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.

 

First, let me apologize for the tardiness of this update. Second, apologies for the generic update, because this is going out to several campaigns.

That said…when last we met, I was trying to get over (another) health problem and trying to clear my office out so I could order another batch of books in for the followers of my Bear campaign. I was also wrapping up the updates on my Colbana files so I could start on formatting and adding the art, and working with the artist for the Preterns.

There is a fourth campaign, but I will be honest—I want to finish my Bear campaign before I start ordering in the pins for Pintopia. I still hope to complete shipping by early 2027, but I need to complete the Bear campaign first.

As referenced in an earlier update, I’m limited on space – when I first started this campaign, that wasn’t the case. Middle Kid had recently graduated and moved out. Last summer, a friend of Youngest’s moved in. Then, early this year, my niece’s housing situation dissolved and now she’s living with us.  Even the space I once had is gone, so I have to clear out in batches.

I still need to order the next round, which I should have already done.

This is where I owe another apology.

May is historically a terrible month for me as far as my depression goes due to the loss of my brother some years back. This year, I decided to do something rather than wait for the monthly slump.  We vended at a ren faire, something I’ve wanted to do for years. It did help.

But it left me exhausted and my health problems have flared up. I’d get home Sunday, sleep most of Monday and have little energy or focus for work or anything else until Wednesday, at which point I’d have to drill down and focus on the next week’s faire and freelance work.

In addition, there are some family issues going on behind the scenes that are taking a lot out of me. Those are mostly resolved, but it's divided my attention more than I care to admit.

Unfortunately, this means I’ve let other things fall behind.

That includes backers of my campaigns and I apologize.

I’m planning on getting the next round of books in the mail within the next two-three weeks and the next batch of books ordered.

I’ll be getting another couple of rounds of orders sent out within the next month.

I’m done with the revisions/bonus chapters and am going to be working on the formatting and adding the art in.

That will take several weeks to a couple of months, depending on if I need to commission any more art. The need for more art will depend on how everything flows with the formatting. I’ll use art to fill in the blank pages.

I’m still working on book 3. My artist for the other books has offered to help handle the art since the artist I’d previously hired just didn’t quite meet my expectations, but that does mean more art going to one person. I’ll have an update here as soon as I’m able.

I hope to have a better idea of when I’ll be able to tackle this one once I’ve cleared my plate a little.

 

I overloaded myself and I shouldn’t have. I apologize and I appreciate your patience.

Just an FYI...the surveys have gone out!

If you've finished yours, awesome.

If not, please do so when you have a chance.

Thank you!

Smoke tests are going out for the surveys!  Since I'm sending it on the edge of a weekend, I'll wait until next week to send the surveys out.

If you want to add additional pins or stickers, the survey is your chance.

You can also add:

Stacy finished the design for G!

I love it!

This, like the rest of the pins, will be one of the options available for pin backers!

I'm wrapping up the pledge manager on my end and hope to have it wrapped up in the next couple of days.