The Publish Button

and the Firing of All Canons

Friends,

I’m reeling.

Allow me recount to you, in brief, the events of the past 8 days alone:

-July 2nd: Released a Quiet YouTube video! It’s here, and I like it:

-July 3rd: Flew to Denver Fan Expo.

-July 4-7: Sold at Denver Fan expo from 9AM-7PM, ie greeted and spoke with hundreds of people every day. I was all alone at my booth, so I sipped as little water as possible, like a professional wrestler trying to cut weight. Worked on the Kickstarter every night.

Just look at this hapless fool

July 7th, midnight: Took a two-stage red-eye , arriving in NYC at 10:45 AM. Plane was cold - so cold - and the seats did not recline. Max 30 minutes sleep. 4/5 stars (it got me there on time)

July 8th: Marvel Anatomy video dropped on YouTube!

All day: Worked on the Kickstarter website. Picked up my child at daycare, feigned sanity, then returned to work until 3:30 in the AM. My wife, at home, stayed up with me on the phone, editing the text while I worked on visuals. Met with my editor on the project at 1:30 AM to finalize.

July 9th: Got up early and worked until absolute deadline. Then, my Project Manager asked me if I wanted to hit the PUBLISH button, as was my right. I declined. So he pressed the button

AND WE LAUNCHED A KICKSTARTER.

(Even if you have no intention of backing the Kickstarter, watch this video. It’s really, really good:)

Now, hitting that PUBLISH button did not mean we were done. The work didn’t slow, not for an instant. There were people to speak to, social media posts to make, items to check, emails to write, graphics to create, etc, etc.

And I’ve been doing basically that for 3 days now.

Quiet: Level One is already 500% FUNDED.

Guys, this is amazing. I mean, this is incredible. The normal Kickstarter trajectory can be likened to the Big Bang, in that: at first there is nothing, and then an explosion… and then there is a great slowing.

When we hit that PUBLISH button and everything exploded, it was like staring into the light of a thousand cannons going off. My sleepless and bewildered self just held on to my silly plumed hat and plunged those cannons with long black q-tips and loaded cannonball after cannonball.

The cannons echo at night. I squeeze my eyes shut and listen to the whizzing conversation of passing steel.

As you can see, Jonah was losing his mind.

I am finally returning to life. I am spending time with family, sleeping longer, reassuming my normal life duties. And as the exhaustion fades, a new feeling dawns… gratitude.

Quiet: Level One has 845 Backers!

That means… you showed up to support me. You believed in the project, and you invested in its future. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I have so much more to say, but I want to share just one last thing with you - it was something that happened at Denver Fan Expo.

I received two magical artifacts.

The first was delivered to me by a man with kind eyes and long black hair. He didn’t buy anything from me, but as he was leaving, he pulled a tiny bejeweled box out of his pocket and handed it to me.  Inside, was a golden origami dragon the size of my fingernail.  He’d made it himself.

The second artifact was given to me by a red-haired woman in skeleton makeup and sunglasses. I identified her as Gideon the Ninth, and she gave me a tiny bead carved into the shape of a skull:

I thought little of it, at the time. Now, though, I’ve assigned deep personal meaning to each.

The Dragon reminds me, for obvious reasons, of my professional past. And the Skull represents my new future.

Quiet: Level One is officially coming.

And I’m reeling.

Gratefully,

Jonah

PS: For anyone reading this who’s still on the fence about this project, I encourage you to at least check it out - after all, you’re on this newsletter because you love:

• fantasy

• gaming

• art

• worldbuilding.

And anyone who secures a softcover or hardcover book ***by the end of tomorrow*** will receive this windy, whimsical sketchbook, designed by yours truly, for FREE:

Does this not scream whimsy?