We're Busy!

Why have things been silent on this side? Well, mainly because Kara is finishing writing three books and Ginger is assembling a zine. But also, we're looking at making a few changes to how we do things over here!

Don't worry, they aren't changes you'll dislike or that will alter your experience significantly. But they'll make things easier for us, which is better all around.

Ginger is currently in the process of moving her own things — her personal shop and her zine production — over to a self-contained server with a self-run shop interface. If you've been following the news on various online storefronts and creator fundraisers, you'll have seen over the past year or so that things... change more often than is fun or feasible. And that's not great for a couple of randos trying to get their stories and art out into the world, because we never know what will change and when we won't be able to do anything about it.

Stuff on Ginger's side is test-only at this point. You'll likely be seeing it come into play when Moon Man, her upcoming zine, goes on sale. If that goes well, and if it goes well for our shop, that means we'll probably transfer Owl's Flower book and merch sales over to a similar system.

So what does that mean for you?

You may or may not have to change bookmarks. If you just trot over to owlsflower.com, nothing will change. That's the beauty of dot-coms: you can point them wherever you need to. But if you've got us bookmarked on Blogspot, keep an eye out because that will likely be shifting before long.

Ebooks will still be pay-what-you-want. That's the plan. One of the reasons we went with Ko-fi for sales was because PayPal no longer offered a pay-what-you-want option (i.e. a donation box) unless you were a registered charity with all sorts of paperwork. Originally we'd considered going to Ko-fi Gold, making pricing even more flexible and allowing us to easily categorize multiple books for sale. But with everything self-contained, it'll be easier still, both for you and for us.

We'll be happier. And less time spent mucking around with the business end means more time spent making cool things for you guys.

We don't know yet when these changes will go into effect, but we'll be sure to let everyone know as necessary. In the meantime, thanks as always for your continued support!

Coming Soon: A New Owl's Flower Short Story

Want more Owl's Flower and can't wait for Book 3? There's a short story coming to help you pass the time!

Altrix Books, co-owned by Paul Driscoll and our own Kara Dennison, will be releasing a charity anthology this spring titled Unearthed. The book will feature 12 new stories of sarcophagi, tombs, and locked boxes, and what's inside. Stories range from Norse mythology to American history and everywhere in between.

Kara is heading up the anthology, and Ginger will be supplying the cover art. In addition, we'll have a new story from the Owl's Flower universe, titled "Kill the Cat," in the book itself.

Readers of the anthology Relics will know this isn't the first Owl's Flower short piece outside the main books. However, this one will be slightly different. How so?

A new character from the main books will be introduced.

There are plenty of characters — human and otherwise — who have yet to make their debut in Owl's Flower. One will be appearing in the fourth book, but will technically make their debut in this story! Who is it? We'll be interested to see if you can guess!

Another character will be making a cameo.

Readers of "Clarity" remember that Herne and Iris did appear at the end, though Iris notably got more screen time. The pair are nowhere to be seen in "Kill the Cat," though; they have a coffee shop to run! But another character (and one who's fairly popular, it seems) will be making a brief appearance.

You'll learn another way deities are born.

In "Clarity," we talked about how the need for deities can sometimes just make them appear. But in "Kill the Cat," we'll be looking at another place they can come from. The new character won't be the last time you'll see this type of origin story, either, so be sure to take notes!

At present, art is being finalized, with new illustrations being created by Monica Marier, Sophie Iles, and (in the case of this one story), Ginger. Proceeds from the anthology will go to ARCE, which helps train archaeologists and house them abroad. Keep an eye out for more info in the coming weeks!