Greetings Star Seekers,

Great news, I just finished the final illustration for Star Awakened! Presenting the back endpaper illustration:

Starting today I am sending the surveys to you guys. For today and tomorrow just 5% will go out to make sure there aren't any issues. Once I know all is good, I will send the rest. Please complete it as soon as possible so I know how many of each book to order. 

Digital/Pin only tiers:
Fulfilment will start next month. eBooks will be delivered in Nov once Star Awakened has been edited & formatted. These tiers will be locked early next month. Shipping will be charged soon after as I want to fulfill these asap.

Hardcover tiers:
Tiers won't lock until late November/early Dec when I order the books.

Did you miss the campaign? The pre-order store is now open. You can order pins, books & more!

Well, that's all for now. Have a wonderful day!

Yours in art,
Therena

✨Greetings Star Seekers,⛵

I trust you are having a wonderful October! I thought I would stop by with some important updates about the campaign.

Funds have now arrived and I am getting everything ready so I can place the order from my printer. I have received the tip-ins and now it's time for me to sign them all.

Once I have signed it, I will mail it back to the printer. As there are 300 tip ins to sign, this may take a few weeks! 😅 In the meantime, I am finishing the final art for Star Awakened.

In fact, I just made a completely unplanned interior illustration yesterday! Inspired by a scene with Evie and Cain. My family says I am cruel to my characters, but I think it just makes for more emotional art. 😅


I still need to finish the back end paper as well. Once that is done, all the art is complete. 

Now some sad news. My manuscript editing has been slightly delayed. My original editor has some serious health issues, and so I made the decision to hire another editor.
 
Fortunately, I was able to secure one I have considered before, and she was able to take my book in on short notice. Unfortunately, the series is new to her, so she has to read Star Found first. She hopes to have the first round of editing done by the end of the month. 

Which means that my final editing, and proofreading won't hapen until November. It still puts me on the timeline I anticipated to get the eBooks to you by the first week of December if all goes well. If for some reason we don't finish it by then, I will delay the official retail release date so that you can still have a month of early access. 

In the meantime, I will have everything ready, including the art and signed tip ins. 

My plan is still to have everything ordered by November/December from my printer. Printing will take about 3-4 months to print and ship to me. 

I will put together the post-campaign survey over the next two weeks. Hopefully by next week. As this will help me know how many books to order, please fill it in as soon as you receive it. Shipping won't be charged until I ship the books (early next year) to get the most accurate shipping rates.  

There was a fair number of failed pledges in the campaign. However, fear not. Your pledge will be imported to the survey, and you will still have the opportunity to claim your rewards! Simply complete the survey when it comes your way ^_^

To those who are on the payment plans, your next payment will be processed in a week or so by Backerkit and every month until 4 payments have been collected. So please make sure the credit card you have on file is up to date. 

I have two dragon pin campaigns which you may be interested in if you love derpy dragons!

Haunted Dragons is currently live, and we are only a few backers short of unlocking the next stretch goal!

So if you, or someone you know loves dragons and halloween, go check it out!

Halloween not your thing? No problem! In January I am launching a Bookish Derpy Dragon pin campaign as part of Pintopia! 

Bookish quotes, dragons, and all the derpy fun! In fact, I am partnering with my son who is also running his very first campaign, and together we have designed these two derpy dragon sets! Meet Inky and Mushy. These are only the early sketches. I did the dragons, and my son drew the mushrooms.

Bookish dragons will feature derpy dragons with bookish quotes like:
"Just one more chapter"
"Waiting for the next book"
"So many books, so little time"
"Out of control TBR pile"
"I'd rather be reading"
"Book worm? No! book dragon!"

and many more!

You can follow the bookish dragon campaign here: (Ignore my placeholder banner - the official one will come soon - once I finish the haunted Dragons campaign!)

And my son's Mushroom Hunt campaign here:


Well, that is all the news for now. 

Until the next update, have a wonderful rest of the day!

Enjoy this little dragon illustration I just finished, perfect for the spooky season!

Yours in art,
Therena

Greetings Star Seekers,

We did it! You guys have blown this campaign beyond my wildest dreams! Thank you! 

You may be wondering what is next. So I'll cover that in this update. 

Over the next week or so Backerkit will charge your cards. And around October 10th I will start receiving those funds. 

Depending how many pledges succeed/fail, will determine whether we can do a print run or if I have to order the books as print on demand. 

What this means for you: 
It's the exact same book with all the same features, so nothing will be different for you. (Other than the ribbon will be black with print on demand). The biggest difference is whether I will have stock left over (if I do a print run) or not. 

We are right on the threshold for a print run. So I will keep you posted. 🤞🏽 Please double check your payment information, especially if you backed multiple campaigns. Sometimes payment will not go through if you backed multiple campaigns due to fraud triggers. Sometimes Backerkit will have expired cards on file (it's happened to me), so make sure you have a current card on your profile so payments go through. 

Tip-ins are on their way to me, and once I receive them I will sign them. If we do a print run, they will be shipped back to the printer and inserted into the books. If not, I will add them to your books as a lose signed print.

October:
I'm waiting for Star Awakened to be finished editing. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll get it back to go over edits and final proofreading. My personal deadline to have the final manuscript is October 31st.

All interior illustrations are finished for both books. The only illustration left is the back endpaper for Star Awakened. Once again, my personal deadline is October 31st.

Surveys will be sent sometime in October.

November:
All digital eBooks will be delivered. Ideally early Nov, but no later than Nov 30th, 1 month before retail release.

Finalize & format the hardcover & send to the printer/order the books.

Order book boxes.

December/January/February

We wait... Book printing/production happens. There's nothing we can do but count the days.

December 30th Star Awakened releases on retailers.

February/March:

Books arrive, I sort & sign, and ideally ship them to you no later than late March/Early April.

Shipping will be charged when I receive the books.

April/May:
Your books arrive!

There's a lot happening behind the scenes, but much of it is just waiting. So, enjoy this little illustration of Menos, Evie's little sidekick, in the meantime.



And while you wait for things to happen with the books, I would love to invite you to join my next campaign, which launches Oct 8th!

On October 8th my Haunted Dragons pin campaign launches, and there will be many more derpies and gilded dragons joining the hoard!

In fact, I just sketched 7 brand new designs this past week! (Keep in mind these are rough sketches and not the final designs) Plus, I just received the first renders of the finished Haunted Dragon pin designs I had already drawn!

I will also have a limited edition 3D pin this time. With stained glass and 3D 'metal' in antique bronze.

Once again backers will determine which designs unlock first, though it is my plan to unlock all of them!

It's my hope that you will join in the exciting adventure and fun with me once more as I create more Derpies and dragons for your hoards!

Oh, I almost forgot the most important part! The haunted dragons campaign is part if Pintober. Like booktopia, a group of pin makers came together to offer you FREE pins when you back 3+ campaigns!

And I just finished this adorable "decorated cookie" for my freebie treat (ok... it's a skelly dragon, but we were supposed to make a treat, so I'm rolling with cookie...)


Isn't he cute?

I could almost see him as a stuffy 😅. But for now he's a little pin. So forget the tricks and come get your treats with this spooky dragon campaign.

For returning backers, I will once again send you an early bird invitation to back 24 hours before launch. With early access to the best prices. So keep your eyes on your emails October 7th.

I will leave these super early bird tiers open for 1 hour into the campaign for anyone who follows the campaign to also get a chance at the early bird tiers and rewards.

Will you join the derpling tribe again and make history with me?

Follow it today!



Well that's all for today. 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Yours in art,
Therena

PS: I like to create a thank you gift for returning backers. It's been a postcard so far, but I have found that you guys also like stickers. 

Please vote in the poll which you would prefer as a thank you gift when you back the haunted dragons campaign!

Greetings Star Seekers,

You did it! You unlocked the next stretch goal! All backers will now receive a 'digital art book' PDF. Well, two versions, a SFW and a NSFW version, featuring 4 images in each. And at the time of writing this, you guys are well on your way to making that 6 images per booklet!



Part of me is considering doing a physical reward once we hit $15,000. And I am thinking either a postcard, sticker or possibly even another pin. What would you guys like more? Let me know in the comments!

In the meantime, I finished another interior illustration for Star Awakened!

This illustration was a bit of a challenge because it had a more detailed background than I typically draw. Plus the added challenge of the lighting, which as you can tell isn't exacly typical. 😅

The only illustration I need to finish now is the back endpaper. And then all the art is done...probably...unless I decide to make another interior illustration, which may very well happen if my Muse has her say! There is a couple options I am toying with that I may be able to finish by the end of next month!

I can't believe this campaign is almost over! We only have 43 hours left!

So if you have been on the fence about backing, this is your last chance to join the adventure!
 

 

PS: There are only 6 bookboxes left! 

Hope everyone has a most magical day!

Yours in art,

Therena

Greetings Star Travelers,

I am so excited to finally share this illustration with you! Introducing Abaddon, one of the villains you first meet in Star Found. I finished this one quite some time ago, and was going to try and wait to share him for when you voted on him. But I can't wait anymore. 😅  

I absolutely love how this illustration turned out. The deluxe edition will have full colour, but I thought I would share the black and white version as well.

There are several villians in this series, ranging from misunderstand and morally grey to outright evil and sadistic. And they aren't always what - and who - you would expect. Star Awakened blurs these lines even more.

Yesterday I shared the illustration of Azazel, I finally finished the timelapse video and you can watch me draw it below.



If the playback doesn't work you can try this link.

I can't believe there's only 4 days left in the campaign. Is there anything you want to know about the art, book, or anything else? Just let me know in the comments and I'll answer it in the next update.

Until next time, enjoy your weekend!

Yours in art,
Therena

PS: If you haven't backed yet, what are you waiting for? Help us finish strong and make this campaign even more incredible!


Last chance to get these pins free!