Happy June, all!

Thank you all for your excitement about the upcoming campaign! We're just a few weeks away from the launch of the Leveling Up Collected Edition on July 21st. If you're just joining us, keep an eye out for author K. F. Breene herself poking her head in on occasion, too (yes, she's just that awesome).

Without further ado, we wanted to talk a bit more about what sets this new edition apart. 

We have a lot planned for this book, but one thing that will really set it apart from previous editions is the level of embellishment. This set is meant to sing on the shelf... not just from the outside but on the inside, too. After a lot of research to find out what makes a deluxe book stand out... you know what? We're doing all of it. YOLO, as the kids say. And, we're starting our features by chatting about our illustrations.

The inhabitants of O'Briens will be brought to life by a rising star in the comics space, Corin Howell, a fellow creator of paranormal adventure. Several months ago, Corin started concepting (aka creating early development art) places and characters who appear in the books. One of her first early concepts was for Ivy House itself. 

Corin is an excellent draftswoman and included many gorgeous gothic details, but there were still a few inaccuracies with this design. After a round of notes from K.F. Breene, Corin went back to the drawing board. We'll have the updated version to show off in a future post!

Corin also made sketches for many of the primary characters who play a role in Magical Midlife Madness, Dating, and Invasion. We couldn't not leave you with a sketch of our take-no-shit heroine, Jessie Evans.

We have to give huge thanks to K. F. Breene for writing these characters so vividly, as well as for giving feedback on visual development along the way. 

The art in the Deluxe Edition books will appear as scene illustrations which backers will get to vote on! And don't forget, reaching campaign milestones will give backers the ability to add even more original art illustrations (a town map would be nice, right?), and maybe even some illustrations with a bit more 🌶️

A reminder that the next few weeks before launch is your only opportunity to grab a special Ivy House Key. These keys will be unavailable after we launch, but the lucky ones who find this page before July 21 have the chance to sign up early and get this reservation gift for just $5.

Even better, once we hit 3,000 followers, everyone's key automagically gets a cute glittery upgrade. We're currently at ~1700 followers, and that number is climbing every day. So, share the link to the page and let a friend know to give us a follow. You can follow our progress bar, posted below!

If you're a project followers, you can look under the cut of this post to see a bonus concept of Jessie's female gargoyle form as well.

Our next update will be next Thursday, on June 11. Until then, we'd love to know... which Leveling Up characters are you hoping to get a glimpse of next? Cast your vote in the poll below to let us know ✨