Hope Engel 📚

At Your Pace is out now :) This book wouldn't be here without the support from the Bluesky community - motivation, hype on snips, beta and ARC readers. I hope you all love Emerson and Valeria as much as I do. It would mean a ton if you checked it out: www.amazon.com/Your-Pace-Hu...

Emerson and his best friend Iris are like found family, because they grew up together and sort of act like siblings that call each other out and banter and fight but always make up. Of course, Emerson and the love interest Valeria eventually become real family... and some other couples play out hehe

oh my god this baseball game I just keep laughing this inning. I am so glad our dinner plans fell through so I can watch live

a plane because I have a table to prop up my book and my phone is off so I find I am less likely to get distracted also, the lake, but also the beach in Mexico on my honeymoon with a drink in hand. that was peak.

these are fun books and a great deal!

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Reformed playboy heals and finds love (for the Brayden spinoff. Emerson was never a playboy).

Doing a fresh retype for this final draft which I learned from so many authors here. Holy shit my typing is atrocious and very slow... this is going to take forever, but I see the value in it one page in. #booksky #amwriting

lemmysbookishthings.my.canva.site/booksforboob... There are 15 author services baskets including edits, ARC management, cover design - and only 36 people have participated, so your odds of winning one are actually good... Donate!

I’m participating in Books for Boobies! Get raffle tickets and win a basket of books - free shipping within the US. This year, the proceeds go to Baptist Women’s Health Center in Memphis to fund mammograms. The event will be running until Monday October 26th! givebutter.com/booksforboob...

Having so much fun with the Brayden spinoff, when he's staying over with the FMC for the first time. Pitch: My husband says "the horror is he doesn't know how to ask her out" which is... accurate

A fun Iris snippet focused on baseball - perfect timing for the start of the World Series today!

I would want the the jewelry referenced in the book to be made available - something people might actually wear that isn't a walking advertisement. Or maybe some lines inscribed on the inside, a subtle reference. Like the bracelet Emerson gifts Valeria for their first Christmas together, etc.

I had the joy of reading an early draft of this - highly recommend!

I chose the parrot for good news and tiger for bad and I found it accurate! So fun

I don't like to waste my energy thinking like this or spreading negativity, but in my school days I really struggled with Edith Wharton's "Ethan Frome" and thought it was dumb. I wonder if I would have a different opinion reading it now that I am twice the age the first time I read it.

720 words today from voice dictation on my morning walk then jotting down a few more ideas! Feels like cheating because I had the scene really strong in my mind, but I’m still excited I found a way to weave in something I was thinking about for a while. #amwriting

I don't have a Mini Cooper so I gave my character one :) I would want the cream color or turquoise color, but she's more demure, so I gave her a grey one.

I like to use strong dialogue tags for concision. This snippet in the WIP sequel, Where We Land, has more variety than usual, but I think it adds color to a heart-to-heart conversation between the MC and his dad:

Hit 400 followers on IG :) slow but steady author marketing growth I will take it

I am really excited about the “only one bed” trope in my romance WIP but I have it early on in the story where it’s genuinely inconvenient and way before a lot of other romantic milestones. This novel plays around with the typical order of romance plot points. It’s fun to throw a wrench in things.

I haven’t thought about this! I’m thinking Emerson caught a fly ball at a minor league game as a kid and Valeria has a piece of jewelry from her late grandmother. Valeria would say her tattoos, but I don’t know if that is a real possession. (Or maybe it’s the best because it’s a part of you).

Pushed myself at the gym and alternated walking and running and used the jacuzzi and washed my hair, read a lot (including half an hour outside), cuddled with my cat for hours and trimmed some of her mats, watched the game, wrote only 150 words but also picked some character names! Good Sunday

Ask and you shall receive Or in Valeria's case, you don't ask, you use your thighs that your boyfriend helped you strengthen by teaching you how to use the squat rack to keep him in place hehe

My first university prospective student event was a success, then my husband and I went to a little fair in our town and ran into 2 people we know!! And I ordered barbecue chicken in Spanish without rehearsing ahead and with music blasting overhead. I am tired and ready to read and watch baseball.

First draft of the spinoff. Brayden figures out what to wear to the dance with not a lot of time to spare:

Only wrote about 200 words but I had 2 cool ideas for this scene and worked more on the right dialogue order from my super rough voice dictation draft! #amwriting

I barely wrote this week because life has been (good) busy, but I got a little voice dictation done while walking on the trail: “I don’t care if it’s petty, I’m grateful the guy who beat me in our election got voted out this time around.”

I’m excited!

Douglas Adams and Alexis Hall - would love to talk about comedy in books. Really wishing I hadn't given away or lost my Barnes and Noble special edition of all of the Hitchhiker's books.

I worked from the university library for the second half of the day after new hire orientation and they had a cool stand with banned books including Last Night At The Telegraph Club and Empire of Storms and other cool books. And the new librarian wants to start an employee book club. Love it

Author, actress, orthodontist and roller coaster designer I am not good enough at science for the last two Figured out the first two kind of

I've learned Emerson is an ESFJ - I knew he was a light extrovert without needing a test. The others definitely feel right to me. This was fun and I will be doing it for the other characters. It forced me to think about how he thinks about problems in a new way - very cool!

Fall Out Romance and My Chemical Boy

Honestly, probably fine! None are real boaters but they're smart and physically strong enough to figure it out even if they go in circles first. (I miss canoeing from summer camp now).

I've shared this before but this is my favorite metaphor, and it came from revising the section inspired by a @wipsnips.bsky.social word of the day! And now it's a line my friend reading draft 2 specifically called out as something she enjoyed. I love using irreverence to make a point.

280 words while voice dictating while walking tonight! Not a lot but staying consistent. Tonight's supplemental writing work while watching the game is character birthday math and choosing some names because I have literally 15 placeholder names so far

I sold a fifth book of the month and my first print book internationally!!!! At least one physical copy of my book will be floating around the UK

The Hudson Valley State Series books take place at a university (so far) representing that transition period from childhood into true self sufficiency adulthood. The characters live away from their families, but go visit at times, which really drives the point home.

My WIP is primarily from Brayden’s POV but we will see journal entries from the love interest!

So excited and grateful I hit 20 reviews on Goodreads - thank you @soph-pl.bsky.social for being number 20! I had been at 19 for a few months and of course I expected that to slow down after publication, but so grateful to be in the 20s now. Love this supportive indie author community! #booksky

If something interests Emerson, yes, he will dig into the subject on reddit/specialized websites/specialized social media accounts. But if not, he will let it go or accept it at face value.

I read chapter one of "At Your Pace" aloud in my newest YouTube video! If you listen to the whole thing (16 minutes) it is 6% of the book. I've never attempted a long-form narration of the sort so bear with me - but I think it imparts the vibe I'm going for. youtu.be/Gnn-W1tmous

@aiko-aslanian.bsky.social I think to the single chapter of your mermaidWIP and the balance of worldbuilding but also prose that grips you and pulls you in, with pacing hitting all the right notes. Explain

I just recorded a video of the first chapter of my book and 1) that was fun and difficult 2) I had a whole 2 minute streak with no flubs, amazing 3) I tried a new recording setup since riverside when I record directly into it tops off at 720 p and the angle is weird but whatever stay tuned!

Alexis Hall for the humor and way to elicit strong feelings in romance. And, I've only read one Emily Henry book (because the TBR is long dear goodness) but I admire the depth of storytelling and her prose, it hit all the right notes for me and I will definitely be reading more!

Let's see what you think could trap Valeria, the love interest in "At Your Pace" and the WIP sequel "Where We Land" 💞