In romance, we don't like it with somebody messes with the HEA.

I debated on the H for a little bit...thought maybe I'd do historical. I even thought about doing hockey.

But then it dawned on me...romance is all about the HEA. In a pin campaign celebrating the romance genre, how can I not include something that talks about the HEA?

Book genres are defined by certain characteristics.

Mysteries will have mystery.

Historicals will be set in the past.

Murder mysteries will involve murder.

And romance will involve a couple (**or throuple/more) falling in love and finding their HEA or HFN (Happy for Now).  Romance lovers want that satisfying conclusion at the end, knowing the people they've come to know will find their person(s) and make it work.  Things don't always work out in life and there aren't always HEAs.

But we can find them in some places - and a romance in one of those.

Every once in a while there's a kerfuffle in the online spaces known as romancelandia where a writer-typically newish to the romance genre-will announce they're putting a 'new' spin on the romance genre.  This 'new spin' is a 'love story' without the HEA.

Romancelandia has spoken out, loudly, against this every time somebody tries to reinvent our quite lovely wheel.

A few years ago, during one of these blow-ups on twitter, one of these writers was insisting nobody could tell her what to write.

That's true. But likewise, she can't insist her 'love story without the HEA' is still a romance and think romance lovers are gonna be cool with it. Which is pretty much what I said. And I added something along the lines of "This is romance. It's HEA or GTFO."

When I was going through my ideas for the various letters, I kept going back to H and realized why.  Because...well, we're talking romance.

It stops with the HEA.

And that's how I wanted to end this first pin campaign...with the HEA.

That being said, I'm going to have all pin designs, A-H, available for backers.  G is mocked up and I'm discussing it with the artist, so you'll see the final in an update before I send out surveys.

The H...or the HEA, is already done.

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a nice start to your spring! I wanted to share the next big update which involves both pins & plushies! 

Enamel pins are in my hands already!!! They turned out beautifully and I have started to pre pack orders with them now :D 

Next update is involving samples of plushies. Bulk production has begun and guys.. guys.. look at Daniel I’m totally not freaking out at all over his little face lol! I was so excited when my manu reached out. I will receive professional pictures of them soon, but I really wanted to send the photos I got the other day. Nicki’s pants will be adjusted btw. Have a fantastic weekend!

Hey everyone,

Surveys have been sent!

 Please check your email for your BackerKit survey.

If your original pledge charge failed, you’ll still receive a survey where you can complete that payment to receive your rewards.

Add-ons are optional and ship with your pledge (not separately). 

A pre-order store is available for non-backers. Please note:

If you have any questions, reach out to [email protected].

Cheers,
 Liz

Hey all, 

This is a very long update, so if you do not want to read through it all, there's a TDLR at the bottom!

Surveys have officially been submitted to BackerKit for approval!

Once they’re approved, I’ll be sending out a smoke test.

If you’re not familiar, a smoke test is a small test batch of surveys sent to a limited group of backers to make sure everything is working correctly. This includes selections, pricing, shipping, and add-ons. It helps catch any issues before the full rollout.

In my last update, I mentioned having surgery and expected to be back to work in about 4 days. I completely underestimated what recovery would look like this time around.

This was my third gastrointestinal surgery, so it’s not my first rodeo, but my body just did not respond well this time. Recovery ended up taking closer to two weeks before I felt anything close to normal, and it was honestly a really rough stretch.

In hindsight, trying to fit surgery into a very small window between in-person events, active projects, and upcoming international travel probably wasn’t my best planning move. Based on past experiences, I truly didn’t expect it to hit this hard or last this long.

Recovery was not just physically difficult, it also took a real toll on my mental health. I wasn’t able to function in my normal routine at all, and even basic things like eating and drinking became a challenge. I had to stick to a liquid and soft food diet, and at times everything tasted metallic. My options were extremely limited, swallowing was painful, and there were periods where I couldn’t even take my regular psych medications because it would trigger spasms with crippling, radiating pain in my back. 

On top of that, staying hydrated was difficult, which left me dealing with low energy and not getting enough calories, as well as constantly being dehydrated. It was a lot to navigate all at once, and definitely not the recovery I expected.

Even though surveys haven’t gone out yet, work on the project has absolutely been moving forward.

I’ve been deep in the manufacturing process, working through design approvals, revisions, and back and forth with manufacturers to get everything ready for production. So while this part has felt quiet on the surface, a lot has been happening behind the scenes.

Once surveys are completed, I’ll have final counts and can move straight into production.

To get surveys out as quickly as possible, I made the decision to hold back some of the additional add-ons and new items I had originally planned to include.

I still love those ideas and will absolutely be revisiting them, but they will most likely show up in a future project rather than being added here.

I also want to reassure you that I have successfully fulfilled 14 projects prior to this one, and I have never left a project unfulfilled.

Right now, my focus is on getting:

into a really solid place.

Once both projects feel caught up and on track, I will announce timing for the next launch.

I have also included a poll in this update where you can vote between two themes I am considering for the next project. I would love your input on what you want to see next.

TLDR: Surveys have been submitted for approval and will roll out soon starting with a smoke test. Recovery delayed things more than expected, but I’m back, production work is already underway, and next steps are moving forward.

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all doing well. There are still at least 20 surveys not filled out so I will be making 04/04/26 the final day for both surveys and the pre-order store.
 
Make sure that your survey is completed please! This includes providing a shipping address. If you go to 'Your Surveys', you should see "We received your order" for my project. You can still make changes to your address up until early to mid July.

———PRE-ORDER STORE———
✦ If you had any friends that missed out on the initial campaign run, they can pre-order through my store! Head to the front page of this campaign (https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/nightfall-s-delight/a-night-of-romantasy-fantasy-pin-collection) and there will be a button underneath the 'estimate to ship by' date.
✦ Gentle reminder: if you already pledged before, please complete your survey! Do not order items through this store or else you risk double shipping charges!

———NEXT UPDATE———
✦ Expect the next update to be around the end of April or beginning of May. By then, I should have already placed the order with the manufacturer. I will post earlier if anything else arises.

Have a great rest of your weekend!