A Week Beyond

It took a week, but Cade and the Last Starship is fully funded! That means that starting in September, a new six-book series will be a reality. We’ll explore with Cade as he reaches the darkest depths of the uninhabited areas of the Ark, discover what’s gone terribly wrong, and hopefully(!) save the last of humanity.

And the last week has been crazy. I started so optimistic, and then pessimistic, and then… well, you get the idea. I may have been checking on the campaign multiple times a minute.

But almost from the beginning, I pretty much expected us to get this far. But now that we’ve funded… well, now I can have some fun.

It’s time to really dream about those stretch goals. It’s time to see just how far we can get!

It’s also been really neat seeing who is funding. No, I’m not going to name names! I do want to protect people’s privacy. I can say that there are both a number of repeat backers and a number of new-to-us backers.

I love that both are happening. Repeat backers mean that Madelyn wasn’t a fluke. At least some people enjoyed it enough to want to back another series from me. That makes me excited!

We’re also getting new backers! We’re doing a lot of swapping with other Kickstarter campaigns. That means that on Dawnsbrook’s social media as well as in our Kickstarter updates, we’re sharing other projects that we’re excited about. I’m being picky here. I’m not shouting out projects for the sake of shouting them out. I’m only sharing projects I’m honestly interested in, and the bulk of them I’ve personally backed. In return, many of them are mentioning Cade!

And all that leads me to smile. I can relax; we’re funded. I can have fun. We’ve got three weeks left to get more support and make Cade even better! Diagrams of the Ark? In-universe fan fiction? A role playing game with adventure modules? Oh yeah. So much more is coming!

Let the fun begin!

Cade and the Last Starship: Now Live!

We… are… LIVE!

The last of humanity lives on the Ark, soaring through space to their new home.

Cade lives to explore… but there’s not much on the Ark left to explore.

Until he discovers a dangerous secret that may threaten all that’s left of humanity…

Click the link to find out more and back us!

Before the Plunge

The Cade and the Last Starship Kickstarter campaign launches Tuesday.

It’s gonna be awesome. We’ll fund within 48 hours easily, and then we’re going to just rip through the stretch goals we’ve got planned. I’m really excited about some of them. Three of the main characters play a ttrpg, and I’m looking forward to being forced to write up both the system and a number of adventures for it. It’d be great if we got enough funding to do an audiobook!

Oh, who am I fooling? We’ll be lucky to fund by the end of the month. Stretch goals? Yeah right. We’ll barely get enough backers to make it fly at all. Actually, even that might be a stretch. Sure, we made almost 200% of our goal last year with Madelyn of the Sky, but that was a fluke.

Shut up. Just shut up. It’s fine. People like my writing. They’ve told me plenty of times before. Why wouldn’t the campaign go well?

Because they backed the first one, found out how miserable the stories are, and there’s no way they’ll back a second campaign.

Nope. I’ve poured my heart into this. Cade is a fun character. His explorations are exciting. The six-book saga tells a heck of a story that raises the stakes every book, and it begins with the fate of the last of humanity. Once people get to meet Cade, they’ll love him and the setting. They’ll be grabbed by the mysteries, and the payoffs for those mysteries are all satisfying.

Really? Really? Listen to yourself, Jon. Just listen. You hate people like you. You think your writing’s great? Of course you do. You’re a little biased.

…

So yeah. That’s where my head has been the last couple weeks, swinging wildly from optimism to pessimism, with very little in the middle.

I know in my head that realistically, the campaign will fund. Cade and the Last Starship will see the light of day. We’ll be shipping books just like we have all this past year. I also know that realistically we’re not going to break any records. I’m hoping we grow from last year, but we won’t be making 1000% of the campaign’s goal.

(How cool would it be if we did, though? Just think of all the stretch goals. And how much fun and annoying would it be to ship all those packages? My hand’s going to be so sore signing all those books!)

(Shut up. We’re being realistic right now. You’ll barely fund if at all.)

See? That’s where I’ve been.

But we launch Tuesday. I’d love it if you’d go click “Notify me on launch.” That honestly encourages me so, so much.

And in the meantime, I’m gonna have a little mental breakdown.

See you on the other side.

Don’t Date a Writer

A recent survey conducted by Good Mythical Morning revealed that the worst job a person could put on their dating profile is “Influencer/ Content Creator.”

Uh oh.

I create… a good amount of content. I’ve got this weekly blog. I’m writing a minimum of six novels a year. I’m making two TikTok videos a day. And that’s in my life as a writer. In my “day job” as a pastor, I also write two sermons, five devotions, and three bible studies a week. I produce a lot of content!

Apparently I am not desirable to date.

Well, that’s not a bad thing. I’m already married, and my wife likes me most days. I don’t need to find someone new to date!

Also, I don’t think I’d call myself an “influencer.” I do my best to be transparent. For instance, I’m very open about my depression. I’m not out to make myself look good, and the only things I’m selling are my books. (Yes, I’d love it if you’d check them out!)

But there are downsides to being romantically involved with a writer.

Continue reading “Don’t Date a Writer”

Her World Will End

Madelyn fights with her daring blade, her cocky smile, and her ability to speak with stone.

Or she did.

Alone and still waiting for her magic to return, Madelyn will have to work twice as hard if she’s going to save the human world from the disaster.

Can she still be Madelyn of the Sky without her abilities and without her friends to support her? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to save what’s left?

Today, the final book of Madelyn of the Sky is available for purchase. The saga ends now.