Mothman in Love Trilogy Kickstarter | Interview with Paige Lavoie - Go Fund This

Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome to GoFundMe. I'm Rob Southgate, and today I have with me author Paige Lavoy, who has a Kickstarter, currently going for the Mothman in Love trilogy collector's edition. Uh, to give us a little upfront here, uh, before we introduce you, paige, we have 10 days to go. As of this recording, we are. Our goal is 25,000, and we are at 16, 8. 53. So you are well on your way. But I want this audience to get involved, share it with everybody. Pledge. We want to hit this 25,000 because we have some really, really cool stretch goals and. Okay, Paige, welcome to the show.

Speaker B: Thank you for having me. I'm excited.

Speaker A: I'm excited to have you on. I've. I've interviewed you before for Ink Plots and for a thing called Three Questions. Uh, I almost interviewed you for Ink Plots again today, and then I realized we've already done that, but today we're just talking about this Kickstarter. And for those of you that are interested, you can. You can follow the link in the show notes. You can also go to Kickstarter, type in 4, the number 4 Horsemen publications. You can type in Mothman in Love. You'll find it. Uh, and it's great. These additions are absolutely beautiful. Uh, okay, Paige, let's. First of all, let's hear about you. You're an author. Tell people about yourself.

Speaker B: Hi, everyone. Uh, my name is Paige Lavoy. I tend to write stories about, uh, misfits, monsters, falling in love. Um, and I really love that. That sort of cozy feeling that you get in the autumn. Um, and I love, like, things like Hallmark movies and stuff like that. And I thought, wouldn't it be cool if we made something that had that. That cozy classic rom com? But for people who love monsters, and that's, uh, that's how Mothman in Love was born. Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah. Uh, and you. You do like the Cryptid thing, too? Not just the monster idea, but the Cryptid idea. I know we've talked about that before. So, okay, the book, the story. This is a trilogy. This is a completed trilogy at this point. We had Mothman in love, Mothman engaged. Now Mothman, I'm marrying Mothman. Uh, so there's been a four.

Speaker B: Got married.

Speaker A: Yeah. This is it, right?

Speaker B: No. Yeah, this is it. This is it. There. Um. Uh, for them, yes. Uh, there is a character that you meet in the third book. We'll jump ahead for a second that will be getting a spin off, actually two characters that you meet in that third book. Um, so, uh, yeah, the next one is a swamp monster, and it's actually the first stretch goal for this Kickstarter is an early preview of the swamp monster romance. So here. And you've read the books, and you're like, oh, Gil is so cute. I want more of him immediately. Uh, that's a reason in itself to help, uh, make the goal because, uh, he's there. So I've been working on editing it, uh, and it's. It's adorable.

Speaker A: You know, it's funny. I, uh, interviewed somebody else. We were talking about classic monsters, like, what we. The ones we love. And we all like. We. We all like the classics, right? But the one that, like, for whatever reason I always go back to is Creature from the Black Lagoon. I'm interviewing this other woman about him, and she goes, well, you know, the one is Creatures from Black Lagoon. And it was. It was the romance part of it. I was like, it's so interesting that you hit on Gil being the character that could kind of go and expand this universe, because there's something about that. That swimming dude, that, uh, that works. So, okay, Mothman in Love, this Kickstarter, what we have is we have a trilogy of hardcovers with brand new covers, brand new artwork. They're absolutely gorgeous. Uh, it's a collector's edition. We're not going to be selling these any other way. So if you want this, you have got to support the Kickstarter period. It's not one of these things where, like, oh, well, in six months, it's going to come out. This is it. You're one chance. So if you're a fan of this, you definitely want to get in on this. And I know, Paige, you have a pretty big following, so people out there don't miss your chance because you're going to regret it.

Speaker B: So what can you. Oh, yeah, go ahead.

Speaker A: Oh, yeah, go ahead. Go ahead, Paige.

Speaker B: Oh, I was going to say that's a question that I've actually been getting of. Um, will I have these at events? Will they be in bookstore stores? And. Uh, no, it's. They're only going to be on this Kickstarter. And it's just for a limited time, which I think is kind of special, that it's. It's. This is the only way to get them. And there's only going to be just such a small or, you know, big, depending on how many people claim them. But, uh, whatever is printed is printed, and that's pretty cool. Yeah. I personally have been just, like, planning my bookshelf, like, okay, where do I want to put them? And something I love is, um, they all are not only a very lovely special edition, but they're great companion pieces if you have the original set already. So, um, one of the things we did, we took colors from those first original books of Heather's dresses and matched them. So in the first, I'm in love with Mothman, where Moth and Heather, uh, first meet. She's a burnt out influencer, uh, who ditches her life online, moves to the woods. We see that reflected on the COVID and it matches perfectly his eyes and the color of her dress. The second one, the same thing with matching the colors of the dress. And you see him looking a little regal sipping his tea as we get into some different realms and a little more fantasy motif. And the third one is their weddings. We went very wedding invitation, um, so I can't wait to see them side by side. And the character cameos in the back happen to be done by the same artist, um, who did the character artwork for the original covers too. So it's just such a cool thing to see.

Speaker A: This sounds like, I mean it is the collector's edition, but it truly sounds like somebody that loves this series. This is a must have. This is like what you want as a collector. I know that I've got book series. Uh, I've talked about this with, with, uh, probably with you, uh, in talking about this, uh, I love the Shannara series and I have the, the Orbit printings of those. Sure, you can get it 20 different ways, but those Orbit printings, that special edition, you can't get them anymore. Oh my God. The covers and the way they did it all. There's something magic about having that, that special version, right?

Speaker B: Yes. And I think that was something so cool about designing it because this is with Four Horsemen Publications and our first meeting, it was very clear that we all wanted to make some. Something that felt very, uh, bespoke. It felt very special and it really spoke to, um, the, the readers of this series and the energy of the series too, because it is a monster romance, but it's also a Beauty and the Beast retelling. There's also all of these little fantasy details. So I think that the designs, uh, the typeset inside is also really beautiful, but they're floral, they're soft. Um, and, and they really speak to, to that romance of this series.

Speaker A: I absolutely love it. Okay, so let's talk about this Kickstarter. We want to focus on a couple of different. I'm trying to get to it on my screen here. Give us a couple of tiers that you think people would be most excited about.

Speaker B: I mean, I know the tier that I'm most excited about is, um, the sprouts loot box. So we'll just start at the highest tier. But there are really, really cool goodies there. Um, we have a tote bag that has. It's going to have moth and Heather's hands linked, and it says, you are my flame, which is the most highlighted, uh, quote in the entire book series if you go on Kindle. So, um, the if I'm your moth, you're my flame quote is, um, written in this very pretty script that matches the book covers. Um, I actually did the art for that, too. I used to do web comics, and I don't normally. Drawing isn't a skill I tap into much. Um, but when I sent it over to Four Horsemen of like, well, I have this art, I was just kind of doodling. They're like, cool. Let's. Let's put it on the tote bag. So that's, uh, kind of thrilling for me. Um, and then again with the My flame, uh, there is a ring that in script says my flame on it. Uh, and there's also really incredible stickers and prints. Something I love about this is we were really intentional about, um, supporting script, small artists, and, uh, the bookmarks and, uh, the stickers, everything is done by, uh, an independent artist. And it's just. It's. It's really cool.

Speaker A: You know what? I think that's actually the big winner here, too. When I look at it, this. This sprout loot box, the things that are in there, once again, having that collector's edition that really isn't just a bunch of, like, oh, it's just a rehash. This seems very special. This seems like something that a, uh, fan would want. Like, oh, my God, I have to have, you know, so. And I love the items in here. It's beautiful.

Speaker B: I really love the. The thing that I love. I think my favorite goodie, I love them all is the ring. Because I love subtle book merchandise. So having something that says my flame on it, it's one of those, like, if, you know, you know, kind of things.

Speaker A: Right? Right.

Speaker B: Yeah. Um, but then I think it's also really cool that you can get whatever book is your favorite, too. So while the entire series is going to look stunning on your bookshelf, if you have a favorite book, if, uh, your friend has a favorite book, if one of the character cameos really speaks to you, you can like grab one of the books and then all of the goodies can be done as add ons as well. So I think that's pretty neat. That it really.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's really cool.

Speaker B: Choose your own adventure. Yeah. For what works for you. Your budget. Um, uh, there's a ton of cool options on there and there's digital rewards too. Um, if you want to support the campaign and you're more of an ebook reader or an audio person, um, you can uh, do get some really cool Mothman in Love wallpapers too. And that's a way to support us making our goal. And also to have a really cool backdrop for your computer.

Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so a couple of things hit me. When you were just talking, you mentioned how you can get just single books. Uh, you know what it, what struck me is I think that people listening should think outside of the box too. Like you've got. If you've got a friend who's getting married, that's a little bit romantic. Getting I'm Getting Married to Mothman book as a standalone. It's beautiful, it's unique and it's the kind of thing that makes just a really special gift. And once again, after this Kickstarter is over, they're not getting this edition. So it's a really beautiful keepsake for a wedding, foreign engagement. Uh, we all have those friends or we are those people that love the romance or love the Cryptids or love the Mothman.

Speaker B: There's really lovely readers I've met at events in. I've seen the coolest things where couples ah, have read the book together and like taken turns doing notes in the margins and doodles and stuff. I love it, I love it. And I just imagine that um, if you're a Cryptid fan or a fan of the series, uh, which I'm just so grateful for, but this would be such a cool, cool keepsake to have. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: And it does, it makes an absolutely fantastic gift. And once again it's good for supporting the project, you know, because that's really what we're trying to do is support the project, support the author, support the publisher. Uh, if you're into that. And it's like, hey, I'm not just, it's not just about getting the books, but it's about supporting. This is a great plan. Having the buy an individual buy to, having the add ons. Uh, that ring. You're right. Who wouldn't want that ring?

Speaker B: You know, I have the sample and I wear it all the time.

Speaker A: Do you yeah, but see, it's. It's just really cool. And this is the one place you could do that kind of thing, so I. I do love that. Now I want to highlight another one. Um, the. The, uh, signed books, I think are really important. Uh, you've got the number 11 through 100 numbered and signed. There are still a number of those available, so you can get in that lot of the first hundred. You can get a numbered and signed book. Once again, upping the uniqueness, upping the special nature of what's going on here. If you sell 4,000 books, the people that got in on it got those first hundred signed by you. That is really something very special. Uh, once again, something that me, as a supporter of Kickstarters, of. Of, uh, Indiegogos or whatever, that's the kind of thing I look for.

Speaker B: I'm really excited about those. I love signing books. You've seen me at popcon, where I was just sitting there and, like, drawing little things and just having. Taking too much.

Speaker A: So. Okay, Paige.

Speaker B: Paige, you need to go to the airport.

Speaker A: But I'm. But I'm drawing something and writing to somebody. Okay, we're gonna. We're gonna go past this. I want to talk about your stretch goals, because in my mind, we have. We have confidently hit 25,000. Okay. We've got plenty of time to do it. So I'm looking at these stretch goals. Uh, first stretch goal. It's not a tough one to hit 500 over. Everybody gets ebooks, so that right there, that's a great stretch goal. Because these are collector's editions. You may not want to crease them, and, you know, you may want to have the beauty up. So being able to read it as an ebook while looking at the beautiful edition, trust me, that has gotten me in the past, uh, getting the ebook along with it, because it's a way to read it without, you know, messing it up because you want it to be like, you mentioned on your bookshelf. We all watch Book Talkers, right?

Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Speaker A: And they have their curated bookshelf, and I know I'm jealous, and this would be so beautiful in there. I'll read the ebook so I don't crease things, so I don't mess.

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: You know, uh, so what about other stretch goals? What do you. Which ones do you want to focus on?

Speaker B: I mean, I'm. I already kind of led with. I'm excited about the small monster goal. I think that's great. The. The, like, above and beyond. Go. Is really fun. That, um, if this went wild in the next two weeks, uh, the biggest goal I think we have is, uh, an audio drama.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: And, like, I love. I love audiobooks, but I love when I can really just, like, all the voices are distinct. There's, like, sound effects and stuff, like, to really immerse yourself in the story. Um, so as soon as that was pitched as an idea, I was just like, oh, my God, please. Like, how cool would that be?

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, that, to me is. Is the greatest one right there.

Speaker B: I agree.

Speaker A: So.

Speaker B: And then you get all the other ones, too, because it's the bot. It's the, the biggest one. So that means everything. Yeah.

Speaker A: If you're a fan, this is your chance to not only support it, I mean, you might go like, well, you know, I can. I can only afford so much. Or I can. All I can get is the, the three, uh, the three books. And, you know, I can't do $75,000. But you do have power because you have friends, you have followers. Share it. Share it on your social media, wherever you can reach people, because there are people out there that are going to go crazy for this. I've been doing it. Um, one of the things I was about to do, actually, when this is done is I have a whole group of people that I know will be way into this. I'm sending it to them as a private message. Send me a copy of this with a link to the thing and saying, hey, I know you'd love this. And that's what we need to do to make these kind of goals happen to help people achieve their dreams is we have to be proactive no matter where we're at. If you can only afford a dollar or you can't afford anything, you can share it and you can tell people that you think would be great for this or maybe you don't know. I mean, who knows? My friend Jack may look at this, and I would never think he's a crypted romance guy. And he may be like, oh, dear God, I have to have this on my shelf.

Speaker B: It surprises you sometimes. You have. You know what I mean? Like, yeah. Um, I mean, I, I, my. My grandma's 90, and she's read all of them, so. Yeah, you never know. Yeah, she's the best. She's so supportive. Yeah.

Speaker A: So it's not so spicy that Grandma had to put it down.

Speaker B: It was a little. It's a little spice. I handed her the first book. It's a little spicy. I handed her the first book and I said, grandma, they get married at the end of the series. And I want you to know that

Speaker A: going in m. No judgment, Grandma.

Speaker B: And then, um, in my birthday card this year, she wrote, they're finally married. Which is really sweet. Yeah. But, um. Yeah, see, I mean, you never know. Your grandma might love it. Is. I guess the point there that I, uh.

Speaker A: Man, I wish. I wish we could have done a stretch goal where we had your grandma read a chapter. I mean, oh, my God, that would have been the greatest.

Speaker B: That would have been really good. Yeah.

Speaker A: Of all time. Uh, okay, so we have. We have some stretch goals. The other one that I want to highlight is goal number five. If we go over. So we hit $50,000, which, uh, is double the budget. You are doing a virtual tea party and reading, uh, hey, Mothman fans. There it is. There it is. This is the dream. You get to have a virtual tea party with Paige. Talking about the book, the. The. The surprises. It'll be. I mean, I'm sure. I'm sure it's not just, hi, I'm m. On a zoom. I mean, yeah, it's gonna. I know you enough. It's gonna be something special.

Speaker B: I was thinking today about how. I mean, okay, just to set it up, this was like, oh, I gotta scramble real quick and get on a podcast with Rob. And I, like, got out some flowers.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: You know, and so I was like, okay, so if we did the virtual tea party, I'd have to roll out my tea cart. Where can I get a flower backdrop? Is there a recipe I could make quickly on camera? And while the reading is going on, like, maybe we email everyone a tea recipe. Like, I was just going nuts, brainstorming. And. Yeah, I think it would be. Because I think that's the thing with, um, virtual parties and stuff. And I thought about that a lot during the pandemic was when I wrote the first book. Is you really want them to feel as immersive as you possibly can through the screen. Like, we are all hanging out together. You were in this garden party with me. Um, you know, dress up. Here's a hashtag. Take a selfie. Let's make a big collage of all of us, like, having this. This party together afterwards. And, um, I think that those are moment, like, online can feel very, um, isolating. Sometimes it can feel like you're. You're not really, uh, sure who you're connecting with and talking to, but when you are in a big group where you can try as best as you can to channel the feeling of, like, going to an in Person event. I think that can be really special. So I know if we hit that goal, I would want to figure out how it could feel like we're really just a part of a community together.

Speaker A: I'll tell you what, if you hit that goal, you and I need to have a conversation because we brainstorm some really cool things. I am, um, positive.

Speaker B: Yeah. Party time.

Speaker A: Okay, so we've got the Mothman in Love trilogy, the collector's edition. You can find it on Kickstarter. You can find it in the show notes. We have 10 days to go, so it ends March 3rd at 9 in the morning. Actually, 8:59. Don't be a minute late.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah, don't.

Speaker A: Yeah. Uh, so we got a goal to hit. The goal in My mind is 50,000. We got. We still have 10 days to do that. And it can be done because I want everybody at this virtual tea party. I mean, it just sounds amazing. Uh, okay, what you can do, you can pledge, you can. You can go in on any of the tiers, support this, help us hit the goal. You can also share it, and I'm going to emphasize that again. Share it with your friends, share it with your family, put it on your social media just like, hey, I backed this, or, hey, I found a really fun, cool Kickstarter. Uh, share it. I mean, that is the best thing you can do if you happen to have a podcast or a blog and you would like to share it there. If you'd like to talk to Paige, reach out to Paige. You could also reach out to me and I can get the message to her. Uh, like I said, we got 10 days. Let's make magic happen.

Speaker B: Also, if you're in a book club, I love doing virtual book club chats. So have me with your bookish community. I'll hang out. It'll be fun. Yeah.

Speaker A: Excellent. I love it. Okay, Paige, where can people find you outside of this?

Speaker B: Uh, you can find me on paige lavoy.com. i absolutely recommend joining my mailing list. That's a great way to find updates for this. Um, updates for new books and sales and all the things that are going on. Um, oh, Paige Lavoy, author across social media. And, uh, next in person event is the Fable in Kansas, uh, City, Missouri, which is next month. So can come say hi and be like, oh, my gosh, I backed your Kickstarter. I can't wait for my books. And I'll say, oh,

Speaker A: there you go. You could come up and give her a tea recipe I'm sure she would love.

Speaker B: Yeah, Absolutely. Gluten free cakes always welcome. Not like, uh, because that's hard to travel with, but a recipe.

Speaker A: Recipes for gluten free. We had. We had gluten free shortbread cookies that Molly made the other day.

Speaker B: Paige, they sound great.

Speaker A: They were legit shortbread. The two of us are like, make them again.

Speaker B: Make them again.

Speaker A: They were so good. I'll tell Molly to send you that recipe.

Speaker B: All right.

Speaker A: Oh, and you can also listen to Paige if you want to hear an interview with her. She's on Read between the Lines with my daughter Molly. So check it out on Read between the Lines with Molly Southgate. Uh, and that's the Molly we're talking about when we say she's going to send you a gluten free shortbread, uh, recipe, which you could make on your, uh, at your tea party. Or at least have them.

Speaker B: Yep. And that's all coming full circle. Yep.

Speaker A: It is. It is. Paige, thank you so much. Good luck with this. I hope. I want the audio version, but, yeah, I'll be very happy if we hit 50,000.

Speaker B: Yeah. All right. Look at me through the lens, everyone watching this. We're gonna do this. It's gonna happen. Yeah.

Speaker A: Wait a minute.

Speaker B: Wait a minute. Boom. Um, hi. I appreciate your support. Also, thanks to everyone who's backed it so far and shared posts because it's been really, really nice and I feel very supported. So let's do it together. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: All right. Thanks, Paige. And, uh, everybody out there, go fund this. That's it.

Speaker B: The name of the show. Yeah.