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M. S. Dippel | Author

@msdippel

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Call me Max. Dark-humored, whimsical fantasy WIP about an anxious dragon 📖🐲
Check out my dark fantasy novel, The Art of Weaving Fate 👇🏻👇🏻

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No release date, but a plan! 🥳

And honestly, we're almost there. If all goes well, I could even order my proof copies in two weeks already. And then it's basically time for ARCs and ebook preorders! How exciting is that?? 🤩

The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon is a book about an anxious dragon named Oscar who has a nervous breakdown and burns down half a city. To avoid banishment from the human kingdom, he enrolls in a therapy center for mythical creatures, located in a serene mountain valley far away from his troubles. Finding a family among depressed unicorns, alcoholic griffins, and mermaids with legs, Oscar learns to deal with his emotions, and he slowly understands what it means to be a dragon. Facing his darkest memories will be key—after all, the past has a way of catching up to us, and dragons are no exception to that rule.

The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon is a humorous, whimsical fantasy story that respectfully touches on serious topics like anxiety and therapy through quirky mythical creatures facing ridiculous situations.

I am so proud of this book, and I can't wait to get it into your hands! 🥳 by @msdippel

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20 days ago

Full cover reveal! Finally!! 🤩🙌🏼

After teasing my cover for way longer than I initially planned, it's finally time to reveal the whole thing. I'm absolutely in love with it. It really captures the whimsical, ridiculous, dark-humored nature of my story.

The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon is a tale about a dragon who has a panic attack and accidentally burns down half a city. To avoid banishment, he enrolls at a therapy center for mythical creatures. Surrounded by all sorts of odd beings (some of which are featured on this cover), he learns what it means to be a dragon and how to deal with his anxiety.

Among alcoholic griffins and mermaids with legs, he finds a loving family. But unfortunately, the past has a way of catching up to us - dragons are no exception to that rule!

Shoutout to @tonymidi on Fiverr, who designed this beauty. Bro is a legend 🙌🏼

#coverreveal #amwritingfantasy #cozyfantasy #fantasybooks #dragon by @msdippel

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2 months ago

by @msdippel

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4 months ago

Hope I could help 😅

In case it wasn’t clear: it’s not that simple. So many factors and variables affect the cost of your self-publishing project. Your manuscript is longer than average? Too bad, everything costs more. You are crafty and woodburn your own cover design (looking at you @happiness_recharge 👀)? Great, you save a bunch of money.

At the end of the day, all that matters is that YOU are happy with the final product. And you really should be, because once it’s out there, it’s out there. It would be a shame if, two months after launch, you feel bad for being cheap about character illustrations.🙈

These numbers are roughly what I spent on my upcoming whimsical fantasy novel, The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon. Let’s hope I’ll find enough people interested in the therapeutic journey of a dragon suffering from anxiety to make at least SOME of that money back 😅 Otherwise, my wife might want to have a word with me lol

#amwritingfantasy #selfpublishing #indieauthor #selfpublished #authorlife by @msdippel

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7 hours ago

Let's talk about covers! 🙌🏼

Not only the front, but also the back. And the spine. All three are your primary marketing tools, kind of like prime billboards. They are invaluable, so use them wisely.

In my case, the cover artist just finished the spine and back designs. I'm thrilled with how they turned out 😍 While the front cover of my book is all cheerful and good vibes, the back hints at a darker side. It's a book about therapy, after all, so naturally, my anxious dragon has some baggage. But what exactly happened?

My hope is that the art alone makes the reader wonder, makes them want to open the book and read it. Do you think I achieved that? 😊 by @msdippel

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4 days ago

Could've been worse 🤷🏻‍♂️

Honestly, I'm thrilled with the results. And I'm so happy I paid for professional proofreading, even though there weren't really any silly grammar mistakes. They still found plenty of stuff, of course 😅

Either way, that means I'm practically ready to order proof copies 😍 Stay tuned!

The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon is a whimsical fantasy book about a dragon who has a nervous breakdown and accidentally burns down half a city. To avoid banishment, he enrolls in a therapy center for mythical creatures, where he finds a family among alcoholic griffins, depressed unicorns, mermaids with legs, and a phoenix with resurrection dysfunction. 🥳 by @msdippel

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8 days ago

Some more unfounded advice from yours truly 🫱🏼‍🫲🏻

Anyway, I believe that you don't need high follower numbers unless you feel the need to inflate your ego. Which is fair enough, honestly 😅 But if you want to sell books (or whatever it is you're selling), all that matters is the number of followers who are actually interested 🤷🏻‍♂️

But then again, what do I know? 🎉😅

The goal for my upcoming whimsical fantasy novel, The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon, is to create genuine interest rather than spam as many people as possible. Let's see if that strategy pays off 😅

I hope you are having a wonderful day 🫶🏻

#amwritingfantasy #indieauthor #authorlife by @msdippel

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11 days ago

Did you know? 😮

Jk there is nothing to know here. I'm just being weird and lazy. You can definitely do better by spreading the love on multiple platforms. I just like Instagram better than TikTok/Twitter/X/YouTube/...

I just hope I'll find enough readers for my upcoming whimsical fantasy story, The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon, here on Instagram. Speaking of: ARC recruiting will start soon, so stay tuned 😊🎉

The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon is a humorous, whimsical found-family fantasy story that respectfully touches on serious topics like anxiety and therapy through quirky mythical creatures facing ridiculous situations. It is thoroughly enjoyable for adults, and beautifully appropriate for young adults.

#amwritingfantasy #fantasyauthor #dragons #anxiety #authorlife by @msdippel

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14 days ago

Don't spare my feelings! 🫣

An anxious dragon accidentally destroys a city and is sent to a therapy center full of neurodivergent mythical creatures. What could possibly go wrong?

Life is tough when you're a dragon suffering from anxiety — doubly so for Oscar (short for Oraculus Dominus Scar), who burns down half a city out of sheer nervousness. Not even his support human Flynn can protect him from the fallout of this latest panic attack.

To avoid banishment, he enrolls in a therapy center tailored to the very special needs of mythical creatures and their mental well-being, far away from his troubles — or so it seems, anyway. But finding inner peace can be tough in a place full of unique patients with their own unusual problems:

A moody griffin with a fondness for strong drinks
A verbose phoenix with resurrection dysfunction
A depressed unicorn hiding in darkness
A rowdy cyclops with violent tendencies
A mermaid with legs overcoming childhood traumas
A timid manticore scared to hurt others
A sassy cat struggling with her identity

Oscar finds a family among these quirky creatures and slowly learns to cope with having no hoard to call his own, his fear of heights, and the way his scales flush every time he feels uncomfortable. But will their support be enough when his darkest memories come looking for him?

The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon is a humorous, whimsical found-family fantasy story touching on serious topics like anxiety and therapy through quirky mythical creatures and ridiculous situations. It is thoroughly enjoyable for adults and beautifully appropriate for teenagers (13+).

Thoughts? 👀 by @msdippel

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18 days ago

Piece of cake, right? 😅

And let's be honest: there is always something that goes wrong. Self-publishing a book is no small feat. The good news is, you can always skip steps. Just don't regret your decisions later 🫠

But it's also super rewarding! And there is plenty of waiting time in there where you can start new WIPs 😁

I'm currently in the middle of publishing my own fantasy novel. There is always more to learn!

🌟 Book Publishing Advice 🌟 Fantasy Author 🌟 Indie Author 🌟 by @msdippel

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23 days ago

It's been a wild ride... 🙌🏼

After my 15-year writing hiatus, I picked up this wonderful hobby about two years ago today. Since then, there's barely been a week when I didn't work on one of my stories or on all the tasks involved with publishing.

I still love it. Finishing that first book and seeing it out there is the most motivating thing ever. I know I can do it now, and I want to improve with every new project I start. And there are just so many stories I still want to tell!

The book I'm currently working on, The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon, is going to be the first of many in a whimsical fantasy world full of quirky creatures and unusual problems. It's gonna come out soon, so stay tuned!

Being a writer is now part of my personality, and I wouldn't want it any other way ☺️

I hope you're having a wonderful day 🫶🏻

#writer #writing #indieauthor #author #fantasyauthor by @msdippel

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a month ago

Final edits came with some casualties 🫠

But that's just how it goes sometimes. At the end of the day, you just want your story to be as good as it can be, even if that means removing a character you like.

It's fine. Maybe I'll just reuse my inverted centaur in one of my sequels 🙌🏼

The Awfully Anxious Mind of a Dragon is a humorous, whimsical fantasy story releasing soon! It's full of peculiar creatures in ridiculous settings. It has depth, humor, and everything in between 🫶🏻

#humor #whimsical #fantasyauthor #fantasybooks #editing by @msdippel

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a month ago