I was asked in 2020 if I could add a new tier, one that has no rewards attached, to help me deal with the 2020 crises. I've been handling crises since September 2019. Some are public (bushfire and virus) and some are private. Friends chipped in to get me evacuated for the bushfires and I've already had to draw on the savings for fixing my flat to deal with the rest. Drawing on these savings is not at all what it sounds. Those savings were for something important:  the kitchen and bathroom and laundry are going to need major changes as my physical capacity and eyesight deteriorate.

This made me realise that my friend is not only generous but has seen something I had not. I will be in real trouble in the future if I lose my capacity to adjust my living space to my disabilities. In other words, I need enough money coming in to get through COVID-19 and its side effects without losing the capacity to handle the next few years.

This tier was originally to be taken down at the end of 2020, but now it will remain as long as the pandemic limits choices so severely. it's marked as $3 only because Patreon demands a dollar amount to create a  tier.

If you're already a Patron and you want to help, you can make your donation (in your regular tier) higher for the duration or you can add a donation here and delete it when you're ready. It can be for any amount ($3 or above, because of the way Patreon works) that suits you.

Thank you for helping me with the very extended set of crises. I hope that we all navigate safely through these very rough waters.

My current fiction by email (of course) plus a new essay once a month and a reprint of a hard-to-find essay once a month. These can cover anything from food history to writing gendershifting aliens.

All the wonderful writing available to the lower tiers, plus the opportunity to choose which topic the next new essay will be on. Once a month I will proffer a selection of subjects and anyone eligible for this reward gets to vote. If you're the only one voting, then the choice is yours every single month.

This one is for writers. All the wonderful writing available to the lower tiers, plus, once a month by email, one of my teaching aides for writers. Some of these aides will come from my current teaching, but some will be drawn from my research and patrons will be the first to see them.

The writing, of course, and the chance to vote on subjects, plus two questions of me (at a time that suits you) a month.

Until the new novel is finished, you get a monthly update on its progress and the interesting experiences of writing it. When my pain matches the novel's pain...

When the novel is in draft form, you get to look at chapters and to talk about them and to influence my edits. You also get acknowledged when the novel is published.

For your New Year present, you may choose one of my e-photographs. Everything from the Middle Ages to haunted eucalypts at your disposal. 

As well as all the wonders of the lower tiers, you get to name a character in the new novel.  From your naming I will develop their cultural background and their personal background – your naming will not be a random imposition. I'll do a sheet for you that gives some of their background, so that you you will know more about your character than any other reader.

When it's all done, you also receive an e-copy, the moment a publisher publishes one. Given this might take a while, you may choose one of my e-photographs instead. Everything from the Middle Ages to haunted eucalypts at your disposal.