Kicking off the new year, I’m going back to the physical world with the topic of rivers and how societies use them.

I’ll also note that Patreon backers have a chance this month to vote on how these posts will be organized into ebooks. So if you would like to register an opinion on that, sign up as a patron and let me know what you think — with some extra perks in the process!

The most recent New Worlds Patreon post is a bonus one, focusing more on the concepts in worldbuilding rather than the content — in this case, liminality, as we approach the liminal moment of turning from one year to the next.

And since I think I forgot to link to last week’s post, go back and read about residence patterns if you missed it before!

The most recent Patreon post is “Third Cousin Twice Removed”, about kinship terminology and which categories we differentiate or don’t.

For those who haven’t heard, Patreon is planning to institute some changes in how they handle the processing fees for pledges. Unfortunately, their plan for doing this involves charging the fees to patrons — which is especially bad for people who have made a lot of small pledges, since (for example) each $1 pledge will actually cost $1.38. Patreon creators are pretty united in saying this is a bad idea, since it’s already causing people to reduce their pledges or cancel them entirely; if you want to speak out against it, there’s a petition you can sign, or you can send a comment to Patreon directly via Zendesk (note that you’ll need to register at the end of the process for your message to go through). I encourage you to do this; the messages I’ve gotten from Patreon indicate that public pressure may already be having an effect, so let’s keep it up.

The last November post for the New Worlds Patreon covers dining customs! How do you eat? When? Where? And with whom? All interesting questions to consider . . .

Since we’re just a few days away from Halloween, it seemed like the ideal time for the New Worlds Patreon to discuss the afterlife: ghosts, reincarnation, Heaven and Hell, all that good stuff. Comment over there! And consider supporting the Patreon — you get photos, access to bonus essays, and more!

October’s theme continues with a discussion of mourning customs. Remember, if you become a Patreon backer, you get a photo every week — and at higher levels, the opportunity to request topics or read behind-the-scenes essays!

For the New Worlds Patreon, I’ve decided to pursue a somewhat morbid theme for October, with a series of posts that talk about how various societies deal with death, grieving, and so forth. The first of those is on funerary customs — comment over there!

Since there are five Fridays this month and the New Worlds Patreon has reached the relevant funding goal, I’ve posted a bonus worldbuilding essay to Book View Cafe, on the topic of bricolage. Comment over there!

One of my funding goals for the New Worlds Patreon was bonus essays. I promised four posts each month, on Fridays — but some months have five Fridays. Since we’ve reached that funding goal (did it right out of the gate, in fact), our first bonus is “Worldbuilding as a Habit of Thought,” discussing how to incorporate the kinds of details I’ve been discussing without having to go through a laundry list of topics every time you sit down to write. Comment over there!

And don’t forget: if you become a patron, you get weekly photos, plus perks like the ability to request topics, the chance to get personalized answers on worldbuilding questions, and even critiques of your work. Plus we’re not far from the next funding goal, which will bring book reviews into the mix!