iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

My author instagram has done really well for september - 90 new followers/31% growth, 79k organic video views, and even videos that don't get big get more views on average than before but I have no new book reviews for the month of September I am grateful for the momentum but still a lil bummed

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 19h

Between morning writing, quickly jotting down some ideas for a new scene, and a voice dictation walk after work I wrote 1600 words today! I haven’t had that many words in a writing day in a long time. Going to read and watch some postseason baseball.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 21h

"Basketball isn't my favorite sport - obviously - but it’s easy enough to follow for a casual fan."

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 29/09/2026

I don't even want to know how many times this word pops up in my manuscript(s) lol I have a bad habit of having all of my characters soften/preface their dialogue with "Well,"

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 29/09/2026

I awoke at 5 am and was writing by 6:30 so I'm calling that #5amwritersclub The one downside to writing in first person is that I love the verb "acquiesce" but this character would not have this in his vocabulary so I omit it Wrote 600+ words this morning before work!

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 29/09/2026

Just started drafting the spinoff so going to talk about the MMC Brayden (a senior in college, also a baseball player, during this story) His view on hisself is a bit distorted because [tragic backstory]. He doesn’t know this. He learns this. Kinda the plot of the whole thing :)

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 28/09/2026

My husband has caught my cold but I am not 100% recovered form mine yet… I must suck it up and now be the one who makes and brings tea and cooks (He took excellent care of me) I was able to do 20 minutes of mostly leg stretching yoga today though so that was progress!

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 27/09/2026

Imagining detailed character backstories! I have so much in my head about these characters that will never make the page.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 27/09/2026

Wrote this yesterday, from the spinoff romance WIP: Brayden finds himself as his friend's date to the sorority semi-formal that she had a big role in planning. I'm sure they'll still be just friends by the end of the novel...

“We’ll see how it turns out. It was my idea, so I really hope it’s nice. Anyway, we also aren’t doing the charter busses this year, so I can drive us. I can pick you up. Is six-thirty good?”

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 26/09/2026

Took a scene I voice dictated the other day and wrote it into a first readable draft and went from 409 words -> 640 words. Success! #amwriting

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 26/09/2026

My 8 second non-edited video that only took 2 takes and a total of 3 minutes to make and post has 750+ views each on tiktok and IG (while many of my author interview clips never broke 200 views) Win for quick content but also boo because it has nothing to do with my own writing

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 26/09/2026

From the Brayden spinoff WIP, a super rough voice draft. I had fun brainstorming his class lineup and finding a way to drip out that backstory all in one.

Watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine or Law and Order counts for my assignment analyzing how the criminal justice system is represented in media, but I don’t need help with that. I know when they get it right and get it wrong and take liberties to earn a laugh from the viewer.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 25/09/2026

No one enjoys being sick but I indulged in crushing my ARC of Get Lucky Charm by @paisley-rose.bsky.social in less than 24 hours 📚 Get your pre-orders in people! www.amazon.com/Get-Lucky-Ch...

image of the cover of the novel Get Lucky Charm by Paisley Rose featuring a male character picking up and kissing a female character with a cat on some laundry in the background and a pink gradient hue

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Reposted by Hope Engel 📚

Samantha Breaux is looking for ARC readers @woodenvelt.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

If you enjoy reading my snips about Spencer and Wren on #WIPSnips or #SundaySnips, please consider being an ARC reader for my novel Thief of Death. #Wrencer Sign up at the link below. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A digital drawing of two original characters from the romantic fantasy novel Thief of Death by Samantha Breaux. Art is also by the author. The first image shows a pale man with shoulder length, slightly wavy, dark hair and gray eyes. He is wearing a gray tunic and a white shirt. The second drawing is of a woman in fantasy garb with long brown hair in a braid over her shoulder and brown eyes looking off to the side. Her skin is tan, she is wearing a black cowl, a white shirt, and a blue vest.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 25/09/2026

I have a sore throat which means day 1 of being sick, but my husband comes dinner AND cleaned up since I am not feeling well. At least if I’m sick it’s the weekend of the big rain storm, and I’m glad I didn’t get the cheap Yankee’s tickets for tonight.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 24/09/2026

In my spinoff WIP I’m excited to dig into a boy character that’s just completely not understanding his own self. Not as much miscommunication between the love interests, but a little bit of denial and fighting the feelings? *chefs kiss*

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 24/09/2026

Alyssa, a side character, is bi and that’s established in the sequel WIP. But she’s only a side character for now… The FMC’s sister, Nayeli, who we meet in the sequel, is also somewhere in the bi sphere. But that’s not established yet and will probably be like a passing mention type thing.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 23/09/2026

How much do you like these tropes? 💙📚 Enemies to lovers: 3/10 Second chance: 3/10 Fake dating: 3/10 Friends to lovers: 10/10 Age gap: 5/10 Found family: 8/10 Grumpy x sunshine: 9/10 Pregnancy: 6/10 Slow burn: 10/10 Love triangle: 2/10 Forced Proximity: 7/10 Fated Mates: 8/10 Why Choose: 8/10

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 23/09/2026

Voice dictated 390 words on a lunch walk Ran into someone on the trail after vultures flew overhead and it caught our conversation. Not sure why it spelled jay as "Jayy" but you know what? I like it

I thought it was a vulture a turkey vulture. I didn’t know that was a vote. I did see it flat. I think I think I scared one of them when I was walking through. They’re huge blue Jayy, but I’ve never seen a turkey vulture I’ve seen the actual turkeys around here though well one time when driving to the train station I had to stop my car on the road because all these turkeys were crossing the street. I had no idea that there were turkeys here and then if you walk down a little bit past that big apartment complex and there’s that kind of nature preserve area I’ve heard turkeys making their sounds so they’re around here so I hope the vultures don’t go for the turkeys. I want all the birds to live.

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Reposted by Hope Engel 📚

Paisley Rose @paisley-rose.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Oh dang, it's Bisexual Visibility Day? (I can't keep track when I am visible to myself every day.) Well, you should definitely preorder GET LUCKY CHARM today, then, because it's got a disaster bi FMC who makes a fool of herself with all people of any gender! books2read.com/getluckycharm

A trope-map for the book Get Lucky Charm by Paisley Rose, featuring the book cover in the centre against a teal gradient background with text and arrows all around it.

The text reads:

Friends to lovers
Naughty pun in the title
A magic necklace that might not be magic
Demon (arrow pointing at a cat on the cover)
The author says it’s funny
He falls first
She kisses a pretty girl
She kisses a pretty guy
She also kisses this guy (arrow pointing at the man on the cover)
Look at them, kissing (arrow pointing to the illustration of them kissing)
They do more than kissing…

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 23/09/2026

I should write tonight but I am getting to the big battle of Queen of Shadows and I want to read too!!!1 But regardless we did the Costco restock and got some good stuff on sale and new socks

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 22/09/2026

Listen I had a bit of social anxiety growing up and I can't deal with loud noises or crowds but this is the first time someone has called me this I am in fact aggressively neurotypical so much so that people with ADHD flock to me for the executive functioning excess I seem to have I am cackling

screenshot of an instagram comment from user msekonefraser commenting "oh my sweet (neurodivergent) summer child... at a certain point you will never forget his ... more 18 m

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 21/09/2026

358 words voice dictated while walking around the park Today’s social video was not engagement bait it was genuinely a question about throne of glass I had due to what I thought was my poor reading comprehension but turns out is An Actual Thing and has 5,800 views so far

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 21/09/2026

The main character’s brother is referenced as playing guitar! He is a metalhead but played in the jazz band in high school. Side character but it’s fun way to add some backstory.

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Reposted by Hope Engel 📚

Soph @soph-pl.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

No, I’m not plugging my book. I just want to make sure you don’t miss it. 😁

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 20/09/2026

Emerson arrives at Grand Central in late November. It's chilly on those underground platforms!

I step off the train onto the platform and brace for a wave of humidity, but instead feel the crisp air hit my face. I have to zip up my coat, but it's already more pleasant than sweating the second I arrive in the city.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 20/09/2026

Still need to fill in some placeholders but I have a first typed draft of the first chapter of my my spinoffWIP done and it's a nice 2055 words! There's room to breathe as I do editing passes, but I'm excited and happy with it for this stage. #amwriting

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 20/09/2026

The ending of "The Cheat Sheet" by Sarah Adams is pretty whimsical - firing on all of the "happily ever after" cylinders for sure

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 19/09/2026

I got sunburned despite putting on sunscreen and reapplying but I had a nice time watching soccer games this afternoon Now time to write while my husband animates

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 19/09/2026

Just a line! I have thought about recording me reading the first chapter for a long form YouTube video.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 18/09/2026

At the university convocation one colleague asked what I teach and a 23 year told colleague on my team said she thought I was 25 Both of these are a flex and I will ride this ego boost all day

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 18/09/2026

I woke up at 5 AM and couldn't fall back asleep so I got up at 5:45 and was at my computer by 6. I reviewed the corrected version of my paperback and epub files and got those submitted to KDP, and also did a little writing. I am part of #5amwritersclub for once.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 18/09/2026

One of my social videos has 23k views on IG! My prior record was 3k And for work today I got to do a construction walk through and some filming, which was basically a field trip and chatting with colleagues who are super nice.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 17/09/2026

My mental health is on the whole pretty solid but I definitely get irritable if I can’t work on my writing for sustained amounts of time. Part of why I’m trying to get better about voice dictation walks is so I can keep projects going because I can almost always find 20-30 minutes for that.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 17/09/2026

My family always hosted a little Super Bowl party. In my husband’s family, no one really cares about football, so we host a small Super Bowl party just for our peer cousins (it’s a big extended family). I include a football watch party tradition in my novel :)

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 17/09/2026

Iris, the MMC’s bestie, can relate too hard to “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan. (Don’t worry, she finds her person. Eventually.) youtu.be/U_Lz_MG35hM

youtu.be

Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe! (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by andre’s archive

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 17/09/2026

Working on drafting my spinoff novel (book 3) while my sequel novel marinates in alpha reader feedback! Excited to have this character take shape

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 16/09/2026

Once again I realize the workout class was good for me because it challenged me. And also only 5 people were in the class so it was like bougie I have learned TRX is tough with my tendinitis and of course when the trainer asked if I had any injuries I forgot to mention it I will do it again

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 16/09/2026

✅ 6 books dropped off at the little free library ✅ 409 words voice drafted on a 32 minute walk I am realizing how much I love drafting by scene and I'll figure out where they fit into chapters later because it's freeing, and I feel like I am growing in my author instincts! #amwriting

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 16/09/2026

I just wrote a scene today where the MC wants to and offers to punch an unnamed background character so maybe that guy But that’s probably it! No major assholes or villains in my stories

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 15/09/2026

I walked along the river and voice dictated 354 words (and had a fun idea for a tiny bit of foreshadowing - the joy of drafting out of order) But I also spilled watermelon juice on my blouse at lunch So you know you win some you lose some

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 15/09/2026

Absolutely nothing. But the only music I can listen to is when my husband plays chill instrumental video games - sometimes I can write or edit next to him on the couch. Epona's song from the Zelda games is very calming. When I walk on the trail and voice dictate, I do like the birdsong.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 14/09/2026

The dichotomy of the social media experience I have no clicks to my Linktree (which is only in my IG) for yesterday or today but I got 15 new followers and did make a paperback sale, and earned the full royalties even though the book is still 21% off!

Screenshot of an instagram reels feed showing two videos. the first is a purple toned video saying "At Your Pace baseball word count" with 65 views. the other is a video of me, a caucasian brunette woman in a blue painted room, talking into the camera with the text saying "through Heir of Fire" which has 15,800 views

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 14/09/2026

It hit 5,000 views!! I have 0 clicks to my linktree so will likely get 0 readers of my own book but I got a few followers at least 🤷‍♀️

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 13/09/2026

I had two back to back Instagram reels break records! Last one was 3,000 views and this one was 4,000 views and the comments are going off I need to finish Heir of Fire to make another video but I also have 2 ARCs I have to read!!

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Reposted by Hope Engel 📚

Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Your occasional reminder that performative sneering at whole genres of fiction is not a sign of intelligence, nor is performative misery a sign of superior talent. Read what brings you joy. No-one else gets to decide or to control what that means to you.

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 13/09/2026

The cat screamed and based on how dark it was I thought for sure it was 5 AM. Nope, 6:30, just rainy. So I got up to keep her company and feed her. It's not 7:45 and still dark and rainy. Reviewed notes from @jaxdevora.bsky.social and I will start drafting before my husband wakes up. #amwriting

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 13/09/2026

I have been in the romance world but I have an idea for a contemporary women’s lit book club type novel I want to write some day!

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 12/09/2026

Regrettably taking the workout class got me to work out harder and longer than usual and I should do more of them especially because they are included in our expensive gym membership And Apple fitness has a “water fitness” workout perfect for the h2o cardio and strength training class

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Hope Engel 📚 @hopeengel.com · 12/09/2026

New milestone - an IG reel got 3,000 views organically! And I had a third day in a row of KU page reads. On TikTok I got 600 views on a video with a lot of comments. YouTube shorts views are garbage now. Going to plot and watch TV, then zumba class at 9:30 since I need to wash my hair. #amplotting

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