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Dani Akard

@withlovedani

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Author of the small-town romantic comedy series, Blue Crab Bay.
🎄SEAS and GREETINGS: November
🩷JUST ONE MORE THING: Now on Amazon

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Just a girl who loves to read and wrote a story she loves. ♥️

My debut novel, JUST ONE MORE THING will be available August 12 in Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, paperback, hardcover and audio.

Welcome to Blue Crab Bay. The kind of town you’ll wish was real.

My official (and unofficial) author photos. by @withlovedani

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4 months ago

A pirates life for me.
With three of my characters playing football for the Buccaneers, how could I not have pirates for Halloween?

More Halloween in the coming weeks.

#authorlife #halloween #pirates #bluecrabbay #buccaneers @buccaneers by @withlovedani

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8 days ago

September highlights 🌕 🐾 💋🏴‍☠️🩵 by @withlovedani

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13 days ago

Guest bathroom before and after.
We wanted something a little older than the eighties. We gave the mauve toilet, tub, shower and sink the heave-ho and created a bathroom that looked historic old rather than outdated old. by @withlovedani

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a month ago

Just One More Thing, a Blue Crab Bay story.

•small-town romance
•childhood best friends
•friends to lovers
•second chance
•NFL football player 🏈
•scene stealing bulldog

all in a town you’ll wish was real. by @withlovedani

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a month ago

How we sunset (and he means foot pop). by @withlovedani

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a month ago

August 2026 was one for the memories. 🩷 by @withlovedani

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2 months ago

August 12, 2026. The day everyone gets to visit Blue Crab Bay.

These photos and videos are the journey of Just One More Thing.

What started as simply writing a story I wanted to read became a story I wanted you to read.

And now you can. Just One More Thing is available.

This is my town. These are my people. Today you get to meet them and love them like I do. EEP!

Gram Girls: please read the acknowledgements. (Don’t peek, though. I don’t want you to accidentally see a spoiler at the end.) I mean every word.

I hope you love Blue Crab Bay—the people, the chaos, and the love behind it all.

With love,
Dani Akard
an author 🥺

July 31. The day my hardcovers arrived.

July 17.
The printer made an error and my cover was pink. I saw it as a sign. My cover changed from creme to pink.

June 23.
All edits complete. It’s ready to make its entrance into the romantic comedy world.

June 23. Happy tears and sad tears because I’ll miss Emory and Jake.

May 26. Submitted Just One More Thing to Amazon for preorder.

March 28. First draft done.

March 22.
Wrote on the backside of shiplap that’s now hanging in our bedroom.

March 6.
A Tampa Bay Buccaneers Wheeler 11 shirt was always within view. A gift from Bobby.

February 24.
The day I decided there’d be a Book 2.

The map I drew to keep myself straight.

Always by my side through every draft and every edit.

February 22.
Some days the writing was slow when all you had was one hand to type.

February 21.
I was already missing my Gram Girls. But I was writing sometimes 20 hours a day. I had no energy for anything else.

January 31.
First draft of Chapter 6.
1,111 words

January 25
Always beside me or on me through all the drafts and all the edits.

January 24.
My first day writing.

January 23.
My gift from Bobby. He was so supportive and encouraging listening to my constant babbling about my fictional town and fictional people. And every night he listened to the chapter I wrote that day. 🩷 by @withlovedani

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2 months ago

We need to all be thankful @krissy_mast_art created my book cover and didn’t laugh me right out of her in-box when she got my sketch of what I envisioned for the cover (slide 2).

A love journey is the signature style for the Blue Crab Bay series. I wanted the cover to be more than a first impression; I wanted it to become meaningful to readers during the story and after they finished it.

Every thing Krissy gave me from sketches to color options was amazing. They deserve to be seen and forever in a square.

Thank you for taking a chance on me Krissy. I’ve been a fan girl of your art for many years and you made my cover dream come true. 🩷

She’s already working on the cover for Tell Me I’m Wrong.

Cover, sketch and map inside the book are all hand illustrated by Krissy Mast.

JUST ONE MORE THING is available on 8/12. One week!!! by @withlovedani

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2 months ago

Pinch me.

My first batch of hardcovers arrived today. It’s an indescribable feeling to see your words, your story on the page.

I felt this story so much and hope you do too. 🩷

If you pre-ordered a signed hardcover before today, as a special thank you, I’ll be spending the weekend writing notes, tidbits or trivia in your copy. Some of you will even get a paw print (or two). 🩷

Your trip to Blue Crab Bay is coming soon.

I just want to soak it all in. My biggest regret was not journaling during this time. You only have your first book once.

Boom Chukka autographs will be in some books. I’m still working on Woolie Bullie.

You’ll get to read it early.

Double 🐾

Just One More Thing

It’s exhausting to be a star. 😂 by @withlovedani

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3 months ago

When I wrote Emory, I intentionally didn’t give her one defining trauma or a tidy explanation for why she feels the way she does. Many of us who live with anxiety don’t know the why.

We just know that we do.

There’s a little bit of me in Emory, especially in the way she experiences anxiety. I fear happiness. I fear sadness. Sometimes I fear the feeling of simply feeling too much.

And I know I’m not the only one.

I wanted Emory to carry that truth for anyone who might need it: that you don’t have to have a neat explanation for what you feel in order for those feelings to be real. And if you’ve ever felt that way too, I hope this story reminds you that you are not alone.

Blue Crab Bay is full of love, chaos, hope, and people who keep showing up for each other. I hope when you spend time there, you feel all of that.

With love,
Dani

Just One More Thing: The bkr is to Emory and me what the blanket is to Linus.

#anxiety by @withlovedani

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2 months ago

Pick any page up to 446 and I’ll share something from that page. 😆 by @withlovedani

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2 months ago