Trinity Dunn's Blog, page 2

Supporting Self-Published Authors: The Power of Your Reviews

Have you ever come across a book that failed to resonate with you? It’s a common occurrence for readers, but have you ever considered the impact your review could have on the author, especially if they are self-published and relatively unknown?

Yesterday, in a moment of vulnerability, I succumbed to the need for validation and vented my frustrations on social media regarding one particularly negative review. I���ve since come to my senses and removed it, but the whole thing got me a little rattled where it never had before. I’ve never allowed negativity to affect me at all, and yet, this one did, and I couldn’t help but ask myself: why?

I believe my reaction stemmed from a question submitted to me through my Wednesday Q&A form. A talented author reached out with a heartfelt message, expressing a profound fear of publishing due to the harsh manner in which some people word their negative reviews. She’d seen a friend of hers completely give up writing as a result of her book being ripped apart with bitter reviews. It saddens me to think that countless timid authors, brimming with brilliance, might be choosing to keep their works unpublished out of fear of venomous criticism.

Obviously, if you don’t like a book, I’m not encouraging you to refrain from saying as much, however, before you do, I urge you to pause and reflect on the manner in which you say it. Take a moment to consider the author’s review count and following. If their numbers are below 1,000, chances are they are self-published and have taken an enormous leap of faith to share a book they painstakingly perfected over the course of years. In these cases, tearing their work apart with harsh criticism serves no purpose. Instead, your review holds an extraordinary amount of influence for these aspiring authors, much more than it would for established figures like Stephen King or Colleen Hoover who might never notice it.

It’s important to acknowledge the courage and dedication it takes for self-published authors to put their work out into the world to begin with. They lack the backing of traditional publishing houses and often face numerous challenges on their journey. They write, edit, proof, re-edit, advertise, and take on all the printing and distribution challenges a publisher would otherwise handle. They deserve our support, not unwarranted negativity.

Sadly, the realm of book reviews can be a daunting and unforgiving place. While platforms like Booktok and Bookstagram have brought reading trends to new heights, they have also inadvertently cultivated an environment where some individuals feel compelled to be excessively critical, even mean-spirited, when expressing their dissatisfaction with a book.

Instead of tearing down the works of self-published authors, let’s uplift them. Encourage them to continue pursuing their dreams and refining their craft. Provide constructive feedback that can help them grow as writers. Remember, your thoughtful review has the potential to shape their journey and make a meaningful difference.

So, the next time you encounter a book that doesn’t resonate with you, resist the temptation to lash out with unkind words. Consider the author’s journey, their dedication, and the immense effort they’ve invested. Be mindful of the power your review holds, and use it to foster an environment of encouragement, growth, and support for self-published authors. Together, we can make a positive impact and nurture a community where aspiring writers feel empowered to share their stories with the world.

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Embracing the Chaos: Confessions of an ADHD Author

Ah, the joys of ADHD. One minute you’re churning out the most creative piece of work you’ve ever laid your hands on, and the next, you’re knee-deep in a Google rabbit hole, researching who holds the world record for holding their breath underwater. It’s like my brain has a built-in autopilot that’s constantly pulling pranks on me.

For example, the writing process itself is a little��� different when you have ADHD. I imagine, for most authors, it’s a structured and disciplined endeavor. They sit down at their desks, sip their coffee, and dive into their carefully outlined chapters. But for us ADHD writers, it’s more like a roller coaster ride through a creative amusement park. Our characters have a mind of their own, and they take joy in hijacking our carefully crafted outlines and sending the story hurtling off in completely unexpected directions.

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@trinitydunnauthor #authorsoftiktok #adhdprobs #booktok #authorlife ��� Funny lazy donkey's holiday (hilarious song)(1179881) - LEOPARD

I’ll be typing away, diligently following my outline, when suddenly my protagonist, let’s call him Bob, decides he’s had enough of being a mild-mannered accountant solving crossword puzzles. Oh no, Bob wants to be a swashbuckling pirate sailing the high seas, searching for buried treasure. So, there goes my cozy mystery plot, and off we sail into the adventurous unknown!

But, alas, I���ve come to accept that my characters have a mischievous streak. They refuse to be confined to the outlines, and honestly, it can be kind of exciting. Sure, I may end up with a story that bears little resemblance to the one I originally envisioned, but who am I to argue with a pirate-ninja-dinosaur love saga? It’s like my imagination threw a party, and all the quirky characters showed up wearing costumes from different time periods.

That is, until some little noise throws a wrench in the whole thing. Suddenly, my writing desk turns into a battlefield of distractions. A stray fly becomes the most fascinating creature I’ve ever encountered. I find myself contemplating the meaning of life while staring at a blank page. And don’t even get me started on the allure of social media. I’ll open it “just for a quick break,” and before I know it, I���ve watched 220 cat videos.

But hey, it’s all part of the wonderful chaos of being creative. Sometimes, in the midst of my scattered thoughts, I stumble upon pure brilliance. Those moments when my ADHD brain is firing on all cylinders are like lightning in a bottle. I can churn out paragraphs of witty banter, breathtaking descriptions, unique characters, and plot twists that surprise even me. It’s like having a secret weapon, even if it’s a bit unpredictable.

Honestly, I wouldn’t trade my ADHD brain for anything. It’s given me a unique perspective on the world and a boundless imagination that keeps my writing fresh and exciting. And let’s face it, the chaos can be pretty entertaining too. After all, who needs a world record for holding their breath underwater when you can create your own world of words?

So, fellow ADHD authors, embrace the quirks, the distractions, and the unexpected tangents. Let your creativity soar like a kite in a hurricane. And remember, even if you find yourself researching the mating habits of penguins instead of crafting that next chapter, it’s all part of the wild and wonderful journey of being an ADHD author.

By the way, I’ve decided to have a little fun sharing my ADHD chaos on TikTok, taking those “quick breaks” to post a bit of what it’s like to live in my brain instead of perusing cat videos. So maybe you check it out when you’re taking your quick break…

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What’s next? The Final Installment of the Adrift Series and Beyond

As an author, there’s nothing quite like the excitement and bittersweet feeling that comes with putting the finishing touches on the final installment of a beloved series and getting started on a brand new one.

The Adrift Series: The Stars that Call us Home:

After years of weaving intricate plots and delving into the lives of my beloved characters, I’m finally approaching the end of the Adrift Series with its fifth and final book, titled “The Stars that Call us Home.” It is set to be released on September 30th. As I write these last chapters, it’s impossible not to feel a sense of melancholy, as I’ve grown to love these characters as if they were old friends.

In this concluding volume, readers will witness the culmination of the characters’ journeys and the resolution of the overarching conflicts as they navigate colonial America in an effort to get home safely. I’ve poured my heart and soul into crafting a conclusion that will leave readers satisfied, yet longing for more in the future.

Spin-Off Stand-Alone Books: Origin Stories and New Adventures:

While bidding farewell to the Adrift Series may be tough, I’m excited to announce that I have plans for spin-off stand-alone books that delve deeper into the lives of some fan-favorite characters. Two origin stories are in the works, focusing on Jim Jackson and the loveable duo, Bud and Bertie.

Jim Jackson’s origin story will uncover his past as a boy in Arkansas and Oklahoma, revealing the events and experiences that shaped him into the person readers have come to know and love. Read a sneak peek chapter here! Meanwhile, the story of Bud and Bertie will offer a fascinating glimpse into their past, exploring the adventures and experiences that surround their adorable partnership.

Introducing “A Song of Snow and Shadows”:

But that’s not all! As I bid farewell to the Adrift Series, I’m also embarking on a thrilling new adventure with a fresh fantasy series titled “A Song of Snow and Shadows.” This tale takes place in a post-apocalyptic world teetering on the brink of extinction. The protagonist, Emlyn Sterling, is a unique individual with the power to save humanity but becomes a target for malevolent forces seeking to exploit her abilities. This fantasy romance offers a different twist, as Emlyn navigates a treacherous path of love, loyalty, and self-discovery while the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. Learn More here.

Thank you for joining me on this journey, and I hope you’re as excited as I am to explore the concluding chapters of the Adrift Series and embark on new literary adventures. Stay tuned for updates and announcements, and remember, there’s always a new story waiting to be told.

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The Adrift Series Book 5 Update

Hey there, my amazing fans and dear friends!

I’m sitting down today to have a heart-to-heart with all of you about the highly anticipated release of book 5 in the Adrift Series, The Stars that Call Us Home. I know you’ve been eagerly waiting for an update, and I want to be completely transparent with you about the progress.

Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering why I haven’t announced a release date yet. Well, let me be honest���I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the story for quite some time. Despite months and months of research, countless drafts, and sleepless nights, I eventually found myself facing a difficult decision: Keep going down the wrong road or scrap the entire thing and start over. It’s not an easy choice to make, but sometimes it’s the only way to ensure the story truly shines.

But fear not! I’m not here to disappoint you or keep you waiting indefinitely. I’m determined to bring you the best possible version of The Stars that Call Us Home, and yes, it’s still coming this summer. However,�� the release will likely be towards the end of August or early September. Starting from scratch and rewriting over 500 pages requires a fresh round of editing, proofing, finessing, and rigorous fact-checking. It’s a meticulous process, but one that will ensure the book meets the high standards we all deserve.

Before I wrap up this update, I want to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of you. Your unwavering patience and support mean the world to me. It’s because of your enthusiasm that I’m determined to get this book back on track, with the perfect ending that it deserves. I’ve poured my heart and soul into these pages, and I truly hope that when you finally get your hands on it, you’ll fall in love with it just as much as I have.

Stay tuned because next month I’ll be sharing an official release date for The Stars that Call Us Home, along with exciting pre-order information.��

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your unwavering support and understanding. We’re almost there, and I promise it’ll be worth the wait.

Warmest regards,

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What’s in Store for Book 4

Don’t worry, I’m not going to give away the bank here, but, since I’m wrapping this gem up now, I thought I’d share a bit of insight as to what to expect. Where book 3 slowed its pace in the second half to give you time to settle in to these relationships, this one is moving much more quickly. There’s a lot going on!

First, the mystery

In book 4 you���re going to get a few answers to several open questions. How did they get there? What happened to the back of the plane? Who put that knife in their bed? How did Juan Josef escape? What caused Alaina and Chris���s memories to change?

Second, the dilemma

In this story, our characters are faced with a dilemma. To kill the Albrecht or take baby Cecelia back through the storm? Are changes to history immediate or will they take time? Can they really bring Anna back? How will Chris overcome these changed memories? Can his relationship with Maria survive or are they back to square one?

Third, the addition of a new main character

Ah, Cecelia has arrived. In this story, she takes a bit more of the spotlight. We���ll see this world and group from her perspective, and follow along as her involvement in time proves to have been predestined��� is there a new romance blooming? Maybe���

Fourth, the adventure

The group is going to be spread out a bit. Who is good and who is wicked when the end goal for everyone�� is simply to return home safely with their families? Witness an 18th century Panama, prolonged time spent on an old ship, the slave-trade, the colonial rebellion, and more! So much is happening!

Fifth, who is C.M.?

Do I smell a spin-off series? In this book, we���ve introduced a name that will, after book 5 is released, be the start of a new tale, set under the same circumstances and in the same time, but with entirely different results.

Sixth, Jim-isms!

Oh there are lots more Jim-isms coming!! I cannot get enough of these southern sayings!

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The Adrift Series Book 4, A Reflection of the Sky on the Sea

Book 4 of the Adrift series, A Reflection of the Sky on the Sea, is underway and I���m so excited to share it this winter. We���re hoping to release this year, sometime in late November/early December. Follow me on social or sign up for my newsletter below to get updates on the official release.

The bulk of book 4 will take place in 18th century Panama���a setting that has taken an abundance of research to get the world-building right but has been super fun to write.��

I have added a new and very important perspective���Cecelia���into the mix, and while I���m not normally a fan of authors doing this���hated that I had to in book 2���I think you���ll love seeing this world through her eyes and joining her on her own adventure.

I���m making amazing progress, and I now know where this series will end. I cannot say just yet if I will be able to squeeze the ending into book 4 or if I���ll need to extend to a book 5. All I know is that these characters are writing themselves off the original trail and demand that I follow.

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Today is a great day. Thanks to you!

Throughout my life, I have written countless chapter ones only to read them, say ���meh,��� and toss them aside, telling myself over and over not to ���quit my day job.���

Well, young Trinity, being an author has just become my official day job. Take that, you self-doubting brat!��

That���s right. Thanks to the amazing amount of support and faith in me from, you, my readers, I am saying goodbye to my full-time corporate director position in order to dedicate myself fully to this craft that has absolutely changed my life.

At the onset of Covid, needing an escape from the doom and gloom of media, I promised myself I���d sit down and write one of the millions of stories in my head, and this time, I���d finish it���even if it was awful. I decided not to go the path of pitching to an agent and publishing house���because, well, that self-doubting brat still lived in there asking: ���what if we suck?���

So, instead, I used my marketing and advertising knowledge I���d learned as a director to self-publish and promote my first book (which I hadn���t intended to be a series, but it turned out that the story just kept coming). And wow. I could���ve/should���ve quit my job then because it took off before my eyes and you loved it as much as I did.

So I kept going.

Mind you, I have no editor, no agent, and no publisher to trim and finesse my work. I know they���re far from perfect. But, I don���t write for perfection. I didn���t publish the first book to win awards or become a best-seller (although, I did accomplish both of those things, much to my surprise!) I write because I love it��� because these characters call to me, begging to be brought to life��� and bringing them to life; living this wild adventure alongside them as they drag me through it has been my favorite part of my 39 years so far.

These books were not meant to be as successful as they���ve been. I had never imagined the reaction I���ve gotten, and it brings tears to my eyes still when I sit down to read my reviews.��

I cannot say enough to my fans to express my gratitude as I work my final week as a director and prepare to set out on this new adventure of full-time authorship.��

I plan to use this next year to continue my Adrift Series while perfecting the art of creative writing, and perhaps finding an agent and editor to make them that much better for you. ��

I love you all. Thank you. At nearly 40, I���ve figured out what I want to be when I grow up, and you���ve made that possible.

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Book 3 updates and more!

Hey everyone! As my beta readers wrap up, I’m super excited to announce that the book 3 print files will be ready for pre-order this week. You’ll notice some new formatting this time around as we’ve decided to move away from Amazon printing. I’m so excited to release this one!

Before I completely dive into book 4–which is already underway–I’m planning to revisit books 1 & 2 to apply some much-needed love in the form of editing and reformatting. (Book 2 in particular. We were rushing to meet a deadline and I’m not happy with where it’s at presently.) We’ll then be switching the print pieces to the new printer as well!

Book 4 should release this winter. It’s fully plotted out and the early chapters already started, and hopefully, I’ll also be releasing book 1 of a new series of character standalone books this winter. The first one will be Jim Jackson’s backstory.

 

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Adrift series – book 2 author’s notes and where the series is headed

Finally, book 2 is out there and I’m that much more excited to get onto book 3, which will return almost exclusively to Alaina’s POV, running at a pace similar to the first book – and yes, Jack, Jim, and Lilly will play a much more prominent role in the next one.

Book 2 Author’s notes

Where book 1 was about self-discovery and overcoming our past, book 2 was all about misconceptions and letting go. Jumping over to tell the first half of this story from Chris’s perspective was done, not only to make sense of their surroundings but also with reactions in mind. This is a man our heroine has been hurt repeatedly by, and while I wanted readers to see his side of the story, I also wanted to illustrate in the readers’ own reaction to him, after spending so much time in Alaina’s head, our unwillingness to let go of our own perceptions of a person’s character once we’ve decided upon them.

For some, they will hold onto Alaina’s hurt. Anything he does or feels or says will always be wrong because of the way he has hurt her. They will never be able to understand his side of the story, and he will forever be their villain.

For others who couldn’t relate to Alaina, Chris will be vindicated, and his love story will be rewarding after all that he’s gone through in his attempts to salvage his marriage to Alaina.

Regardless of which side you land on, you should have a reaction, and that reaction solidifies the primary reasons why Chris and Alaina could never work. They were both already too far gone in their conceptions of one another to ever be able to fix their relationship.

Book 3 and where the series is headed

Book 3 is about acceptance and growth and is moving along quickly. You can preview the first chapter here.

Juan Josef, our newest addition, is going to be a staple in this one. His intervention will be key to getting a few of our characters to their destination, and while I won’t give you the details of what happens once there, I will tell you that the twist at the end of book 2 will only complicate things further. He’s a villain with a dark backstory that will make you grow to understand what makes him so dark – even though you’ll hate him throughout.

Love her or hate her, Maria, too, will play a large role in book 3, attempting to find a place among our original group. She brings conflict into the otherwise peaceful group, and while many had expected that conflict to spark on the side of Alaina, I wrote her with a different heroine in mind. Seeds of their impending rivalry have been planted in book 2. Hint hint.

Oh, and Phil? You didn’t think I’d bring him back to play the good guy, did you? He serves a much more sinister purpose in being brought back, and I’m looking forward to his most painful death someday.

Someday? 

This series has a ways to go… As it writes itself, I have no way of telling how many books there might be. Happy reading everyone and thank you all so much for your support.

 

 

 

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The Adrift Series – Book 2 Update and Series Details

Hello readers! After an unforeseen delay, we now have a new release date of December 20th, 2021 for Book 2, Feathers Floating through Ember. I’m very excited to share this one with you. I have completely fallen in love with it.

There is a third book in the works – ‘Remnants on the Tides of Time’ – to be hopefully released in 2022. It’s writing itself at this point so I’m not even sure where book 3 will take us just yet. As these characters become more and more complex, there’s room for this series to go into all kinds of directions. So…for those of you desperately needing an “ending,” I’m not sure yet when that will come.

It will come though.

I took a chance self-publishing and coming out with my first book, and I want to thank all of my fans for taking a chance on a brand new author. I understand that there’s a lot of risk with new authors to leave things unfinished, but I promise, I will keep writing this story until there is an end. Writing this story and seeing the reaction to it has been beyond rewarding.

Thank you! I cannot wait to hear your feedback as this story moves forward.

 

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