She's back. So is the need to chase funding in earnest. Sales/subscribers/shares all very much needed now.

Photo copyright Aji, 201; all rights reserved.

My girl is back, several months early. She doesn't usually show up, except for more than the odd momentary sighting, until mid- to late winter. That's changed in the last year or so, and now, she's here really early.

She's hungry; in this drought, they're all hungry. But maybe she knew I needed her, too. Because today marks the day that I have to start the money chase again in earnest. We have to get the house finished, and a chunk of it has to get done before winter. This is supposed to be an El Niño year, which for us means MUCH colder temperatures and heavier snows. At this point, any snow at all would be welcome, but we really need a good hard winter to rescue the land here. But there are things we have to get done, and these are among them.

For those of you who don't know, which is probably none of you, but I've learned that some folks have already forgotten: Last November, I almost died. Twice. Once, a week before the wedding; once, a week after. Our medical bills are astronomical, and they're still mounting. And no one can figure out what's causing this, but I have episodes almost daily. No, it's not stress; it's physical, but until some of these bills are paid down, I can't afford to take on the outside testing required. And, to put it really, really bluntly: I literally do not know, from day to day, whether I'm going to live or die. I don't know, when I go to bed at night, whether I'll wake up in the morning. It's a mindfuck and a half, and I've had to live with it for almost a year now. And one of my big concerns is getting the house entirely done, so that, should anything untoward happen, Wings has one less thing to worry about. I also want him safe.  

What we had saved up early this year went into a combination of medical bills and the house, but there's still more to be done. Part of what is driving it is basic safety stuff (like the stairs, and some electrical stuff that needs doing); part of it is making sure we don't lose the two guys who have gotten us this far, because their skills are in demand. We need to put them back to work soon, now that it's cool enough and we can have the door open for ventilation without being flooded by smoke and insects. We need to have them start back in mid-September, if at all possible, which means raising a big chunk of change fairly fast. My first goal is $5K, which should cover the labor and what few materials remain for the stairs, and possibly even cover some of the less important detail stuff.

There are a lot of ways to help out. First, obviously, is sales; purchases of Wings's work (and/or work by the other artists whose art we carry) is always the first option, and it was the baseline for the construction in the first place. Second is subscribing to my Patreon page, which gets updated regularly with really cool imagery and a good amount of really good writing; if you subscribe between now and Friday, you'll be billed on Saturday and I'll get it on this month's payout next week. Below there's also a link for "coffee," which allows folks to make small donations, and a couple of wishlists for keeping the animals in kibble and filling out needs around the house. In the middle is the link to Wings's PayPal account, and no, I won't turn away any donations, because we have to get this done and I have to have some peace of mind over it because I have none over my own survival these days). The only fundraising we'll be doing is right here; nowhere else. So here are all the links; please share them around, and if you are able to purchase, subscribe, donate, whatever, we'd be profoundly grateful:

• My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
• Wings's site, for sales, with new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff;
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).

That all I've got. I'm going to be back under the gun for the next several weeks. Thanks to everyone in advance.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.