Red Lantern Windrose - Kickstarter Preview

It's been difficult for me to sit down today of all days and put my thoughts together about this Kickstarter, but now more than ever, I need to focus on doing my job, writing, and creating. The next few years are looking to be a very difficult time for queer artists in America, and this right on the heels of so many of us also dealing with damage from hurricanes, a drought, a recession, and an increasingly-challenging landscape of conventions and the very few marketplace spaces we even had where small creators are being hedged out by larger companies and resellers, AI... but I have to keep trying to do what I love, because there are people and critters in my life who depend on me. So, I'm going to do that. You gotta live on to spite those who hate you, as Grayson would say.

The Windrose Kickstarter is now up for Preview, (not taking backers yet) so that folks can get a good look at what's on offer, the plans for the project, and follow the page so you get a notification as soon as we go live. I will not be releasing the exact time we open the Kickstarter publicly, but I will share it here for Patrons, so you all can get the first shot at the limited tiers -

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rukis/1590598182?ref=3t3i8w&token=3a56dfb4

As things stand, we are planning to launch on 11/11/2024 at 12 NOON EST

The higher tiers are limited because some of the items included in them are extremely custom and hand-made, and there is a cap on how many we can make ourselves, or have made with our art, by other makers. We are trying to put our money back into small businesses as much as possible with our merch production, but this means there's a natural human limit to what we can offer. I don't personally expect the higher tiers to sell out immediately... but I've been wrong in the past. If you have your eye on one, I would try to be there on launch day to be certain you get it.

There is no limit to how many people can pre-order the books. I mean, there probably is... but we won't hit it, trust me. So no matter what, you will be able to back the project and get a first edition of the novels, and probably a few pieces of swag to go with it.

This launch page is still able to be edited, so please let me know if you see anything worth fixing, or if you have any questions. You can do so here or over at Kickstarter. We have 5 days before we go live. Plenty of time.

We also haven't added the Stretch Goals section yet, and some of the images are placeholders. The page will update over the week, so please watch us, and check back in if you want to see how the project evolves.

I also just wanted to say again how very fortunate I feel to be able to commit myself to projects like this, with relative confidence that we'll survive while working on them. This is literally all I wanted out of life. If this project over-performs and it takes a little pressure off the constant grind, I will make sure I put that time back into the books. This novel series is a completion to this story that I'm hopeful will bring a little excitement and joy back into our currently very difficult lives, here in the queer community. Take care of yourselves, and as always, stand up straight.