Lisa Moore and her fiancé Brant Fowler have joined a collective of 5 Kickstarter campaigns with 5 independent creators banding together to launch on the same day (or within a few days of each other). Their goal is to help promote each other’s campaigns and support each other during the long days of a Kickstarter campaign. Lisa and Brant are launching Secrets of Willowmyst #1-2: Fantasy Mystery Comic, and they stopped by First Comics News to let our readers know all about the Secrets of Willowmyst.
First Comics News: So… what’s the secret?
Brant Fowler: Well, how would it be a secret if we told you, Rik?!
Lisa Moore: It’s a twist on a classic fairy tale, but that’s a secret too!
1st: What is the forest of Willowmyst?
Lisa: The forest is part of the secret… a big one actually!
Brant: Aside from that vague explanation, it’s your typical forest… if your typical forest is filled with mythological creatures, that is…
1st: Who is Alex?
Lisa: Alex is an amazingly friendly fairy with only one friend in the world, until now. In our first issue, she’s introduced to another of her kind and things are going to start to quickly evolve from there.
1st: When did Alex become alone?
Lisa: This hasn’t been established yet, but I will say… it’s been a while.
Brant: Shhh! Don’t give it away, Lisa. Sheesh!
In all seriousness, though, like she said, it’s a plot point in the story and not something we can reveal… yet!
1st: How did she react to the loneliness?
Lisa: She had her friend Kai, so she leaned heavily into that friendship. She hasn’t had the social interaction that most people have. In this issue, you can absolutely see an awkwardness and self-protective nature really come to the forefront.
1st: Who is Kai?
Brant: Kai is Alex’s chipmunk companion, the only friend she had until Tavin showed up actually. Kai is kind of a foil for Alex’s crazy ideas and exuberance, but he exhibits his fair share of mischief as well.
1st: Can Kai talk?
Brant: I think we’ll have to wait and see… Lisa?
Lisa: Yes, this is definitely a wait and see scenario, up until this point… no, he can’t.
1st: Why does he want to hang out with Alex?
Brant: Well, Alex is pretty cool, but there may be another reason Kai has stuck around. I don’t know how much you want to reveal that, Lisa.
Lisa: Yes, this really plays into the part of the first major secret, and is one of the things that ties it to the previously mentioned classic fairy tale. So I can’t give that one up just yet!
1st: Who is Tavin?
Brant: Tavin is another faerie that happened to get too close and got himself seen. See, no one’s supposed to be seen by Alex, it’s part of those “secrets” we keep talking about. But Tavin as a little careless and now he has some explaining to do!
Lisa: Yes, there’s a lot to unpack with Tavin and this issue really starts to delve into that and more into his backstory.
1st: Why shouldn’t Tavin be seen?
Lisa: Well, this won’t be revealed yet… but someone sent him on a search and part of his task was to keep to the shadows.
Brant: He didn’t do a very good job of that…
1st: How does he react to Alex?
Brant: He runs away. Haha
Lisa: Exactly.
1st: What is their world like?
Lisa: At this moment, it’s quite small. However, I do think I can reveal that is quite full of magic. We are going to see many seeds of this planted in this issue.
1st: What happened to the fairies?
Lisa: Sorry! Another secret, this will start to be revealed in Issue 3.
1st: Who is Gwen?
Lisa: Gwen is a character from a webcomic that will be launching from Last Ember Press sometime this year if we can pull it together. It was one of my very first comic ideas and I’m still quite passionate about it. Gwen works at a Renaissance Faire owned by her father. Much, much more to be revealed about her going forward!
1st: I notice you are kickstarting both issues 1 and 2, what if you already got issue 1 on the last Kickstarter?
Brant: We will have reward tiers where you can either just get issue 2 or both if you missed the first one.
1st: What is the minimum pledge for a digital copy?
Brant: $5 for issue 2, or $9 for both issues. The digital copy is also a deluxe edition with the full script, sketches and more that won’t be found in the print edition!
Lisa: Yes, I’ve had a blast putting together the digital copies with a ton of great behind the scenes material.
1st: What is the minimum pledge for a print copy?
Lisa: $14 for just issue 2 (that’s with FREE US shipping) and that comes with the digital deluxe edition as well. $19 for both issues.
1st: What rewards do you have planned?
Lisa: This campaign we are quite excited to offer copies of the first issue along with issue 2, we have variant covers for both issues. I’ll also be offering custom art and I’ll be working with series artist Cesar Gutierrez to offer digital commissions where you can turn yourself or a loved one into a fairy! I’ll let Brant talk about our Make 100 Reward!
Brant: The Make 100 Reward ties into a brand new character debuting this issue that I tease in a later question! The reward itself is a custom brick minifig of that character limited to only 100 units!
1st: This is the second issue, the first was successful, why join the 5 independent creators Kickstarter launch campaign?
Brant: We are all about supporting the greater comics community and do our best to spread the word about other great comics and creators as much as we can. It’s also an opportunity to get our book seen by readers that might be outside our sphere of influence as it were.
1st: What does the multi-launch do to enhance Secrets of Willowmyst?
Brant: Again, it’s all about spreading the word and making more people aware of all the projects involved in this multi-launch as you put it. A good friend of mine always used to say “We all rise and fall together.” and that’s a philosophy we still share and try to live by.
1st: For any readers still on the fence, what makes the Secrets of Willowmyst so cool no true comic fan should miss it?
Brant: Lisa can expand on this, but, like Lisa said earlier, The Secrets of Willowmyst is loosely a twist on a classic fairy tale, but giving away which one would kind of reveal where we’re headed with the story. It’s full of cute and fun fairies, woodland creatures, oh, and there’s a teleporting dragon in this issue! It’s a fun-filled fantasy story at its heart wrapped up in a dark mystery that Alex is unknowingly at the center of.
Lisa: Brant summed it up quite well. For me, this book is the kind of story that appealed to me greatly as a younger reader. I wanted to put something out that would resonate with kids like me, but would actually be a good read for adults who are into fantasy as well. That’s why we are leaning so heavily into the mystery aspect of this story. It’s what I LOVE about storytelling and I’m truly excited to share more of it with our readers.
1st: Vist the Kickster at Kickstater.com
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