Well, hell.

[Fel]

No, my insurance doesn't cover things like a lightning strike. Where I live home insurance is insanely expensive, so I have the barest of bare bones for a policy.

[J-Man5]

Yep, I'm screwed. The washer is dead.

There goes my writing laptop. Washers aren't cheap. Even the most generic barebones models cost upwards of $600. And that's my laptop budget.

Excuse me while I go assemble a guillotine.

Check with AppliancePartsPros or RepairClinic I’ve fixed the washing machine multiple times over the last 20 years…
Cheaper than a new one.

J-Man5

[thejank]

Fel, I know you're not into donations or getting paid to write, but is there anything we can do to help? I'd happily donate something to help during this time. I'm sure some of your other readers might be willing to help out as well. I've been in your situation before, where nothing just seems to go right, and it seems like everything just continues to snowball.

[Fel]

Though I appreciate the gesture and the thoughtfulness, I'm not at a point yet where I would feel comfortable with something like that.

It's a simple thing in my eyes. You ask for help when you NEED it, not when things don't go your way. When my house was robbed and I lost everything, I was very grateful for the help I was given, because I NEEDED it. I was broke and had nothing, at that time I was deeply in debt and couldn't rely on credit to try to rebuild, and the help of the readers really saved my butt.

And besides, I see doing something like that as an abuse of a relationship.

I've had enough people in my life that constantly ask, constantly take, and never give in return. I won't be that way with anyone else.

Ever.

[Fel]

Yep, I'm screwed. The washer is dead.

There goes my writing laptop. Washers aren't cheap. Even the most generic barebones models cost upwards of $600. And that's my laptop budget.

Excuse me while I go assemble a guillotine.

Check with AppliancePartsPros or RepairClinic I’ve fixed the washing machine multiple times over the last 20 years…
Cheaper than a new one.

J-Man5

I'm not sure repairs are going to help it. I think the attempt to repair would cost as much as a new washer, given how much damage was done.

But I will look into it.

[Bester]

Though I appreciate the gesture and the thoughtfulness, I'm not at a point yet where I would feel comfortable with something like that.

It's a simple thing in my eyes. You ask for help when you NEED it, not when things don't go your way. When my house was robbed and I lost everything, I was very grateful for the help I was given, because I NEEDED it. I was broke and had nothing, at that time I was deeply in debt and couldn't rely on credit to try to rebuild, and the help of the readers really saved my butt.

And besides, I see doing something like that as an abuse of a relationship.

I've had enough people in my life that constantly ask, constantly take, and never give in return. I won't be that way with anyone else.

Ever.

Your attitude on this is well known, and to a certain extent appreciated, by your fans. Believe me, I've known people like you're talking about and have been just as annoyed as you by them. With that said, you are not in any danger of being one of those. You do constantly give; I don't think you realize how much your fans appreciate your stories and you, and how much we've felt you've given us over the years. You've effectively donated the equivelent of dozens of books to the community. You have given for years without any expectation of return (and in fact declined accepting anything freely offered many times).

I've given much more for much less than I've gotten from you while walking away very satisfied with the exchange. Please let us help you. If not for the sake of paying you back for all you've given us in the past, then for the selfish reason of helping you to give us more in the future.

[J-Man5]

Yep, I'm screwed. The washer is dead.

There goes my writing laptop. Washers aren't cheap. Even the most generic barebones models cost upwards of $600. And that's my laptop budget.

Excuse me while I go assemble a guillotine.

Check with AppliancePartsPros or RepairClinic I’ve fixed the washing machine multiple times over the last 20 years…
Cheaper than a new one.

J-Man5

I'm not sure repairs are going to help it. I think the attempt to repair would cost as much as a new washer, given how much damage was done.

But I will look into it.

Also there are multiple repair parts sites. Some have wildly different costs and costs for shipping. At this point I’ve basically rebuilt our washer 2x. The wife refuses to get a High Efficiency one or front loading mold growing one. But ours is so old most of it is mechanical including the timer/controller. There are plenty of YouTube videos on most washer brands on how to diagnose its actual problem and the repair parts places I mentioned take parts back if they aren’t the right ones. Some will even help you diagnose the issue too…

[Greymist]

Though I appreciate the gesture and the thoughtfulness, I'm not at a point yet where I would feel comfortable with something like that.

It's a simple thing in my eyes. You ask for help when you NEED it, not when things don't go your way. When my house was robbed and I lost everything, I was very grateful for the help I was given, because I NEEDED it. I was broke and had nothing, at that time I was deeply in debt and couldn't rely on credit to try to rebuild, and the help of the readers really saved my butt.

And besides, I see doing something like that as an abuse of a relationship.

I've had enough people in my life that constantly ask, constantly take, and never give in return. I won't be that way with anyone else.

Ever.

Your attitude on this is well known, and to a certain extent appreciated, by your fans. Believe me, I've known people like you're talking about and have been just as annoyed as you by them. With that said, you are not in any danger of being one of those. You do constantly give; I don't think you realize how much your fans appreciate your stories and you, and how much we've felt you've given us over the years. You've effectively donated the equivelent of dozens of books to the community. You have given for years without any expectation of return (and in fact declined accepting anything freely offered many times).

I've given much more for much less than I've gotten from you while walking away very satisfied with the exchange. Please let us help you. If not for the sake of paying you back for all you've given us in the past, then for the selfish reason of helping you to give us more in the future.

Yep, I completely agree. I spend a reasonable amount of money on books, and the amount of reading material Fel has provided over the years (all of which have had multiple re-reads) definitely deserves payment - which is why I periodically use the paypal link in the forums, which Fel then gives me horrible side eye for

[Fel]

Yes I do.

/Glaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrreeeeeee.

[khyranleander]

Um, maybe this isn't the greatest idea or won't work for you, but what about some place like Rent-A-Center, where you rent appliances until you can afford to buy them? Don't know how worthwhile stuff from that kind of place is, but maybe something to look into?

[Fel]

Rent to own is a scam. You pay 3x the value of the item.

I can manage. I have the money for a washer, I just wanted to use it for a new laptop.

But sometimes you don't get what you want. And you roll with it

[Fel]

Well, seems things aren't as rosy.

The desktop failed to come up today when I woke up.

But it came up after I tried again. That tells me that the either the PS or MB is more damaged than I thought.

I'll have to replace both...and will probably upgrade my video card while I'm at it, just to be safe. But, I can plan for that and do it later, when I have the money. So long as I can get the box to come up, I'll be alright.

Most likely, I'll just stop turning it off and let it use sleep mode, and only shut it down if absolutely necessary.

[Wolfee]

Dear Fel,

I know I have brought this up before…. But I think I have a much more comprehensive plan now that could see you much more comfortable.

First let me just say people enjoy you story telling and that said I do not believe anyone would be upset if you profited a bit by it. Personally I think you could easily double you income. How do you ask?

1) close this site to new readers, or remove all the chapters from this site and proof them, I know a number of us have offered our help.

2) Once you have say the first several books of the Sennadar series proofed, post it chapter by chapter once a week on Royalroad with a note more is available on Patreon.

3) rinse and repeat. Using the huge readership of Royalroad to power and fund your patreon site. Say 5 dollars gets you X and 10 a month gets you X and Y.

4) once you have made some comfortable money on Patreon. Pay for a very nice cover and some to lay the book out in Kindle format. Covers can be several grand, but the kindle format layout is 100. The layout is harder than you think and making sure it works in kindle with a black background as well as the white… well worth the 100, and finally publish on Amazon. With your backlog of work or should be fairly easy to get to 5-10k a month. Who knows maybe you will be able to transition to a full time writer!

Yes, I am sure I glossed over a more than a few things, but the important thing is, it is doable!

[Fel]

Doable, but for me, not desirable.

It's been how many years people have been telling me to monetize my writing, Wolfee?

Take the hint.

[lapland]

Lightning does strange things. Twenty or so years ago, I had lightning come in through the phone line. Blew the chips apart in the computer, took out tv, refrigerator and several other things. But the strangest I didn’t find until winter. It took out one of the four wires running from my thermostat to my furnace. A/C worked fine but heat never came on. Ran a new line across the room until I could bury it in the wall, but at least I had heat.