Behold Her Dreams: Merch from Amy Vorpahl

The Vorpahl Press Appearance Roundup!
over 2 years ago – Sat, Sep 11, 2021 at 11:06:34 AM

Most of you have been following along this wonderful Kickstarter journey with me since Day 1 last Tuesday... because you all funded (technically *over*-funded) my album that first day! So first of all, thank you! Second of all, I don't know how you all found out about me, but I've been appearing on several podcasts and streams with the hosts' blessings to tell as many audiences as possible about my album. I truly have the best friends! Anyway, I wanted to give you a list of all of my recent guest appearances (so far) where you can learn more about me, in order of recording.

There are 14, so hold onto your butts! Also, you better believe I'm "save draft"-ing the whole way through this.

*AP = Apple Podcasts, YT = YouTube, others are specified

1. Dads and Dragons Podcast (AP): We discuss all things D&D!

2. Dragon Talk, the official D&D Podcast (YT): We discuss about my contributions to "Candlekeep Mysteries," "Fizban's Treasury of Dragons," and "D&D Live."

3. Matthew Colville's Games You Might Like (YT): Matt let me spout off about a TTRPG besides D&D that I believe in. I chose Asunder!

4. Stream of Blood: Magi of Pittsburgh (YT): A 2-part RPG series in which we cavort around Pittsburgh as modern-day mages.

5. Question Box (AP): We get into some story-telling inspired by shockingly personal questions. NSFW, Rated R.

6. Roleplayer with a Thousand Faces (YT): Almost 2 hours of deep discussions around role-playing.

7. The Naked Truth Podcast with Trisha Hershberger (AP): We talk about Winning and the best way to recognize outstanding achievements!

8. Why Do You Know That Podcast (AP): We discuss self-development during COVID-19 and why I know so much about it (hint: I hired a life coach).

9. Fan Funded with Laser (AP): Laser is my kickstarter coach who has been helping me through this entire crowdfunding process, so this is a great window into how I was feeling mere days before the launch (well before I even thought having a successful campaign was possible)!

10. My Favorite Friendship (AP): We discuss all the nuances of making friends through playing D&D!

11. Three Black Halflings (AP): We get really in touch with our inner theatre-kid and discuss everything about D&D, including one fateful game in which my character died!

12. The Guild Plays D&D (Twitch): I DM this fantastic group of people through the silliest version of the "Candlekeep Mysteries" adventure I wrote, "Kandlekeep Dekonstruktion." This will be up on YouTube soon, so keep an eye out!

13. D&D Beyond Show with Amy Dallen (YT): We two Amy's build a level 10 Wizard using D&D Beyond's easy interface. It's basically shopping for spells and so much fun!

14. FMK Champions Comedy Competition (YT): We play this classic party game with a twist! Yes, there's a winner, and yes, it's me!

That about wraps it up! Hopefully, this list will introduce you to at least one new program or host to fall in love with. Let me know if I've turned you on to your new favorite show!

Because I haven't quite gotten used to promoting only myself... here are some other Kickstarter projects that you might enjoy! There, that feels better.

Edible Gummy Minis for Tabletop Games

Made by @CrawlspacesC on Twitter, these little candies can be eaten... after you reduce them to zero hit points!

Wondrous Items for 5e: Dungeon Scribe

Multiple Card Decks of printed unique magical items to enhance your 5e games.

Tanares RPG - 5e

RPG Adventure + Supplement for 5th Edition, with Ed Greenwood, Amy Vorpahl, and more!

And finally, my friend Sara Mullins has done some amazing art of the album art! Give her a follow on the ol' Instagram if you're feeling click-y!

How Writing for Wizards of the Coast Made Me A Wizard!
over 2 years ago – Fri, Sep 10, 2021 at 11:15:43 AM

In January of 2020, I got the most surreal email, asking if I'd be interested in writing an adventure for Wizards of the Coast (official D&D) to be included in their new adventure anthology, "Candlekeep Mysteries." At first, I was sure they had the wrong email address, but when I asked, they assured me that they weren't pranking me. Of course I said yes as this was such a huge dream come true. Actually, it wasn't a dream because it had never entered my brain as even a possibility. There were a lot of emotions that day!

I sent my adventure pitch along to Chris Perkins, the project lead, and he replied with this copy/pasted quote: "Your pitch is delightful." I was off to the races writing 8,000 words as a finite limit to encompass my fairly grandiose idea. I learned so much through the process, and my second draft was very close to a page one rewrite. I was trying to write an *story* the way I expected folks to play it; when in reality, the job was to write an *adventure* for a Dungeon Master (other than me) to interpret and play for their own group. The adventure was meant to be a love letter to a Dungeon Master, telling them all the mysteries, reveals, and "what's going on" right up front, building a playground for their players to mess with. As Chris Perkins told me, you can't write a story without the main characters. In D&D, the main characters are the player's characters. I had to shift my mind from beginning-middle-end to more of an IKEA instruction manual... including just as many funny names!

All told, the experience was awesome, and even though I was told that my adventure could get cut from the project at any time, my little "Kandlekeep Dekonstruktion" was included in an official hardbound D&D book. Unreal. But the saga doesn't end there. This all relates to the album, I promise.

In January 2021, I was approached again to provide funny/quirky blurbs as a voice for a beloved wizard in the D&D universe, Fizban, in his new eponymous hardback book. I was handpicked basically because my previous adventure was the silliest adventure in the book, and they knew at this point that I lean towards comedy. It was such an honor, and I immediately accepted! This marked my second project with Wizard of the Coast, and it was this email that made me think, wow, if WOTC wants to include my work, what if I actually have an audience who is paying attention to *me*--not just paying attention to the streams and shows and companies I've been a part of. It was the Fizban project that jump-started my journey to crowdfunding my album... my journey to *right now*. 

When "Candlekeep Mysteries" and its writers were announced (Jan 2021), I felt so validated and appreciated by friends, colleagues in the industry, and fans alike (yes, there is a ton of crossover there). It was lovely! It felt like Christmas! But I wished I had a place to direct people for where they could find more of my creativity. My work has been so vast across the internet. You could really get lost in a rabbit hole looking for all the stuff I've done. But I didn't have something that was truly *mine*, and I wanted that. 

So that turned into looking for help from my friend and the person who knows the most about self-producing and crowdfunding their art: Laser Malena-Webber. I immediately signed up to take their class, Laser Campaigns. I didn't even know what art I wanted to make for a couple of months. I started a Tik-Tok, I dabbled a little in writing my own adventures or launching some D&D-related business. But what they finally helped me realize is that I could make whatever I wanted, whatever I was passionate about--not what I was *supposed* to make. Turns out, as much as I liked sketch comedy, wigs, and D&D, what I really wanted to make was fun music! I had already made an album before, "Songs in the Key of D&D," so I knew what was involved and how much fun it was! I wouldn't call it easy, but I wouldn't call it difficult, either. I would call making an album a lot of work, but 'light' work! Plus, I had my producer, Maxi Morales, on my side... more on him and his talents in a later update (he truly is the most talented person I know, and I don't give that superlative out lightly).

I knew I wanted the launch to be spectacular, and I also wanted to envision myself as the female version of Fizban, who is a silly, doddering wizard on the outside; but on the inside, he is extremely wise and powerful and pretty much knows everything about everything. Big shoes to fill. But that's where the gown and photo shoot inspiration came from. You can see the similarities in the picture above (especially in our facial hair *wink*).

Thanks to big companies like WOTC believing in me, I have spent the last nine months working to launch this album and simultaneously believing in myself. And now here we are. My album is 140% funded, and I feel more like a wizard than ever. If that's not magic, I don't know what is.

Ukulele's Are Magic!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Sep 07, 2021 at 09:14:20 PM

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone! I'm celebrating by hanging out with my family, doing puzzles, reading books (like this female wizard right here), and playing the ukulele!

You may or may not know that I first began writing songs with a ukulele, and it's still the only instrument I use to write songs! I grew up playing the piano and taking voice lessons, so I can read music a little and I understand some basics of music theory; but Ukulele's are just so simple and fun. There's such a low barrier of entry to playing the four plastic strings that once I had this tool, I never looked back.

My entire album will be *written* with a ukulele, but I can almost promise that a ukulele won't actually be heard on the album. Maxi is able to take my rinky-dink happy uke strumming and turn it into a song with an actual genre! Still, I don't think I'd ever change my process. Writing and being creative can be difficult, as each time, there's a bit of mind-space taken up with how bad *this* song is going to be. But with a ukulele, the stakes are somehow lowered, and there's a promise that even if the song I'm writing isn't *superb*, it will still always be very fun to play. Ukuleles have this very joyful, playful sound, as if they're just happy to be in your hands. I know that I need to be in a positive state of mind when I'm being creative, so these little instruments provide the least amount of friction when I'm writing songs. 

They're the best doors for my creativity, and they make great zoom backgrounds when you mount them on the wall! They're also small and easy to travel with, which at the moment isn't necessary for me, because I have one at every home I frequent, including my parents' house, where I am right now! That's made possible by another reason these instruments are fantastic: you can get a good one at a very low cost, especially relative to other instruments! I'm such a fan of ukuleles, and I recommend them for anyone who loves music, has a low tolerance for patience, and wants to get started learning how to play their favorite song *now*! 

What 'Being My Own Boss' Means and An Unbelievable First Week!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Sep 06, 2021 at 09:09:53 AM

 Thank you all so much for an unbelievable first week, not to mention a truly incomprehensible first *day*! I am beyond excited to be able to make the album of my dreams with a *full 11 tracks* and a *birthday cake* to boot! My little baby album's all grown up and turning 11! My main emotion all week has been gratitude. I feel so supported and loved and confident and so joyful.
   I also wanted to tell you what leveling up to Boss Mode means to me. It's the whole reason I started this album-making journey in the first place. Yes, I wanted to deliver an incredible high-quality collection of songs that I believe in, but I also wanted to embody the titles of Director, President, and *Boss* of this project. I know I can point to many projects that I've completed that are arguably mine, and in that way, maybe I've always been a boss. But this is the first time I've made all of the decisions, both creatively and financially; *and* it is now also, without any hyperbole, the first time I'm not funding my own project out of my own pocket.
    There is an entire team of people that have worked with me to make this happen--I don't want you to think I did all of this on my own. But I was always the leader of this album, without question. I chose the artists, I paid the artists myself, I pulled the trigger for every progressional step along the way, and it was me who physically clicked the 'Launch' button on Day One of this campaign.
    I've been happy to be a team member, an employee, a co-leader, and several other titles for different mediums, but sometime during 2020, I asked myself if I could actually be a creative entrepreneur. My definition for creative entrepreneur (for myself) is: Someone who makes the art and decisions they want to make while also netting a non-negative income from said art and decisions. In layman's terms, I'm not losing money on my art; rather, my art is making money, which means my art is a business.
  Folks, because of you, I am for the first time in my life a creative entrepreneur. 

Boss Mode aggressively unlocked! Wow!

My Album Now Has Its Very Own Birthday Cake!
over 2 years ago – Sun, Sep 05, 2021 at 01:56:26 PM

As if this week couldn't get any better after an amazing day where all of my *beheld* dreams came true! Yesterday, you all helped me reach my first stretch goal of gifting "Behold Her Dreams" a decorated cake based on the album art from @buttercream.bokeh. Thank you so much for making that happen!

It excites me because it means I am absolutely in Boss Mode--I am able to collaborate with other artists and to pay them for their contributions. I already have had a conversation with Amanda about her initial concept, and it involves mossy swampy magical forest... with sparkles! Which is basically what the whole gown and photoshoot were all about. She's nailing it!

Speaking of the album art, I'm not sure if any of you know this, but "Behold Her Dreams" actually has a photo set of 10 equally high-quality images from Chris Koeppen (@anetherealfire) that I will be releasing over the course of this 23-day campaign. You've only seen one picture so far, and let me tell you, you ain't seen nothin' yet! 

I've done IG Live interviews about the album art with Chris Koeppen (here) and one with Chad Hatter (@chadhatter), the gown-maker, (here) both on my instagram if you'd like to spend time with these lovely gentlemen. I will share more about the gown and photo shoot processes in later updates so stay tuned!

After such a huge day on Tuesday, I was able to relax a little more yesterday. I was able to take a nap, go to the gym for one of my favorite ways to exercise (running on a treadmill while playing Hearthstone on an iPad), and watch a movie last night. Luxury!

I also talked with Maxi, my album producer, and we were both like, "Welp! I guess we have to make this album now!" To be clear, I very much want to make this album. I just had an 'expect the worst, hope for the best' mentality going into this launch. So the way I was trying to wrestle with not making my goal (expecting the worst) was, "Well, if I don't make my goal, that means I don't have to do all of this creative work!" which now makes me sad to write that out. 

Silly Past Amy. Don't you know you have so many friends who support the heck out of you?

Well, at least Present Amy knows that now!

Anyway, I can start album-making now! I'm actually recording vocals for a couple of the songs today, and you can check in on that process with me in my IG stories. 

Don't forget to say hi! I'm reading everything and doing my best to respond to everyone.