Greetings Star Seekers!

Happy Saturday! Today I wanted to share with you two other Booktopia campaigns, which I think you may like, especially if you enjoy my art. But first:

Which tropes do you like more? I know, it's rather unfair to make you choose just one, possibly borderline evil, but I am genuinely curious. Do you prefer soulmates & found family, or do you prefer enemies-to-lovers & forbidden romance? Vote in today's poll to let me know!

I love both (see, I am evil for making you pick!) and I have both elements in my books! (Because why choose?) 

While my books are definately more high epic fantasy, romance does play a major role in the books and characters' lives. Love is a powerful motivator, and often makes us do stupid things (which makes for wonderful conflicts and tension in stories!) And, I am a bit of a romantic. Okay, I am a total romantic at heart no matter how much *cough* I put my characters through. I want them to end up with a hard-earned HEA (Happily Ever After). So be sure to vote in today's poll...and if you want to argue the case for both, let me know in the comments!

More campaigns to check out!

Speaking of Romance, the campaign I wanted to share today is all about the romance. Presenting, the Ruthless Wolves! 

I met Georgina, oh probably close to two years ago now as well. She has hired me for a lot of character art illustrations over the past year and a bit for her upcoming campaigns (which will launch later this year on Kickstarter). And when the opportunity to join Booktopia came along, she asked if I could make her some covers and other art! Of course, I said yes! I mean, why wouldn't I when I get to draw spicy character art and skulls? I mean a biker tattoo emblem?

As a reader, I love PNR (Paranormal Romance), and being able to draw in my favourite genre's are always a treat. Not only did I illustrate her covers, but I also designed her pins! Both for her cross collab pin set (Which you can get Free when you back her and her partner - another author I have had the honour of working with) as well as the one she has for her campaign! 

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't mention her partner's campaign. Cara has been another author I have created several illustrations for over the past two years. Which is why they both came to me for their pin design. And while I didn't do as much for this campaign for her in terms of art, I did illustrate both Cara and Georgina's oracle cards. 

So there you have it. Two more campaigns featuring some of my art, if not my writing ^_^.
I always feel really honoured when authors hire me. As a young artist, my dream has always been to have my art on book covers. And these amazing ladies are making my dream a reality. So, go check these campaigns out! 

I will be working on the next illustration for Star Awakened this weekend, so hopefully I can share it with you soon!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Yours in art,
Therena

Greetings Star Seekers,

I am thrilled to finally reveal the Gabriel & Nisha interior illustration for Star Awakened!

The full colour version will be in the deluxe edition & my online store editions, the black and white will be in retail versions.

I figured that this is the perfect time to talk about my art process as well.
This illustration took me 10.5 hrs, which is a little longer than typical character art which usually range between 6-8 hours. But my own illustrations hover between 9.5 - 13.5 hours. Probably because I'm not afraid of spending extra time on miniscule details only I will ever see. Things like arm hair, scar details or wing feathers. Or just really detailed gothic outfits with lots of little details 😅.

I also take the time to experiment and try new things with my own art, which I can eventually incorporate into commissions. And I usually create NSFW versions for my Patreons.

I love the process of creating art for my books. Sometimes art will inspire scenes & characters (Izanami was such an illustration - I'll share her in a future update), and other times the book inspires the art (like this scene). Regardless which comes first, both often help me get past writers or artist block. 

My illustrations always start with a line art, and then I start shading it as if it was a pencil sketch. Once I finish the greyscale art, I add colour. Though it's only recently where I started creating art with colour in mind. 

I started as a traditional artist with my favourite medium being pencils. And eventually taught myself digital art.

I use Photoshop and a Wacom mobile studio pro, which is very similar to drawing on a sketchbook.

I often get lost when I draw & write, losing all sense of time. And it's one of the few things I can hyperfocus on with my ADHD (other than reading).

My writing is very similar in my approach. I started handwriting my stories in journals (this series was written in journals) before I transcribe them. I love the flow of a pen on paper. The motion awakens a sense of creativity I can't find elsewhere.

I didn't like transcribing as it took way too long. So last year I bought myself a remarkable 2. I can still handwrite, and convert to digital text without retyping everything.

It's sped my process significantly.

Not that it helps me publish faster, mind you. I integrate my art too much into my novels to ever do quick releases. It's why I love crowdfunding. It allows me to bring my art and writing together in a way that wouldn't be possible if I only did retail editions.

It gives me so much satisfaction to create an experience both imaginatively and visually for my readers. To be able to transport them through worlds and offer a glimpse into the visions of my dreams along the way.

And, once the series is finished, I will have enough art to create an artbook of all the illustrations! And create a world artbook.

Creating these special editions bring me an incredible amount of joy. I love holding my finished art in my hands at the end of the day. Having something tangible to appreciate and admire is the ultimate reward after the hundreds of hours invested into these books. And knowing that you all are out there, holding the same book or displaying it on your shelves, is one of the most gratifying feelings as an artist. So thank you for your support and for being here.

At this point I have finished half of the illustrations for Star Awakened, and I only have 4 more to go. (An end paper, 3 interior illustrations, and a family bloodline tree) The editor is well on his way through the manuscript and tip ins are on their way to me!

Tomorrow I will share about another Booktopia campaign which heavily features my art. And I can't wait to show it to you guys!

Until tomorrow, have a wonderful day!

Yours in art,
Therena



Be a part of the journey, back today!


Coming this October: save the date, Haunted Dragons is coming to Backerkit this October!

Greetings Star Seekers,

Welcome to all the new backers! It's amazing to have you here! Today I wanted to talk to you about not only Phoenix's, but also another Booktopia campaign near and dear to me, Captivity--my partner's campaign.



I met Sarah two years ago in an author Kickstarter group. She has hired me for art for her Kickstarter campaigns ever since, and I have created over 20 illustrations for her through the years! She has become a close friend, and her comissions always pushes me as an artist. Like this landscape for example.

I definately feel my character art is my strength, but she often commissions art I didn't think I could do. And she trusts me enough to believe in me when even I feel skeptical about my ability. We often talk about campaigns and how we can make it better. We both love pretty books, and it comes as no surprise that both our campaigns focus on this. One new thing she added for her campaign this time around is full colour two page chapter headings!



This was such a fun commission as I got to draw two of my favourite fantastical creatures, a siren and a phoenix. Sarah also challenged me to try a new style of painting the art, with a more painterly approach versus my normal approach, which I will share in tomorrow's update.

I also designed the sprayed edges for her using the chapter heading illustrations of her characters and the feather from her dust jacket.

I think Sarah's book will be so gorgeous and I can't wait to have my own copy for my collection! Even I am not immune to stuffing my bookshelves with pretty books. 

Aside from these illustrations, I also designed her pins. Both her feather pin, as well as our combined collaboration pin. When we were discussing booktopia, we discovered that both of us had phoenix's in common, and so when I created our cross-collaboration pin, I used that as inspiration for the design.

A phoenix historically has a cyclical nature, from death to rebirth, and so I represented that with the cyclical design of the yin-yang. This cycle of death and rebirth is also present in my own book, just in a slightly different way. I filled these pins with a lot of symbolism. Both visually and as it relates to our books. And while Sarah's pin was inspired by her phoenix, it also carries a lot of symbolism for my own book. 

So, when you get a moment, definitely check out my partner's campaign! You won't be dissapointed. And be sure to back us both to get this pin set for FREE!

Today I plan to finish the illustration of Gabriel & Nisha so I can share it with you tomorrow. Until then, let me know which illustation you want me to focus on after that one is done!

And let me know if you are interested in a lifestream where I share my screen as I draw one of the illustrations!

Yours in art,
Therena

Back Star Awakened today & add this beautiful illustrated deluxe hardcover set to your collection!

If there is one thing I learned from my experience as a backer and a creator, it is that crowdfunding is about the journey, not unlike those of a character in a story. Sometimes these journeys start years, decades even, before the campaign is ever launched. Other times, it is actively happening during the campaign.

As with this campaign there are multiple journeys happening simultaneously. As far as progress on the book goes, I just submitted the newly edited and shiny manuscript for Star Awakened to my editor after I received very valuable feedback from a beta reader. He will be going over it over the next month and hopefully get it back by October so I can go through any needed revisions. I've actually come to love this part, as I have learned just how much I improve and grow during this stage, and that is one of my highest values. (Growth and learning)

But there is another journey happening, one of which you are very much a part of. And that is the funding journey, or in prettier words, Stretch goals! For what is a goal other than a quest you set out to do? With that in mind, I just designed this shiny new stretch goal graphic for the campaign. And, since much of these two books happen onboard the Black Maiden (sailing vessel), I thought I would create a map of your journey! The art is a very dark render of the map I made of the Great Sea, which is an interior illustration in Star Found ^_^

And what better way to celebrate the first official unlocked stretch goal?

🌟Next up, backer credit in the special thanks page in Star Awakened when we hit $11,000.

🌟Beyond that, I figured that a digital NSFW art PDF for all backers would be a good stretch goal. I usually only share NSFW content on my Patreon, but I think this would be a good reward for backers as well. And since spicy art is too hot to share here, it is the perfect compliment to your digital rewards! Some of the NSFW art will be in the book itself, but not all of them. 

Okay, so I really wanted to talk about music as it relates to my books and characters...yup, pretty much all of them have a theme song. Music is integral to my art and my writing. It powers my Muse, and it wouldn't be fair to my Muse to at least mention this very important part of my journey and process. When I write, I have to play music in the background. But something really bizarre happens as I fall deeper into focus--I stop hearing anything. For this reason I typically listen to epic soundtracks. Howard Shore, Two steps from hell, Jo Blankenburg, Midnight Syndicate, to name just a few, are my go-to artists for inspiration.

But, occasionally a song with lyrics will attach itself to a character. So, I thought it might be fun to share the songs which I put on repeat when I wrote certain characters or scenes! And perhaps you can enjoy these when you read the books!

💕EVIE & CAIN
Let's start with Evie & Cain, while writing them for the first time, I kept playing "Out of my life" by Omnimar. It put me in Evie's POV and build how she felt about Cain. For Cain's POV, I found myself inspired by Apocalyptica's "Not Strong Enough".

For the scene in the sacred grove, I discovered Says by Nils Frahm. And I highly recommend listening to it when you read that chapter! This song transcended my Muse as I wrote the scene. It carried me past my writers block at the time and into one of my favourite scenes in Star Found. I remember lying on the couch, feeling stuck, eyes closed when this song came on. (Thank you Google playlists for knowing what I like!) Anyway, I suddenly saw this scene with such clarity that I wrote it in a passionate frenzy to the beat of the music. I had the song on repeat, and this is the art inspired by that very scene. (SFW version - the NSFW version is in the novel)



🌟GABRIEL & NISHA

These two characters grow in importance in Star Awakened. With Gabriel being introduced in Star Found, you will discover more of his past in book two as well. In fact, one of the reasons book 2 took so long was because I needed to get to know these two better before I could write some of the major plot lines from the series!
Their relationship is... complicated, to say it nicely. And so their songs capture these emotions.
 
For Gabriel, I imagine the song Fire on Fire by Sam Smith perfectly captures his feelings for Nisha. While Nisha's song is Wicked Game by Lusaint. And between the two of them Last Dance by Covenant has inspired a large part of their story.

And since you guys voted to see them next, here is the sketch for the character art I will finish next and hopefully reveal by tomorrow! It will be in Star Awakened!

There's many more songs I'm sure. In fact, if you want to hear the totally absurd music which inspires me you can check out these playlists I made for myself.
 
My current favourite list. Warning, some songs are probably a bit emo... 😅Um, yeah...my Muse has a rather malencholy side to her, in case that wasn't clear in my art. 
And my epic fantasy lists: (Don't judge my naming 😅)
Haunted celestial dragons
Epic Cinematic Feels
And a go-to album for writing fight scenes: Battlecry

Music has been the greatest source of my inspiration for both my art and books. Often a single phrase would trigger an entire plotline or event, and in some cases even define a character!

So when you get to read Star Found & Star Awakened, turn on these playlists and let the music wash over you as you get to know the characters in a way only I have ever known them.

Does music inspire you? If so what is your favourite song?

Hope you loved today's reveal of my creative process. Somehow sharing my taste in music feels more vulnerable than sharing my art.

Hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend! I'll be back to share more art with you again tomorrow!

Yours in art,
Therena

PS: I have extended the early bird tiers for one more day! So if you wanted to snag one of those, don't wait! Back today!

Greetings Star Travellers,

Every character has an origin story, one which starts long before an author ever pens their first words. So I thought I would share that origin story with you for how Star Found and the characters came to be. 

For decades I have written stories, I was 10 when I wrote my first 'story' in a tiny little journal. It was a military romance of all things as I was obsessed with the show "Tour of Duty" and the main character was the most beautiful man I had ever seen with his striking blue eyes. But I digress, through the years as I grew up I filled more and more journals with stories. In my early twenties I started my first romantasy novel, and in many ways the lore for the Tri-Realms.

But I had always only written for myself. I am an avid reader, and loved escaping into epic fantasy and romantasy books and art. But I never dreamed I could ever write one myself. My writing had always only been for me. Until about 5 years ago, when I mentioned to an editor who edited my photography magazines that I had several journals filled with a story and he challenged me to publish it.

I scoffed at the idea, but then Covid hit, and well, I had time. I figured why not? I could write a quick short story, just to say I did it. My existing epic was too big and intimidating by this time as it filled 14 journals. (I hand write my books). Around this same time, I started running a Dungeons and Dragons campaign for my family and since my kids were too young, I had to make a healer for their party. 

Enter Evie: I loved the backstory I made for her so much that she became the inspiration for the very books you see today. Born as a half-breed between an angel (aasimar) and a demon (tiefling) I asked myself how would these two opposing races even meet. And so, Star Found was born. 
 
I drew this sketch of her for the D&D campaign, but in my head she introduced to me to a much more fleshed out character. Her stories started filling my dreams, and I soon found myself writing day after day as her story came pouring out. 

And it wasn't long before she grew up and met Cain (because romance is one of my favourite elements in any fantasy book alongside the epic adventures and rich worlds, and romantasy is simply military romance in an epic fantasy setting 😅)

For 3 months I wrote Evie's story and filled 3.5 journals. My first draft was written, but then came the hard part. Transcribing took almost a year, followed by months of beta reading, crying because it was the first time I shared my writing with anyone and feedback felt like personal attacks (I have since gotten over that), editing (with more tears and a lot of learning) and finally creating my first Kickstarter campaign for Star Found. But something happened during that first year of transcribing, what was supposed to be a 'short story' was in fact much bigger than that. Each of those journals contained what translated into 100,000+ word epic novels!

At the same time as I wrote Evie's story, another fire was lit under a long lost dream. I had to pivot from my career as a professional photographer (because letting strangers into my home studio during covid was never going to happen). And I returned to my other first love, and something I had always intended to do but never pursued out off fear: illustration.

I bought a wacom mobile studio pro and started teaching myself digital art again (I had dabbled since 2009, but never really pursued it beyond that). This time with the goal of becoming good enough to have my art on book covers. But, imposter syndrome was real, and crippling. When I finished Star Found, I hired an illustrator to redraw my sketches into covers for me! Because to me, I wasn't good enough.

But something truly amazing happened in 2022 when I launched the Kickstarter for Star Found's debut release. People backed my campaign, and actually believed in my art. I was fueled by the support, and ended up creating 14 interior illustrations in one month! (3 were done before, and I drew 11 during the campaign!) 

Another miracle happened. For the campaign I made the cover for my special edition, because I figured that it wouldn't have to compete at a retail level for how good it was, and that perhaps the fact that the author drew it would mean one or two people might buy it. Turns out, that version was the most popular one. And it was just the confidence boost I needed to believe that I can make my own covers and that I was good enough. 

The campaign exceeded my expectations in so many ways. But the most valuable part was the gift of backers - people like you - believing in me and my art. That faith in me has only grown in the past two years as I started pushing myself to learn and grow as an artist and author. And I vowed to do all my own art for my covers from then on and make the most beautiful books I could, filled with not only the stories, but my art.

Star Awakened has taken two years to be where it is today as the characters has veered from that original script and first draft (Why can't characters just follow the plot you set out for it?). And because of the standard I had set out with beautiful art for the book, I needed more time to illustrate the art for it. But, I knew in my heart that I had to give these characters my all. Not only in the story itself, but the art. And it is finally almost there.

In fact, I went back and 'touched up' some of the illustrations from Star Found as well as added even more new ones to this deluxe edition. 

All of this brings us to this campaign. The culmination of a lifelong dream and four years of work and growth as an artist and author. And I couldn't be more proud of the books I am offering in this campaign.

Star Found was the dream I never dared voice or think possible; Star Awakened is the epic journey I set forth in following my dream no matter how long it takes or how hard it becomes. So thank you for being on this journey with me.
 
Without the love and support from backers like you, I wouldn't be here. Your belief in me is what sustains me and keeps me putting my art out there for the world to see and enjoy instead of hoarding it all to myself.

One of the things I love about both these books, and those yet to come, is that you will witness my journey as I grow as an artist alongside the growth of my characters as they fulfill their destiny and embrace their true selves. A journey of resilience and perseverance, mirroring my own. So, if you haven't backed the project yet, I want to invite you along for this journey. By supporting it, you are the fuel which powers the dream. You are a part of the journey, a keystone in my story as an artist. And I promise that I will pour my heart and soul into everything that I make so that you will have the best I have to offer. Even if it takes a little longer than I planned.

Which brings me to the stretch goals!


🔒💫✨At $11,000, I will add a special thanks page, where all backers's names will be credited inside Star Awakened. (You will choose how you want to be memorialized in the survey after the campaign).

🔒💫✨ At $10,000 - holographic commemorative sticker for all physical tiers

🔓💫✨$8500 - You guys have unlocked another character art reveal! So go vote in today's poll to see which one I should draw next for you!✨💫

Until tomorrow then. Remember to vote on which art you want me to finish next! And in the comments, I would love to know what journey you have embarked on?

Yours in art,
Therena