Category: Art & Illustration

Posts about our illustrations and art.

Come Find Us at YALLFEST for some Freebies!

Published on by Micheline RyckmanLeave a comment

I’m delighted to tell YALL that Christina will be at Yallfest again this year! And just like last year, she’ll be handing out goodies! Yallfest will be from November 10-11th in Charleston, SC, so if you’ll be around this coming weekend, be sure to find her! She will be pulling a purple wagon and will be taking over my instagram and posting her location throughout both days to my stories.

Yallfest is a Young Adult book festival held annually in Charleston, South Carolina and though I’ve never been, Christina promises it’s a weekend FULL of excitement!

Because it’s an outdoor festival occurring at several locations simultaneously, I can’t tell you exactly where she will be each day (though I can guarantee she’ll be in Stephanie Garber’s signing lines both days)!

If you do find her, snap a photo together and share it on social media (and tag me!) I hope many of you will get an opportunity to meet her and get some Whimsical swag! I wish I could be there with you, but know I’m there in my heart!

A Goblin of the Glade releases on November 28th and we want YOU to join our release day street team! 

What do you need to do? Just post about the book on release day!

What if I don’t have a copy of the book? We will email you one week before release with a marketing package of pre-made graphics to use! Or you can post a screenshot of the book from our shop or Amazon!

How do I sign up? Click this link to enter your info!

Everyone who joins the street team AND posts about the book on November 28th will be entered into a giveaway to win a set of the sold-out preorder incentives! (see below for an image).

And speaking of preorder incentives…

There are only about 30 sets of preorder incentives left for Queen of Shifting Sands! You can only get these by preordering in the shop, so if you’ve been waiting, don’t wait much longer! We expect these to sell out quickly!

Release date: March 12, 2024

Don’t forget! Emma is still available for preorder as well! This Whimsical Exclusive Edition features the original text by Jane Austen with added interior illustrations by yours truly! The stunning cover and dust jacket designs were done by Hillary Bardin. The bookmark is complimentary with every preorder.

Release date: February 14, 2024

Stephanie Garber Merch & SALE!!

Published on by Micheline RyckmanLeave a comment

Once Upon a Stephanie Garber SALE

Who’s excited for the third and final book in the Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy?! I know I am! We thought it was a great time to have a Garber SALE to celebrate our excitement! (And make this final week pass a bit faster!)

From now until October 26th, you can take 25% off your entire purchase of Garber-related items from the shop using code JACKS. This code will only apply to items in the Caraval category of the shop.

We’ve also got TWO BRAND NEW BOOKMARKS featuring Evangeline and Jacks that are making their Whimsical debut for this sale! Check them out below!

We’ve also got a ton of Caraval & OUABH items for sale in our Merch Shop! 

The items in our merch shop unfortunately can’t be discounted as they are printed to order. Still, there’s a lot of awesome items to choose from! Don’t see what you’re looking for? Reply to this email or fill out this form to submit a custom request! (Requests can only be made for artwork already in existence. We can’t create new artwork – we can only create an item with artwork Micheline has already made.)

I hope this surprise sale brings you a smile as we count down the days until A Curse for True Love is in our hands! Stay tuned for the cover reveal of Queen of Shifting Sands next week!

With love,
Micheline

A Signing, A Dream Achieved, & A Live Action Whimsical Scene?!

Published on by Micheline RyckmanLeave a comment

Come meet our Authors!

For one day only, you can meet almost ALL of Whimsical’s authors! I personally won’t be able to travel that far, but Hayley, McKenzie, and Megan will all be at the Barnes & Noble at the Plaza Venezia in Orlando, FL on September 23rd from 2-4 pm EDT!

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet almost the whole Whimsical family! My admin assistant Christina will also be there helping out with things so if you see her, say hi! She may also have some Whimsical goodies to give away!

Add to your Google Calendar

We Did It!!!

Thanks to your help with sharing sharing sharing, we reached McKenzie’s goal of 600 preorders for A Goblin of the Glade!!

If you shared even once, don’t forget to enter our giveaway for a RARE Goblin paperback ARC! We also have another giveaway going for anyone who preordered, so check them both out below and enter fast! We will draw winners for both giveaways on September 21st!

Who’s ready for our next cover reveal!? Mark your calendars – on October 17th, we will reveal the cover and announce the preorder incentives for Queen of Shifting Sands, the debut novel by Kaitlyn Carter Brown!

REMINDERS

Stock is low on the Caraval bookmark set! Once it’s out of stock, these will be gone forever! Get yours now!

Our free postcard for the month of September is the Mistress of Evil herself – Maleficent!

Get this postcard for FREE when you place an order of at least $10 before shipping.

The ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION of We Could Be Villains is available for preorder right now! This edition releases on October 3rd and is loaded with exclusive extras, including:

  • Brand new interior illustrations
  • A bonus scene written exclusively for this edition
  • A new detailed dust jacket (wait until you see the back!)
  • An exclusive design on the hard case

PLUS, all preorders receive an exclusive bookmark of Sam – who gets quite the glow-up in book two! This bookmark is ONLY available for preordering. Once the book is released for general sale, the bookmark be discontinued! So hurry over to the shop and preorder now! Remember the shop is listed in Canadian dollars, so if you’re in the US or UK, you get a better deal after the exchange rate!

Oh and by the way, speaking of We Could Be Villains…

Who wants to see Ironfall and Rosemary COME TO LIFE in the most romantic scene of We Could Be Villains by Megan McCullough?? Natasha Sapienza is hosting a crowdfunding project to film this live-action scene and bring it to life for readers! HOW COOL IS THAT?! Check out all the info here!

If their goal isn’t reached, Sam will lose his bet that Ironfall and Rosemary are totally going to be an actual thing in book 2. After shedding a few tears, the money will go toward artwork for book 2.

 

Whimsical is so blessed to have you all! We are soooo grateful for your shares and follows and likes. You are why we do what we do! Thank you again my Whimsies!

Huge hugs,
Micheline Ryckman

P.S. All the links for our databases and requests for Whimsical’s services can be found below!

Submit Your Manuscript to Whimsical Publishing
Request an Endorsement/Blurb Review

Please note that completing a form does not guarantee I will accept your request. This is purely for me to prioritize requests that I feel confident and inspired to complete.

Support Human Artists Database
Indie Author Database

 

Good, better, and something only a little sad.

Published on by Micheline RyckmanLeave a comment

What’s been going on with me at Whimsical:
Writing

Lots of projects are in the works. I’m still plucking away at Toff’s TMS spin-off, Charting Stars 2, and the Sleeping Beauty retelling I’m co-authoring with my lovely friend Bryn Shutt. I love writing, but at the same time, sometimes I wish I could just snap my fingers and have a complete storyin your hand now! Just know there are a lot of fun things in progess.

Illustrating

I’m still dealing with a relapse of my arm injury, so illustrating isn’t happening as much as I’d like right now. I do have some commissions from a while back that I’m able to share now so be on the lookout for those on social media. And attached here is a little sneaky peek, one you won’t see on social media, it’s a detail of a work-in-progress fan art that I was painting of Harper and Rhen from Brigid Kemmerer’s ACSDAL before my arm relapsed. I look forward to finishing it once I’m finally better!

Publishing

Just a few more days until the release of WE COULD BE VILLAINS! I’m so excited for this book to be out in the world. It’s such a fun adventure. In addition to that, we’re also hard at work behind the scenes with Hayley Reese Chow’s Sci-fi action romance that I’m just bursting to share more details about soon!

This is a small up close detail of a fan art that I can’t wait to finish once I’m healed again of Brigid Kemmerer’s Rhen and Harper from ACSDAL. Hope you find this sneak peek fun!

 

WE COULD BE VILLAINS
kindle sale!

We Could Be Villains by Megan McCullough in ONE WEEK! Are you as excited as I am?! To celebrate, the Kindle version is on sale for only 99 cents on Amazon! But hurry, this deal is only valid until the book releases on October 3rd.

And don’t forget you can still pre-order a paperback copy from my website, which is the only way to get the pre-order goodies, including a signed bookplate designed by Megan herself!

We Could Be Villains
Read-a-Long

To celebrate the launch of Megan’s WCBV, @literaryfaery will be hosting a read-a-long on Instagram beginning on October 7th. Be sure to watch her Instagram for details coming very soon. There will be weekly check-ins and there might even be prizes involved. 😉

I will be going LIVE with Megan Mccullough on Instagram on October 1, 2022 at 5pm PST. We’ll be chatting about writing, publishing, and all things
We Could be Villains!
I hope you’ll join us!

Discontinuing merch is still on sale!

As a reminder, I’m no longer going to be stocking headbands, totes, or mugs in the shop, so whatever’s still there is all there is! If you’ve been eying something, you better hurry over and grab it now!

Stock of these items is ALMOST GONE. At the time of this newsletter, there are only (3) Maiden Ship Compass tote bags, (3) Scarlett headbands, (5) Maiden Ship compass headbands, and (2) Charting Stars mugs!

These products are 50% OFF the lowest listed price. Use code CLEAROUT at checkout.

Charting Stars Rebrand will be delayed

This is the “little sad” part. We’re still planning to re-launch Charting Stars with an exciting new cover, but plans have been slightly altered and it’s a better fit to re-release it later. We will keep the Street Team sign-ups open, however, so if it’s something you are interested in, please complete this Google Forms questionnaire. All street team members will receive a Kindle edition of the book for free!