About Unfound Adventures
Building worlds that help kids find themselves
Through imagination, storytelling, and shared adventures, we help children discover who they are—and who they can become.
Unfound Adventures started with a simple question: What if we knew our destiny from birth? Of course, Dillon didn’t want to make it too easy for people. He imagined a world where everyone was born with an animal companion (Callings) that would guide them…if they paid attention. The first short stories were created while he lived in Kenya from 2013-2015.
Matt fell in love with the idea of animal companions. They both imagined their own and began to do life with them at their sides. With each other and their Callings, they began crafting comics, short stories, and novels in the world of Bastunia in 2020.
The mission quickly extended to kids and parents, using Callings as a way to help them tap into their imaginations and nurture creativity. Now they are committed to telling a thousand stories in the fantastic world of Bastunia, by celebrating young imaginations and bringing their creations to life!
Hey! We're Matt & Dillon
About Unfound
“My students still talk about creating more characters for stories and wanting to be authors themselves!"
lauren vani, 4th grade teacher
How it all started
Stories don’t come from nowhere. They’re shaped by the lives, places, and questions behind them. This world began there.
The storytellers behind the Unfound
Dillon
Matthew
Dillon's professional roots are in sales and consulting, where his lifelong love of fiction—especially anime—and myth deepened while consulting overseas in Africa and Southeast Asia.
There, he learned local folklore and began shaping the early story and lore of Bastunia and the Unfound cosmos. Today, he combines his love of mythology and frameworks to help kids and adults alike find themselves through a fantasy world.
Matt Emmorey is a three time best-selling author of both fiction and non-fiction titles. He resides in Austin, Texas with his wife and son. When he is not writing stories in the world of Bastunia, he is planting trees and cultivating biodiversity around his family’s botanical ranch.
Our mission is to spark creativity, reduce screen dependence, and bring families together through meaningful, shared adventures
Our Mission
Our Core Values
1. be golden
At Unfound Adventures, we believe in the Golden Theme of Storytelling: Humans writing about human experiences to connect with other humans. We want to tell stories that resonate with a lot of people, and we want to encourage others to tell their stories in order to reach and connect with the rest. Storytelling has the power to bring us together in a world that tries to separate/divide us.
2. believe in a future worth creating
We want to reach people that dream of a better future, for both themselves and their loved ones. Even when it’s hard to see beyond the challenges in our lives, the answer always lies in our imaginations. First we must make something in our minds that doesn’t exist yet. We believe that imagining a future worth believing in is the most important thing in order to impact meaningful change.
3. no bad ideas
There are no bad ideas. Everyone has to start somewhere, even if we feel that it is with something that is either 1) BAD or 2) DONE BEFORE. Even if your initial idea isn’t right, the act of putting it out there gives you a point of reference on what must change. All ideas have a shared origin somewhere in our history. Lean into concepts that have been given before, then make them uniquely yours along the way.
4. curiosity over comfort
Staying rigid in your views and beliefs allows little room for growth or true self awareness. Allow yourself the gift of curiosity to see what else is out there in this world—whether that be a new author, a new genre, a new medium, or a new experience. Maybe it changes you, maybe it doesn’t. Regardless, it allows you to learn more about who you truly are.
5. courage to fail
While it dwindles from time to time, Courage is a flame that never dies. Importantly, it has the ability to light the road forward for others. We want to create something REAL while we are here, and the journey is going to be full of wrong turns, mess ups, and mistakes. We have the courage to go forward because we know it’s worth it and we want to be pillars for others to start their own journeys. Especially when they lead to places you didn’t intend.
Before there's a book, there's a world taking shape. Extracting imagination so it can take the shape of a physical form doesn't happen over night. Characters, places, and moments are developed together—through writing, illustration, and iteration—until the story feels alive on the page.
The creative Process
From imagination to the page
Step 1
Story Conception
Whether it’s for Joan’s series, children’s books, or novels, the goal is always the same: finding the concept that truly fits what the project is trying to become. Through conversation, sketches, and early brainstorming, we refine the idea until the story has a clear direction and a strong foundation to build from.
Every story begins with a spark of an idea. Here, we shape the core concept—exploring themes, characters, and the world the story will live in.
Step 2
Lore Check
Every story must fit naturally within the paths and masteries of Callings. Whether the characters are exploring, building, questioning, or protecting, we review how their journey aligns with the lore so the story feels like a part of Bastunia.
Here, we make sure the works in Bastunia by checking how the story connects with the world’s lore, its creatures, and the deeper ideas that shape it.
Step 3
Story & Writing
Dillon leads the direction of the story by shaping the narrative, structure, and overall journey. Matt develops the written prose that brings those ideas to life on the page. Working in tandem, they continuously refine the story together so the narrative, voice, and pacing all come together into the strongest final version.
Now the story begins to take shape. This is where characters, moments, and themes are developed into a clear narrative direction.
Step 4
Illustration
Illustrators like Evan or Casey work closely with the story to bring Bastunia to life. Through sketches, composition, and final artwork, they translate the tone and emotion of the story into visuals that help readers step directly into the world the story creates.
This step transforms the narrative into imagery—bringing characters, creatures, and oddities from the story onto the page.
Step 5
Book Construction
Layout, formatting, cover design, and the front and back matter are all carefully constructed so the story flows beautifully on the page. From typography to printing options, every detail is refined to create a final book that feels complete, polished, and ready to be shared.
The book is ready to be shaped. This step turns the creative work into a finished product ready for readers.
Casey Kinsey
Over the last 3 years, the illustrating team has been bringing kids' imaginations to life in the world of bastunia!
Casey Kinsey is an illustrator specializing in character and creature design, table top game art, and children’s books.
Casey is also our principal game designer, so watch out for games taking place in Bastunia and beyond!
When he’s not drawing, writing, or designing, he likes to read, build LEGO, solve puzzle cubes, play table top games with his friends, and make memories with his beautiful family.
bringing words to life
Evan is an experienced product designer and front end developer, originally trained and tested as an illustrator who grew into animation and motion graphics. Every project he takes on is a passion project!
Evan believes everyone can be an artist. They just have to learn, practice, and discover what their work means to them.
Meet our illustrators
Evan Winston
