Hey there my friend. So remember how I launched my Kickstarter last week? We are at the halfway point and we are over 200% funded!

We even hit the first stretch goal to give everyone and added bonus when I send out their rewards. I would love to double this goal, and I still have a week and a half to do it.

Already, in addition to the goodies you get for backing reward tiers, I'm sending out 3 stickers and digital artwork of the characters. 

I'm considering adding additional add ons so that people can get extra bonuses since I kept it fairly small at first. There is plenty of merch that I could add on. We will see what I can come up with today.

Click on the image to go the the campaign and poke around!

In other news! 

Nothing is set in stone yet, but there are talks of me going part time at work, which would free up so much more time for me to do things like keeping my house clean and actually finishing this novel. 

It would be nice not to feel like this book is consuming my waking days and I can do things outside of all that goes into a book launch.

Because right now it feels like it's slowly killing me. I have overdone my schedule and I am ready to take a break. I will be SO ready for the Reader's Escape when it comes in August. 

Anyway, I'm off to it. Hope you have a marvelous week!

Kickstarter is LIVE!!

I finally did it! I finally launched my Kickstarter campaign! Even more exciting, it is already FUNDED!!!

Which means I get to move on to the stretch goals I have created, allowing me to put more goodies into the hands of backers. Some of the things will only be available on Kickstarter, while others (like the book itself) will be. 

A lot of what is available will depend on how popular it is during this campaign. 

So far, the canvas tote is a popular add on, so that one will continue to be available, but we will have to see what else does well. 

Below are some of the add-ons available during the campaign. Comment and let me know your favorite!

Campaign banner

Here are a few of the add-ons available with the book. 

First of all, we have the embroidery pattern inspired by events that take place during the novel. I may not be a professional pattern writer, but I am pleased with how it turned out.

This design is for a t-shirt. It features a silhouette of our main character. Above the silhouette is the title of the novel and below is a clever line my husband came up with that I feel perfectly describes the novel. 

I have tried my best to keep the story of the cursing countess clean and low spice. 

At the same time, I didn't want to shy away from important aspects of her story. But overall, the tone is wholesome.

This design is also for a t-shirt. There is no cute story behind it, just the lovely embellishments common for the Regency time period during which the novel is set. 

But of course, it had to be book related because that is what I do. Everything always seems to come back to books.

This is the design for the canvas tote. I'm hoping it comes out like I envision it, but I'm still working on making it look exactly right.

However, it is easily one of the best moving add-ons for the Kickstarter campaign. Meaning once I finally get it right, this piece might be sticking around for a while.

And why wouldn't it, with such a powerful reminder (and line from the novel)?

Just in case you needed another reminder, the same line is going to be put on bookmarks that are available with all of the physical tiers on the Kickstarter. 

It also features Em's chateau (her actual home, not just what I imagine it to look like) and her family coat of arms.

Last year, I decided I wanted a hobby that didn't revolve around books. So I picked up crochet. 

Then I started to crochet bookmarks. So now this is also a thing I do and I've made several. I've used the smallest yarn I could find (it feels more like thread) and once I'm out, I'm done. Micro-crochet is not my jam, but was a great learning curve.

As I write, I sometimes will use music to inspire me and get me in the mood and help with focus. 

I tried to use a lot of songs from the time period Em lived in and would have potentially listened to. So I created a Madamn Playlist that I am offering as an add-on.

As I listened to these older classical pieces, sometimes what I really needed was something more modern to get me in the right mood for character building.

So I also have a playlist of songs Em would be listening to if she were here today. This playlist is also available during the Kickstarter campaign.

As the campaign grows and I have increased funding, there will be additional perks and goodies that will be added to the tiers, but occasionally, I might also be able to add additional products as more add-ons once I know we are able to fund them.

One of the biggest stretches that I'm hoping we hit if we can make it into 5 figures, I want to make a collector's edition cover of the novel. But not just any special cover.

I want it faux leather with debossed and gilded embellishments. Doing a special print run is going to cost significantly more, especially with all the bells and whistles and is going to cost a pretty penny. So while I'm not holding my breath that we will actually make it, I am working and praying that we get there.

I had some mockups of it made and I am just drooling over them! I'm not going to share them unless we get close to the possibility, making it a motivation to fund just a little bit higher. Right now, it feels cruel to dangle a carrot that might not be within reach. I know it's frustrating me.

Maybe I'll have to run another campaign after this one to see if we could fund on it's own, offering only the special edition and merch. But we shall see.

Right now the goal of the Kickstarter is to help fund the editing and formatting process as well as some additional artwork. 

But here's to hoping it will be possible to actually knock it out of the park!

Concept of Time

I'm sitting here amazed that another week has already flown by. It's crazy to me how fast time can go... while at the same time, so much can be done.

There were times this week that time didn't feel like it was simply passing me by, but that I had time left to do just a little bit more. 

There was one day this week that on my one hour lunch break, I managed to walk home from work, make and eat lunch, hang out with my husband, pick up an order down in town from a local print shop, walk to my hairdressers to schedule an appointment, stop by the grocery store for a couple of items, drive home so I could smooch on my husband a bit before walking back to work- and all easily without feeling rushed at all.

It felt so good. 

I'm actually impressed with what I was able to accomplish this week, but also, wow, it's already Saturday again!

I do think a lot of it has to do with how much better I'm feeling and needing excessive amounts of sleep. And since I have more energy, I'm able to accomplish more rather than simply doom scrolling at the end of the day.

Which is also shocking considering how short staffed we have been at work and how much extra work we are doing to pull the load. 

Yet I feel better than I have when we were fully staffed. 

Maybe there is also something to the fact that I can feel of my divine destiny pulling me forward and growing in ways I never thought possible.

I've said for years that I know how much this book is going to change my life once it is published. And I 1000% believe that. I can feel it pushing me forward, almost beyond my control.

And it's getting incredibly close. 

There are times when I feel stressed and behind schedule with editing and all of the moving pieces, but at the same time... I know it will work out.

As will the timing of it all.

Thank You!

I can't even tell you how much better this week was from last week! Not that much changed circumstantially, but that I feel better and more capable of handling things. (Prayer works btw, I asked for prayers last week and I'm feeling them.) So thank you so, so much.

I feel much more calm and like I have a better idea of how things will play out. I feel supported and capable. It's a fantastic feeling. 

SO! With that in mind, we are moving forward! I have the first private room for the Reader's Escape/ book launch week sold, feel MUCH better about the Kickstarter campaign and am finally making progress on Madamn so things feel like they are coming together!

I hope I'll be able to report some amazing progress this week, since I'm feeling so much better. It helps that the sun will be shining all week with warm temperatures here, I absolutely function better with sunshine and warmth. 

So off I go! Keep those prayer coming, they are sustaining me!