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

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.