FROM THE CREATORS: How to Support Us Since Patreon Is a Garbage Fire

As some of you may have noticed if you follow either of our personal Twitters or exist online at all, Patreon has made some rather unfortunate decisions concerning how to charge, how to present that info to the public, and what to say to the public in general. If you've not been following along, the short version is that processing fees are now taken not out of each creator's monthly take, but rather added to each patron's fee on top of their pledge. This is bad news for people who are already scraping to give (especially those giving a dollar here and there to many creators), and even worse news for creators whose big money comes from those single-digit pledges.

The good news for us is that Patreon was never our primary (or even secondary) source of income, so cutting free took basically no thinking.

It's also giving us each a chance to explore alternate ways to let fans support us. And since Ko-fi has worked well as a way to gather payment for ebooks, we're each giving it a try!

Things are still warming up, but we're consulting each other on how to make it roll. Obviously you can drop us the price of a coffee (or tea) anytime, but we'll also be coming up with "gift baskets" of monthly goodies that you get just for dropping some cash. And since they'll change out on a regular basis, there's always a reason to come back!

Ginger's Ko-fi currently offers artwork for anyone who gives over $12 at a go. In the near future she'll also be offering digital art goodies.

Kara's Ko-fi is available to donate to, but it'll still be a bit before anything kicks off. (She has to finish setting up!) The price of a tea will eventually get you a month gift pack of original fiction, essays on the psychology of TV shows and video games, and a few more surprises.

Oh, and whenever there's a big Owl's Flower event coming, like a book or a con appearance, you might want to keep an eye on both our Ko-fi pages -- as giving to both of us during that time might earn you something extra cool!

Thanks for all your continued support!

CREATOR UPDATE: The End of NaNoWriMo and Some New Goodies!

Hello all!

Kara has emerged from the well of NaNoWriMo (successful for a second year, woo!), and both of us are hard at work on new stuff for (Re)Generation Who. What stuff? New merch, new panels... oh, and there's a guest announcement at 10 am Eastern today. Head over if the time is right and see who's joining us!

Kara's NaNo book from this year, The Widow Box, may or may not see the light of day as is. She's got a few plans for translating it into a different format. Stay tuned, as it may interest Owl's Flower fans who like our spookier output. For now, you can hit up her personal blog and see what she got up to this month.

And in case you missed it on our social media, Ginger's put out two sweet glow-in-the-dark tees. One is perfect for Whovians, and the other is just perfect for nuts like us who really love space. These are available now on her Etsy, along with a variety of coffee (or tea) mugs for the geeky amongst you.

Have a fabulous start of December!

CREATOR UPDATE: Children in Need and Whovian Goodies!

If your ear is even remotely to the ground, you've probably caught wind of the fact that it's Children in Need day in the UK! The annual charity telethon teams up BBC shows and organizations around England to raise money for the country's underprivileged children. There's almost always a Doctor Who tie, since the show and the series's anniversary fall so close together -- so you know we're there.

This year, Chinbeard Books is getting in on the action with Whoblique Strategies, a collection of more than 275 flash-fiction pieces by 70 authors. Inspired by the history of the show and Brian Eno's "Oblique Strategies" card set, the book is a unique look back through every story in the Classic and New series. Kara is featured with Oblique retellings of The Rescue, Frontier in Space, Timelash, and The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived.

Orders open on November 23 -- find out more now!

And speaking of Whovian history -- Ginger has some sweet swag in her store! Shirts (cast and crew approved!), keychains, prints, and more. With the series anniversary coming up, you will want to be able to put Who-y things on your body/home/vehicle/aura/etc. Visit Ginger's Etsy store to load up on Who-inspired creations and support indie artists!

CREATOR UPDATE: NaNoWriMo and New Products

Hello again, everyone! It's a busy time for us at Owl's Flower Central (which is two separate buildings separated by half a country, but whatever). And by "busy," we mean "we've both been sick and then fell behind on deadlines and also Kara decided NaNoWriMo was a good idea with two books that need to be finished by the end of the year."

But we digress.

We're looking forward to rolling out some super-cool news in the coming months concerning the release of the third book, our work at (Re)Generation Who, and other such neatness. Right now, a lot of things are in a holding pattern for both of us as we wait for responses from various places. But if all goes well, we'll have cool things to tell you soon!

For now...

Ginger is working away on some neat new stuff for her Etsy, thanks to customer feedback. When it's ready, we'll show you some pictures. It's still in the planning stages right now, but it sounds like it's going to be adorable!

Also, as mentioned above, Kara is doing NaNoWriMo! This is her second year, and after a win the first year... well, we'll see whether or not the cold and follow-up eye infections have ruined everything or if she's still in the running. If you want to friend her or follow her progress, slam her NaNo writer page! And, you know, tell her to get a move on.

Finally, best of luck to Discover Teas as they go into their new form as an online and pop-up distributor! Attendees of our book launch at Intervention will remember that we had a hot tea and a fizzy iced -- both were custom blends created just for us by the Discover Teas staff. Check them out to get something to warm up your November nights!

It's almost Halloween -- have you tried GHOST FALL?

Pardon us for, you know, talking up our own books on our book website -- but really, have you read Ghost Fall yet? Because it's almost Halloween and, well, it's a Halloween book.

While the series-titled first book will always stay free, we do ask for at least a small donation in order to download the second book. But we like to think it packs a punch, especially at this time of year. What can readers expect from Ghost Fall?

A Ghost Story. And it's super spooky. What happens when a demigod is scared out of his own home? And what's scary enough to do that?

Owls in hats. See above. Also super spooky.

Stormy as a zombie barista. Yeah, that's a late-book spoiler, but it's not going to wreck the plot at all. She makes an awesome zombie barista.

The arrival of a new deity. Of course Herne isn't the only non-human you'll see. Not by a long shot. This is just the first of a growing pantheon. But you'll have to read and discover who it is.

Coffee and cookies. Naturally.

For all of the above and more, including tons of full-color art, grab Ghost Fall now, either digital or in print.

CREATOR UPDATE: Inktober and Over the Rainbow!

If you're not already following Ginger for Inktober, you definitely might want to. She's turning out lots of adorable pics this year, especially of interest to Doctor Who fans! You can find her on Twitter as @Kataoi, or on Instagram as @randomthunk.

Meanwhile, the Audio Verse Awards are coming, and Kara's a semifinalist in two categories for her work in The Chronicles of Oz! Voting is open to the public until October 30th at 11:59 PM. So if you want to help, why not throw her some votes? While you're there, consider tossing some votes in for the other Chronicles of Oz nominees, and maybe a few for Strangeness in Space, Sophie Aldred's new comedy podcast!

And if you'd like to listen before you vote (understandable), all six episodes are on YouTube.

Thanks as always for your continued support -- and if you haven't picked up Ghost Fall yet, be sure to grab it soon! It's not going anywhere, but it's kind of a Halloween book so it'll totally set the mood.

Have You Met Old Father Thames?

Kara has.

This Poseidon-y statue stands at the top of a hotel overlooking Trinity Square, which contains a series of monuments honoring British soldiers who were lost at sea in both Great Wars. And if you go down into a little alcove, there are even more plaques, flanked by decidedly aquatic-looking deities.

"Old Father Thames" is a long-running figure in England, a genius loci (spirit of a place) -- same as Herne! Except, well -- the Thames is very real (unlike William's Grove), and Father Thames's legend exists in statues and poetry and a series of books by Ben Aaronovich. He even showed up in political cartoons addressing the heavy pollution of the river in centuries past.

But like (and before) Herne, Father Thames sees to have received his share of offerings. If you go to the British Museum, you can see shields, ornaments, and more thrown into the river, supposedly in offering to the spirit. Slightly higher caliber than our resident demigod... then again, Father Thames is big news.

If you're ever in London and want to see him for yourself, all you have to do is take the underground to the Tower Hill tube station, exit toward the Tower of London, and turn right. Go through the gate into Trinity Square, and you'll catch sight of the statue in his alcove over the hotel.

Of course, this begs the question: will he be showing up in the future of Owl's Flower? We can't confirm or deny anything... but he certainly left an impression on Kara during her trip.