Welcome to A Month of Rain and Reads, a celebration of self-published and indie SFF throughout the entire month of November. To find out how you can take part and view the whole list of content, visit our introduction post.
Today I’m hosting a spotlight for Memories of Sorcery and Sand by Joanna Maciejewska, a standalone portal fantasy with an intriguing character-driven plot where everyone has secrets or tell lies, or both!

Two worlds. One woman. No memories.
At twenty-two, Saeryn has scars she can’t explain and a three year memory gap. An exotic family vacation away from her fractured past is meant to help her regain balance… except that the desert sands are calling to her with an eerie familiarity, and Malatriusโa stranger met by anything but chanceโclaims to know what happened during the times she canโt remember.
But to trust Malatriusโs words means believing in sorcery and traveling to another world. It also means putting her future in the hands of her father’s longtime rival who has reasons to hate them both, because with every restored memory Saeryn realizes that not only did Past Saeryn keep secrets from both Malatrius and her fatherโsheโd also made a choice that could threaten the desperate scheme sheโd risked her life for.
And now Saeryn faces the same choice once more.
Losing her life will be a minor inconvenience, but losing her memories again could be the end of her.
Memories of Sorcery and Sand is a standalone character driven fantasy with dual timelines and told both in 1st and 3rd POV. If you like books that slowly unveil their mysteries and secrets, get your copy now!
Memories of Sorcery and Sand by Joanna Maciejewska is a standalone portal fantasy. Want a taste? You can read the first two chapters on the author’s website.
About the Author

Joanna might be a bit too cautious to do anything even remotely daring or dangerous herself, so she writes about daring adventures and dangerous magic instead. Yet, she found enough courage to abandon her life in Poland and move to Ireland, and then some years later, she abandoned her life in Ireland to move over to the US. Sheโs determined to settle there, once she finally chooses which state to reside in.
When sheโs not writing or thinking about writing, she plays video games or makes amateur art. She lives the happy life of a recluse, surrounded by her husband, a stuffed red monkey, and a small collection of books she insisted on hauling across two continents.
- Website: AuthorJM.com
- Bluesky: @authorjmac.bsky.social
- Facebook: AuthorJMac
- Instagram: @authorjmac




