May Update: The Art of Waiting (Badly)

Let's start with the highlight of last month... The Rebound Rule released April 3rd and finished strong with 91,644 page reads. Releases are always a little chaotic and nerve wracking, but watching Emmerson and Ryan find their way into your hands (and hearts) has been incredible. I was feeling a little extra vulnerable with this one after pouring so much of my own lived experience into Emmerson. This one didn't start out as just a fun idea. It was an intentional deep dive into past trauma written with the hope that it could help even just one person. Writing it left me feeling raw and publishing it... well, that honestly left me a little terrified knowing so much of my history was written into Emmerson's.

And then... on a day where Murphy's Law had a chokehold on me and literally everything was going wrong, I found a message from a reader. They shared with me just how truly impactful the story was and I find myself, even as I write this update, tearing up a bit. That knowledge will stick with me for the rest of my author career. If you're ever wondering if you should let an author know the impact their work has had on you... do it. It means so much more than I can express. Which is pretty impressive since I'm supposed to be great with words as an author.

And on that already emotional note. May is a big deal in the Dunn household. The Tween turns 12 this month and I'm not quite ready for my little shadow to move into "mom is so uncool" territory with the Teen. I swear I blinked and somehow went from tiny kid years to planning a whole birthday for a pre-teen with opinions and preferences and very specific ideas about what’s “cool.”

In between all of that, I'm technically in my "relax" phase. And it is not going great.

Blackthorne Academy: Year Two is with my editor, which means I'm supposed to be having a break and resetting. Y'know, giving my brain a chance to recharge before I dive into edits and the next book. Instead, perpetual workaholic that I am, I've opened my emails and new manuscript docs about a million times. Started somewhere around a half dozen non-writing projects and considered a room remodel for the house that we don't exactly need and definitely isn't in the budget (Mr. Dunn is exasperated with my shenanigans). Relaxing feels like a skill I still haven't unlocked yet at almost 40.

The fun news here is that my inability to chill might be your gain. With Blackthorne Year Two set to release May 31st, I've decided to host a book box giveaway. I’m putting together a limited number of Blackthorne-themed PR boxes, and I’ll be giving them away to a few lucky readers. I’m not sharing all the details just yet… because the full giveaway announcement (how to enter, ways to get bonus entries, all of it) will be dropping inside my Facebook reader group this weekend. If you’re not in there yet, now’s the time to fix that.

👉 Zoe Dunn’s Romance Readers Lounge

That’s where everything will go live first, and you won’t want to miss it.

So that’s where things stand right now. Waiting (impatiently), trying to relax (unsuccessfully), celebrating a soon-to-be 12-year-old, and gearing up for everything that’s about to hit with Blackthorne Academy: Year Two. I have a feeling May is going to move fast.

Thank you for being here, for reading, and for continuing to support these stories in ways I’ll never be able to fully put into words… even if I try.

XOXO

Zoe