the harm that comes from internalized racism and superiority complexes within our own communities.

So yes, I’ll be voicing him with that air of smug condescension, minus the laughter. Salvador doesn’t laugh with you—he laughs at you. And that’s what makes him terrifying.

As I get closer to publication, it feels surreal. Less than a month away. Just a few more chapters to comb through. Just a few more rehearsals before I step behind the mic to embody these characters fully.

If you haven’t already, preorder The Ordinary Bruja and be among the first to step into Marisol’s haunted world on November 1, 2025.

Until then, I’ll be here with my red pen, my microphone, and my memories—polishing, practicing, and preparing to introduce you to Salvador in all his pompous horror.

The Ordinary Bruja: Book One of Las Cerradoras Series – Johanny Ortega

$4.99 – $23.99Price range: $4.99 through $23.99

Marisol Espinal has spent her life trying to disappear from her family’s whispers of magic, from the shame of not belonging, from the truth she refuses to face. She’s always wanted to be someone else: confident, capable, extraordinary.

But when strange visions, flickering shadows, and warnings written in her mother’s hand begin to stalk her, Marisol is forced to confront her deepest fear: what if she isn’t extraordinary at all? What if she’s painfully ordinary?

Yet Hallowthorn Hill doesn’t call to just anyone. And the more Marisol resists, the stronger its pull becomes. The past she’s buried claws its way back, and something in the mist is watching—waiting for her to remember.

If Marisol cannot face the truth about who she is and where she comes from, the same darkness that destroyed her ancestors will claim her, too.

Somewhere in the shadows, something knows her name.

And it’s time for Marisol to learn why.

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SKU: Category: Books, Books for Adults, Fantasy, Fiction Books, Horror, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism, Women’s Fiction Tags: ancestral magic, atmospheric fiction, books about brujas, dark fantasy, Dominican folklore, haunted inheritance, Isabel Cañas fans, Latine fantasy, magical realism, psychological horror, Silvia Moreno-Garcia fans, spooky reads, supernatural mystery, The Ordinary Bruja, witchy books

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