Who's that character? and! Hunting the elusive house

[rolanni]

Several people have written to ask me this question; I am therefore posting the answer here in hopes that it will find others who are baffled by reading the sample chapters for Dragon in Exile.  Which are here, free for the reading.

Rys Lin pen'Chala figures prominently in a novel entitled Necessity's Child, published in February 2013 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  This novel is currently available from Baen, as a hardcover, a paperback, and an ebook.  It is also available as an audiobook, from Audible.

If you gave Necessity's Child a miss because it was only a side book, you will, yes, have missed Rys entirely.

* * *

So, yesterday, we ventured forth in the snow to do a spot of house-hunting with our agent.  We went armed with three houses, one at the lower edge of our price range, one in the middle range, and one at the top of our range.

I had thought, going in, that the middle house would prove to be an acceptable compromise, despite it was an older house (most of the houses in this part of Maine are older houses; they built 'em to last, back in The Day).  As described, it had much of what we're looking for in a house, including a sun porch, two offices, a bedroom, and two baths.

Sadly, it quickly became clear that the middle house was. . .not for us.  So much for my powers of precognition.

The lowest priced house had plenty of space, was wired for a generator, and had a backup heat source (belt-and-braces, a Maine tradition!).  No sun porch, but a ginormous back yard, and what are reputed to be "extensive gardens," which we couldn't see, because -- snow.  It needs what our agent refers to as "updating", but we could move in without, and then "update" around ourselves.  The trouble with that being freelance income.  We're really, really trying to come up with a house that can run what it brung.  This may not be realistic of us, but, really, trying to buy a new house isn't particularly realistic of us, either, so why not shoot for the moon?

The high-priced spread was. . .very nice, indeed:  Sunroom, dual furnace (oil/wood), fireplace with a stove insert, nice, workable kitchen, plenty of good cat windows, half-finished basement -- everything goomeki.  Except -- at the top of what we can theoretically afford.

So. . .the hunt continues.

Today, I need to write one more scene for the as-yet titleless story, so it can sit for a couple days before we do a cold read.  I should also pack some more boxes for the archive, so we can get rid of the pile at the end of the hall before Sprite declares it her summer fortress.

In other news, BN tells me that our copy of Tracker will arrive via UPS tomorrow.

In the meantime, the experimental $500 Patreon goal has, as of this morning, hit $1,166, via the kind subscriptions of 149 Liaden readers.  Thank you all.  (Here's the link, if anyone would like to stare in wonder at that number.)

And, so -- to work.

Comments

[sharon murphy karpierz (from livejournal.com)]

So, how long has the high end house been on the market, and how low can you make an offer without being insulting?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I think it went on the market last fall, and the owners just recently dropped the price, which brought it within our search parameters. It's now at what our agent believes to be a Fair Asking Price. We could probably ask them to lower it another 6 grand, and still be in range.

Unfortunately, all this is complicated by the need to sell our house first. I don't really want to make a contingent offer, get attached to the idea of moving to a particular Someplace and then have the kickout clause invoked.

[reedrover]

I'm irrepressibly pleased to see your comments about Hellspark in the forward. That is SUCH a good book.

What is an 'older house'

[gareth griffiths (from livejournal.com)]

I'm curious about what an 'older house' is in Maine. I know I hit a big culture shock (being native UK) with what Californians regard as old (which we'd think of as barely lived in). I speculate that Maine may be nearer to home - I have a theory that anywhere with winter builds to last and has somewhat of a miss-trust of brand new until it has proved robust to weather etc. (Though we don't have bad winters we do get decent rain storms and wind).

To me an older house would be built before the last war, perhaps 1920's or earlier. I'm not sure where modern starts either - there was a lot of awful stuff built in the 60's and 70s. Probably modern starts 80's onward but that's still thirty years which to us still seems quite new, to Californians ancient - how about to Maine?

Re: What is an 'older house'

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I tried very hard not to laugh when a friend in Colorado offered to show me the neighborhood of Really Old Houses. Which had been built in the 1900s.

A good percentage of the viable housing stock in Central and Downeast Maine were built in the late 1800s. These generally, as we have found, Need Serious Upgrading for the computer age. Some have been "fixed up" in order to be flipped, but in our experience, the folks who buy to flip only do cosmetic updates. The kitchen is modern, but the wiring is still old.

Here in Central Maine, we have a cluster of what used to be successful mill towns. Lots of houses built in the 1920s, 30s, early-to-mid 40s. Then another spurt in the mid-50s into the 60s.

The houses we looked at yesterday were built in (from lowest price to highest): 1947, 1921, 1954. The house we're living in was built the year I graduated high school, and was part of the first wave of expansion into the country.

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

Miss Necessity's Child? Only a side book? Ha! I laugh :)

Good continuing luck with house hunting. Other than landscaping, winter is a fine time for looking. Spring, on the other hand, is a fine time for selling. May they come together for you.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I keep swinging by the page to admire the number, myself. :)

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I do wish you and Steve can find a New Place for the Cats and all the Books, so you can move in to be the caretakers.. grin.

Patron account

[gerald heaton (from livejournal.com)]

So I've tried to sign in and the patron account doesn't want me to get a conformation e-mail
When it gets here I be able to donate
To bad you can't make Shan a stand alone.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

I went the Paypal route rather than the Paetron route -- And using friend rather than business gets the whole amount to SRM.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Re: What is an 'older house'

[gareth griffiths (from livejournal.com)]

So current house built in 1970 {grin}

Your dates much more like over here. Lots of ex mill places in the North of the UK and ex-mining in S. Wales. Nearer London the population just keeps growing - many older places that have a decent sized plot get torn down to build 4 or 5 new houses but there are also a few really old places (pre-date the US). Church where I grew up was part Norman circa 1100. Nave rebuilt several times but tower old.

[gerald heaton (from livejournal.com)]

So how do you go the PayPal route?

I have not used them for years
Gerald

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I'm not really sure? I had a look around in my PayPal account, but I have a merchant account and apparently we do things differently.

Anybody here know how to set up a subscription payment in PayPal?

Patron account

[gerald heaton (from livejournal.com)]

It FINALLY liked me.
Recurring pledge is set up.
Gerald