Update...and not the fun kind.

[Fel]

It's been a while, but that's because I've been busy.

A few weeks ago, I had a portion of my porch collapse, which also damaged the roof.

The estimates to fix it were honestly far, FAR beyond anything I can hope to pay, so I've been forced to try to fix it myself. Now mind that I am a 53 year old desk jockey who spends almost all his free time sitting at a desk writing. I am in no way in shape, nor am I any good at carpentry or roofing. For that matter, I'd never done any roofing in my entire life until now. But I have little choice. I literally cannot afford to have someone else fix it, so I have to do it myself.

PLEASE, DO NOT donate any money via PayPal right now. I can't get them to send me the money I already have in the account now. Since they did the update to the system, it erased the bank account I had linked to it and I can't get it to link back. And their in-person customer service doesn't exist. So for the near and foreseeable future, PayPal is not viable for me.

So, needless to say, I've had no time to write, or do much of anything else, for that matter. I have no idea what I'm doing, and every time it rains it does more damage to the superstructure under the roof. I'm not entirely sure what I've done is even going to hold. I'm getting more and more worried that the entire roof is going to go, and if that happens, I will be homeless.

This solidifies my plans for the future. At the age of 55, I can apply for rent controlled senior housing in the city, where your rent is based on your income, so you can't ever be evicted for failure to pay. There's a waiting list, but it looks more and more like it's my best option going forward. Even if I can fix this house by myself, this proves that I just can't afford to own it. It's old and takes more and more maintenance, and the reason why I'm broke now is because of all the other repairs I've had to do over the last year.

My best option is to sell the house and accede that I have become an old man and move into senior housing. I just have to hold out til I'm 55 so I can apply, and then pray to God that I don't spend years on a waiting list to get in.

[kal]

best of luck! you have got this, no matter what your decisions may be.

[kyli]

That's very sad to hear. I hope things get better.

I know you've turned down self publishing your books in the past, but I think there is considerable potential there, if you ever change your mind. You could just do it with the Tarrin books, since they are finished. Anyway, no pressure and best of luck.

[khyranleander]

Ouch, condolences, man. My dad dragged me into helping with some redo of the roof when I was younger, and it wasn't fun doing that in weather that swung from stormy to melting-hot. Hope you have lots of tarps -- that's the one thing I remember, cover any open space you're working on in tarps when you're not working on it, and get 'em tied down tight. Everything else in my memory is at best half-assed, and probably totally banjanxed. Good luck, dude, we'll see you on the other side, whenever that comes.

[Greymist]

Man that sucks. I wish I lived vaguely locally (rather than another country) so I could drive over with a load of timber and singles and try to help out. Not that I have ever rebuilt a roof but no time to learn like the present!

I know you're trying to dissuade it, but you really should sort out your PayPal

Also one other random comment, as we both get older I no longer think if you as an old man haha. I remember when we first chatted on IRC I was early/mid teens, you late 20's I was like - you so old , now having recently hit 40, there's still ~13 years between us but you're not that much older than me

[baengi]

hi! i think you should start posting chapter bites sized on sites like royalroad to get a momentum going and start a following and awareness to your stories. then you could start a new paypal and maybe a patreon, and in a couple months, start doing an edit on your stories and go through either a publisher or selfpublish on kindle.

you could probably even get some readers to translate your stories in their own native langage to gain access to even more readers.

with all respect, i think you should go FTL on leveraging what you built and wrote all those years

[ninjafroggie]

This story and writing is MUCH better than a lot of stuff on royalroad that rakes in thousands of dollars a month via patreon, but it comes with an expectation of regular updates and part of what people pay for is early access to chapters, which doesnt really work when everything that's been written so far is already posted on the internet for free.

The kindle route...PLEASE dont do that, because it requires that anywhere else the story is posted be taken down, and so it would lock the whole thing behind a paywall. I cant stand when authors on royalroad do that, using the site to generate following and then locking the whole thing behind a paywall so anyone who didnt find the story when it was first posted cannot experience it.

Another option would be to do like hambone did with the deathworlders...have a patreon, but no actual benefits for supporting other than maybe a few bit characters getting to be named by the patrons and a thank you blurb at the end of each chapter. AFAIK he did pretty well for himself, and his writing is much closer in scope, length, and quality to your own than almost everything on royalroad, and I KNOW that some of us here would be happy to chuck a few bucks your way for each chapter even if we don't have to.

[kyli]

This story and writing is MUCH better than a lot of stuff on royalroad that rakes in thousands of dollars a month via patreon, but it comes with an expectation of regular updates and part of what people pay for is early access to chapters, which doesnt really work when everything that's been written so far is already posted on the internet for free.

The kindle route...PLEASE dont do that, because it requires that anywhere else the story is posted be taken down, and so it would lock the whole thing behind a paywall. I cant stand when authors on royalroad do that, using the site to generate following and then locking the whole thing behind a paywall so anyone who didnt find the story when it was first posted cannot experience it.

Another option would be to do like hambone did with the deathworlders...have a patreon, but no actual benefits for supporting other than maybe a few bit characters getting to be named by the patrons and a thank you blurb at the end of each chapter. AFAIK he did pretty well for himself, and his writing is much closer in scope, length, and quality to your own than almost everything on royalroad, and I KNOW that some of us here would be happy to chuck a few bucks your way for each chapter even if we don't have to.

I have no issues with authors posting on kindle unlimited. Its a great source of income for authors, maybe even more then Patreon. you can get some good deals for KU too. Just a few months ago, i got 2 months for $1, followed by an additional free month. I then cancel and wait for another deal.

However, Kindle Unlimited probably isnt a good idea for Fel because it would require him to delete it everywhere else. However, thats just KU, not kindle as a whole. He could still publish on amazon and have the book available for free on here, royalroad, patreon, or anywhere else.

A patreon for no additional benefits would be a good idea though, just to support the author. Its a better option then paypal, because many readers on RR who would support an author would already have a patreon account to support creators set up.

[kal]

This story and writing is MUCH better than a lot of stuff on royalroad that rakes in thousands of dollars a month via patreon, but it comes with an expectation of regular updates and part of what people pay for is early access to chapters, which doesnt really work when everything that's been written so far is already posted on the internet for free.

The kindle route...PLEASE dont do that, because it requires that anywhere else the story is posted be taken down, and so it would lock the whole thing behind a paywall. I cant stand when authors on royalroad do that, using the site to generate following and then locking the whole thing behind a paywall so anyone who didnt find the story when it was first posted cannot experience it.

Another option would be to do like hambone did with the deathworlders...have a patreon, but no actual benefits for supporting other than maybe a few bit characters getting to be named by the patrons and a thank you blurb at the end of each chapter. AFAIK he did pretty well for himself, and his writing is much closer in scope, length, and quality to your own than almost everything on royalroad, and I KNOW that some of us here would be happy to chuck a few bucks your way for each chapter even if we don't have to.

I have no issues with authors posting on kindle unlimited. Its a great source of income for authors, maybe even more then Patreon. you can get some good deals for KU too. Just a few months ago, i got 2 months for $1, followed by an additional free month. I then cancel and wait for another deal.

However, Kindle Unlimited probably isnt a good idea for Fel because it would require him to delete it everywhere else. However, thats just KU, not kindle as a whole. He could still publish on amazon and have the book available for free on here, royalroad, patreon, or anywhere else.

A patreon for no additional benefits would be a good idea though, just to support the author. Its a better option then paypal, because many readers on RR who would support an author would already have a patreon account to support creators set up.

personally, i would drop a huge chunk per month to support Fel. i havent been following as long as some, but still since the senadaar book were still coming out. i would support Fel in anyway i could.

[kyli]

personally, i would drop a huge chunk per month to support Fel. i havent been following as long as some, but still since the senadaar book were still coming out. i would support Fel in anyway i could.

Agreed.. I'd probably drop a few bucks a month too. Can't afford too much tho. I'm laid off right now.
But that's for a patreon. I personally hate setting up payments online all over the place, but once I got it set up, I'm not afraid of using it. And I do have an active patreon account.

[kal]

personally, i would drop a huge chunk per month to support Fel. i havent been following as long as some, but still since the senadaar book were still coming out. i would support Fel in anyway i could.

Agreed.. I'd probably drop a few bucks a month too. Can't afford too much tho. I'm laid off right now.
But that's for a patreon. I personally hate setting up payments online all over the place, but once I got it set up, I'm not afraid of using it. And I do have an active patreon account.

yes, a Patreon is what i meant. Fel should totally set that up at least. even if you (Fel) keep to your current update schedule i am sure that A LOT of us would still subscribe monthly.

[RobJ]

Hi Fel
I’m happy to help you on two fronts. You have my email address send me an account number please and I will put in the appropriate payment.
Second post or send me photos of your problem and I will call my son who is a qualified builder for help and advise. Also I have a friend in Oregon who is the best builder I’ve ever come across. He’s a master builder and probably will have an idea or two. As for you being old . You’ve got a few years to catch up.
Will await your email. Be well.

Regards
Rob Jerram (NZ)

[XavDan]

Hi Fel, How are you doing? It's been almost a month.. Hope you are doing good. Any updates on the roof/ house? Please keep us posted.

[Fel]

Progress has been slow, have the chapter about half written.

Summer is usually a slow time for me for writing because of all the other stuff I have to do.

[ninjafroggie]

meh, the chapter takes as long as it takes. While I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping to see it sooner rather than later, quality takes time and there's more than enough 'fast' stories on the internet and nowhere near enough quality.

More importantly, did you get your roof situation sorted?