#[ i might set myself the goal of writing 300k for the whole year ]

[despairforme]

[leandra-kinard]

Just crossed the 50k mark on my current buddie fic, A Tale of Teeth and Talons.

Only two chapters published so far because my beta hasn’t been feeling well for a couple of days, but it’s progressing really well. I have 5 whole chapters finished now (well, 1 prologue and 4 chapters) and a good portion of the next. The entire plot is outlined, and I’m tracking my progress in an excel sheet because it provides additional motivation for me to push myself to write. 

I don’t think I’ve ever written that much, that fast. My Destiel fic was 132 words and took me half a year to finish. This one? Well, I have no idea how much it’s going to be once it’s done, but I have a feeling I’ve barely covered a sixth of the planned plot yet. Which would mean that this fic might easily go around or even above 300k words. Holy effing shit. 

I just hope I can keep it up to write as much as I have the past three weeks. I mean, I do expect it to slow down eventually, and me hitting phases where I’m stuck for a little while; my goal was 1000k a day, but I’ve been writing 2300 daily on average. Plus editing. Plus researching. Plus map drawing. 

Oh, yeah, I bought a graphic tablet just so I could draw a better map for my fictional world, lol. 

(Those mountains were driving me insane last night. Also, I think I need to do the rivers as black outlines and just fill them with a more muted blue. Make it a little more Tolkien style). 

Anyway. In case anyone is reading A Tale of Teeth and Talons and was wondering when I’d update, have a few more days patience please. 

And in case you are reading but haven’t left a comment yet, please consider doing so. I can definitely use some additional motivation to keep me going, getting through this insanely huge project. 

A little excerpt of chapter 3 (4 if you count the prologue as one) after the cut. 

At that moment, however, they saw someone run through the gate to their right that was kept open during the day. It took Buck a moment to recognize Will, who looked around, very obviously rattled and out of breath. His eyes found Bobby first, and he came running towards the two of them who rushed rushed to meet him in the middle. 

“Numans,” Will panted, taking a moment to breathe in and out as he straightened himself, but Buck already felt a wave of ice cold dread run down his back. 

“Numans?” Bobby asked. “Where?” 

“They… They—” Athletic though he was, Will barely got a word out. He must have run all the way from one of the outposts close to their clan’s border to be this out of breath. 

“Not many,” Will said, huffing out as he gradually seemed to calm his breath down a little. “Twenty-five men. They crossed our borders by the south-eastern wall.”

“Why did you let them in?” Buck asked in confusion. Surely, with their advanced position on the trees and behind the earthen wall, the watchmen could have kept the Numans in check, even overpowered them, once they tried to proceed without invitation. 

“They said it’s a… a friendly mission. A visit, not an attack.”

“When was that?” 

“This morning,” Will replied. “They’re on horses but they were in no rush. Said they wanted to cross the Daegea. I…” Will looked back and forth between Bobby and Buck. Then his brow furrowed deeply as his gaze rested on the wolf’s fang on Buck’s chest. 

“I think I know who was with them.” 

(context: this is a fantasy setting closely similar to Europe in the 1st century AD. The Numans are what the Romans were in reality. The Daegea is a river.)

And another one from the following chapter. 

“When are you coming back, papa?” Christopher asked, his voice thin with a sadness ringing in his words that cut through Eddie’s heart. 

Squatting down in front of his son so he was at the same height, Eddie laid one hand on the small boy’s shoulder and looked at him with a smile as bright as he could muster. 

“I’m not coming back to Greotiacum. We’re all going to meet again in Novatrivium, remember? It’s a five day trip up there, and I bet it’s going to be sooo exciting. You’ll see things you’ve never seen before. Vast green forests and hills like we didn’t have them back in Megitia or Numa.” 

“Why can’t you come with us?” Christopher asked, no enthusiasm raised in him for the adventure Eddie was trying to paint. 

“Because I and a couple of other legionnaires need to visit a few people and talk to them. We’re guests in their lands, see? So we’ve got to make sure they’re happy with us being here.” 

“Are they… are they people you know? From… before?” Christopher asked, and his eyes lit up a little with expectation. 

Eddie didn’t like having to tell him that he was going to see Christopher’s grandparents while Christopher himself couldn’t, yet, but he had no other choice. Lying to his son was not something he did if he couldn’t absolutely avoid it, and he wasn’t going to start now.

He nodded, also chasing away the lump he felt rising in his throat at the thought. “Yes. We’re going to visit the clan I’m from, too.” 

Christopher’s eyes became a little bigger. “Your parents and sisters too?” 

Eddie nodded again, the knots in his stomach now rising all the way up his chest, something between longing and anxiety making his heart beat faster and more painfully. 

“Why can’t we come with you?” 

“Because it’s no place for young children. Or women,” Shannon said a little too quickly, with an air of barely suppressed annoyance. 

“Shannon,” Eddie muttered under his breath as he got back up, looking at her pleadingly. 

“What?” she huffed. “They don’t even have baths or latrines. We’ll be much better off in Novatrivium, Christopher. It’ll be much more like what we’re used to.”

Eddie let out a long sigh. This was not the moment to get into another argument with Shannon. Of which they had plenty, the few days after he had told her about the move. Eddie could understand it; he would not have chosen this himself, but so was the life of a soldier in Numa. Shannon felt powerless in all of this, and on top of it, she had never known life outside of Numan society. It didn’t matter that she spoke the language, or appreciated a few items of Ardenian jewelry; Shannon was Numan more than she’d ever been Ardenian, and Eddie had had to uproot her, too. 

“No latrines?” Christopher asked in confusion. “But then how—”

“We can visit them in the summer maybe,” Shannon now said, and it was a peace offering to Eddie much more than simply wanting to raise her son’s spirits. “When the weather’s nicer and warmer. Or they can come up and visit us. You’ll get to meet them eventually.” 

“You promise?” the boy asked, looking back and forth between both his parents. 

Eddie got down again in front of his son and nodded. “I promise you that I’ll do everything I can to make that happen. I’m sure they will want to meet you too, once I tell them about you. But now you’ve got to go to our new home with your mama first, alright? And once you’ve settled in, and made a few new friends, before you even know it, I’ll be back with the two of you.” 

Christopher nodded, his chin wobbling softly at the realization that this was, at least for a while, goodbye. He handed his walking sticks to his mother and then raised his slender arms, demanding a hug from his father that he was more than willing to give.

(context: Ardenia is the name of the lands the Numans are trying to bring under their control. Greotiacum is a city already under Numan rule, Novatrivium a smaller town and summer camp of the legions.)

But that’s enough for now, before I end up posting the whole thing here ;-) 

[fmradio-johnnystation]

Writing wrap up of 2018

Wooooooooah 2018 passed so quickly?? ngl when this year started, I just wanted it to be over. But this year I got back into writing around May and I’m so grateful that I did! So here’s a little summary of my writing year.

Stats:

List of Fics Posted:

The game begin ; NCT ; Jungwoo/Lucas. 

Red as blood and green as seaweed ; Stray Kids ; Hyunjin/Seungmin Glow ; Stray Kids ; Hyunjin-centric Love is ; Stray Kids ; Hyunjin/Felix Storm and stars ; Stray Kids ; Felix/Jisung, Chan/Minho, Changbin/Hyunjin & Jeongin/Seungmin Of detention and makeout sessions ; Stray Kids ; Felix/Jisung Of locker rooms kisses ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Woojin Of studios and nose kisses ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Jisung Of palm kisses and chipped nailpolish ; Stray Kids ; Felix/Woojin Guess how much I love you ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Felix Of warm beds and morning coffee ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Minho Sharp fangs and blood stained hands ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Seungmin Dishes, vaccuum cleaners and soft kisses ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Woojin Twist and turn, moonchild ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Jeongin For as long as I am breathing ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Felix I’ll hold you as you bleed ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Hyunjin Take my hand and never let go ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Felix/Woojin Hocus pocus ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Felix Fuzzy socks, ugly sweaters and sweet ‘I love you’s ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Felix/Woojin 31 days of kisses ; Stray Kids ; multiple ships Twisted Souls ; Stray Kids ; Chan/Felix [Unannounced skz exchange fic]* ; Stray Kids ; TBA

*WIll update with tag and name later when the fic is announced.

Total number: 22 Total word count: 228.442 Ship/character breakdown:

I always try to vary the ships I’m writing to give content to all ships, even the small ones. But over this year I’ve come to love Chanlix a lot, so the ship I’ve been writing the most is Chanlix, Jilix being a close second.

Characters that had the main focus:

My top 3 of 2018 is: 1. Chan, who’s the main in 13 fics 2. Felix, who’s the main in 9 fics 3. Hyunjin, who’s the main in 6 fics

I’m obviously aussie line biased. Also I’ve realized that I really enjoy writing Chan for some reason.

Specifics:

Best/worst title?

Best: For as long as I am breathing. I have no idea why I like it so much, maybe it’s because I like the au so much but it just makes me happy when I see the title.

Worst: Red as blood and green as seaweed because ?? what ?? but since it was just a short thing I’m not gonna bother it hdhd

Best/worst first line?

Best: The moon was bathing the lush, green forest in its sickly white light as it slowly rose on the dark sky. - From Twist and turn, moonchild. I just really liked this one for some reason. It sets the mood really nicely imo. Worst: “You look nervous,” his father noted as their carriage was making its way towards the castle. - From For as Long as I am breathing. This is just... uGH like I don’t really hate it, it’s just that I wrote it just to get started with the whole fic and then I never went back to change it and it just feels kind of awkward.

Best/worst last line?

Best: The stories of the creature so twisted and the soul so kind. - From Twisted souls. I just really like this one, unclear why really. But I really enjoyed the last two paragraphs of this fic.

Worst: “Thank you for being my bodyguard.” - From Twist and turn, moonchild. Because... what? why and uGh no. I struggled with wrapping this fic up because I wanted to keep it short and I guess I just pulled smth out of my a ss to just end it.

Best/worst summary?

Best: This is the story about a creature so twisted by evil, who found their way home. - From Twisted souls. I really liked this one. Because it sort of gave some of the plot away, as a summary probably should do, but also kept to the more poetic vibe I went with for this fic.

I also really like: The sun rose, painting the sky a beautiful pink as it bathed the landscape in its warm light. In the comfort of his home, their home, Woojin awoke slowly, surrounded by nothing but love and warmth. - From Take my hand and never let go. Simply because this is one of few summaries that I actually wrote specifically to be summaries.

Worst: Vampire!Chan & Witch!Felix in a very domestic setting. - From Hocus pocus. I don’t really have a summary that I really dislike so I’ll just put this one here simply because it just stares the content and it’s pretty boring.

Favorite 5 lines from anywhere?

1. “You know what would be even better?” Felix asked and Chan hummed, lips still pressing against Felix’s skin and his hand came to rest on Felix’s thigh. “If you married me this winter.” - From For as long as I am breathing.

2. “I’ll chase the fear and the pain away, love,” he promised as Hyunjin let out a choked sob. - From I’ll hold you as you bleed.

3. “You’re no longer wilting away,” Felix’s whispered, stroking the back of his hand over Chan’s cheek. - From Twisted souls.

4. “And then they lived happily ever after,” he said, pressing his lips against Felix’s. - From Storm and stars.

5. But he was getting better. - From Glow.

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

Considering that I wrote 700 words last year, so for me to write over 200k... that was very unexpected.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

Stray kids because 1. I didn’t stan them last year and 2. I barely wrote anything last year.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

I don’t... I don’t really know. All my three longfics are special to me but I think For as long as I am breathing or Twisted Souls takes the prize as my favorite... I think I’m gonna have to say For as long as I am breathing.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

The most popular must have been Storm and Stars, but its also the oldest of my multichaptered fics. 31 days of kisses and For as long as I am breathing are both closing in on Storm and stars when it comes to the amount of hits.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

TWISTED SOULS. But also like, its just recently been completed (and I know some people dont read unfinished fics), its a pretty underrated ship (so I guess not a lot read fics about them) and the tags + the word count might be a bit intimidating.

Story that could have been better?

[Redacted] could definitely have been better. I didn’t manage to get a full grasp of how I wanted the plot until it was maybe a bit too late and it ended up super rushed.

Saddest story?

Twisted souls probably. It deals with some pretty heavy things and yeah, it’s the saddest thing I’ve written this year.

Most fun?

hM.... Most of my fics are pretty serious or just straight out fluff and not really funny in that way. But... maybe Hocus pocus ? Unsure but that’s the funniest of my fics lmao.

Story with single sweetest moment?

For as long as I am breathing has a bunch of insanely sweet moments and I just love that au.

Hardest story to write?

Twisted souls but that’s mainly because of the fight scenes. I’m pretty bad at action so that was a challenge.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

For as long as I am breathing... That was insane. The words just came to me like poOF and it was so easy to write for me... why is very very unclear.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

I don’t... think it did no. Not what I can come to think of.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I tried writing action, but that’s more of a challenge than a risk I guess. I don’t think I took any risks per say but I challenged myself a little with action. I’ve also tried to work on my descriptions, both nature and clothing. Not a risk, but a challenge.

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

Wips I really want to finish: - Sequel to For as long as I am breathing - “Suffer suffer scream in pain” aka a gore piece I’m working on - A new merboy fic

General goals - Get better at descriptions - Work on writing action scenes - Be a bit better at editing - Write around 300k - Start working on my own original piece

That was everything... I think! 2018 has been an amazing year for me, writing wise, but I’m a bit sad I didn’t get back to it earlier. However, the response I’ve gotten this year has been amazing  and I don’t have enough works to express my gratitude.

Thank you!

[isneed-blog]

Investing in Property - What Is the Best Way to Buy Rental Property?

Trying out Property What is the best way to buy rental property? The question you need to ask yourself is - Am I investing in this property as an investment? Now this sounds like a pretty stupid question, right? But in reality, many people (myself included) have made a purchase decision on the basis that they love the "property" not the "investment. " What do I mean? Well you have to stop and ask yourself do I really love investing in property or must just love to own property. Many have purchased an "investment property" on the basis that they "liked" the idea, rather than because they had calculated it would provide a great return. When investing in property you should always run your phone numbers through a property investment calculator before deciding whether to even look at a property, let alone buy it! My own first CBD apartment - aka "Investing in Property for Fools! " I'd always wanted to own personal a piece of the CBD. Growing up as a kid I loved visiting the "city" to look at the skyscrapers and imagined coming here for work like my Dad did each morning. Sure, I was investing in property or home. I was investing my emotional security in a property location! So you can see quite clearly that it had been an emotional, rather than a hard headed decision to buy a newly complete one bedroom unit back in earlier 2000s. It was just something I'd always wanted to "have. " I remember driving around the inner city which includes a well known property spruiker looking at projects he was involved with. Of course his level of involvement was as a get good at salesman. A unit became available for approximately $230k. As a young couple my wife and I discussed the pros and disadvantages and I decided against the advice of my wife that this might not be such a great idea. At the same time another unit possessed become available in the inner city block of apartments that I was currently living in. It was available at the same price. My wife counselled me to consider this as an option. My "adviser" had discouraged me on the rationale that I would be putting all me eggs in one basket. There was some truth to this advice so I implemented my "dream" of an apartment in the "city". When I went to the office to sign the papers I remember increasingly being advised that the original unit was no longer available, but a different one on a higher floor was, at a better price! I said OK, No problem, like we Aussies tend to do. Then I was presented with the option to obtain a "furniture package" for an extra $20k. This would "guarantee" a rental return of 8% to me for the primary 2 years of my investment. I hadn't previously considered this, but of course I said "Yes"and ended up being told what a wise choice I had made. (Of course this made me feel good about average joe! ) The truth was I bought the unit not on the basis of its potential financial return but its immediate psychological and mental return. I never did end up living in it or even spending a single night there, although I'd quite often wander past and gaze up at my balcony and wonder how "cool" it would be to live here. In truth the property was a complete drain on my bank balance due to the high costs associated with the common areas which include pool and gym equipment. The rent never paid for the outgoings and I lived in hope that price would go up so I could make a "paper" profit at least! Now some time later I did end up trading the unit for around $300k, so it was far from a complete disaster. In the end I was very glad to sell and additionally call it even. In reality the cost to me was an opportunity cost. What else could I have been doing using my money? I looked recently for sales data on the city block in question and found the identical unit sold for $355k, approx. 10 years after my initial purchase. Currently in the inner city stop I was living at, prices are over $650k. Remember that 10 years ago these properties were merchandising for approximately the same price. If I had listened more to my wife and less to my own emotion I'd personally have ended up $300k better off! What did I learn? I learned that whilst it's great to hear "advice", be aware that sometimes advice might be just a little biased! I've learned to trust my own instincts more in addition to weigh advice against what I already know to be true and reasonable. The reason I liked the house in my own block was that it was located well. It was quiet, had views, was close to town, walk to tram, bus and train and there was no high-rise in the vicinity. The area couldn't get quickly re-developed and units added. In short, the amenity was desirable and there was not going to come to be any new properties added in the foreseeable future. This meant there was a cap on supply. In the city recommendations not a cap on supply. There are numerous developments under construction at any given time. I'd be more than happy to live in several. But I wouldn't buy then as an investment! Unless they were in a landmark building of some sort there is absolutely no scarcity value in them. They can be replaced easily. If one of your neighbours wants to sell and needs to switch quickly, guess what. They set the price for your unit. You have virtually no control over the market. No matter what you do for a own living space the whole value of the block will be determined by factors outside your control. Investing in Property with regard to cashflow or for growth? Let's be honest. Most of us are investing in property because we think that prices are very apt to go up! On the other hand we all know about "negative gearing". In essence it means we can write of our "losses" on our expense against other area of income. I don't disagree with the concept, we ought to be able to weigh our sales against our losses and pay tax on the net result. BUT, if all we own are "investments" that are make a "loss" and we're offsetting that against a "gain" from our job, that's not truly smart investing is it? Sometimes a property might be increasing in value at a greater rate than we could be ready to make as a cash income from our investment. This is not always the case as you can see from my encounter in the Melbourne CBD. But at what point does this cease to be a valid reason for deciding to pay of even "keep" and existing investment? Steve McKnight from Verticus condo at Balestier once said something really illuminating at an event I attended. Basically he said we ought to do an audit of our house portfolio every year and re-assess whether we ought to hold or sell each property! Seriously. I do not ever thought I was going to sell anything - Ever! Early on in my property journey I'd decided I would "Accumulate" property. Buy and never sell! That was my motto. Once I'd paid down the loan I might be sitting on a nest egg and having rent more than cover my outgoings. But consider this! Real life example - My unit in inner Melbourne right now would be worth about $650k and yet it might get a weekly rental of around $480. That's about $25k rental annually. The yield is accordingly 25k/650k annually or 3. 8% of the value. Setting aside things like mortgage repayments, there are still fixed costs on any sort of property - In my case they include for the last financial year: Council Rates $820 Water $945 Insurance coverage $302 Owners Corporation $1660 Agent fees $1815 Repairs $890 Total fixed expenses for the year $6430 This reduced the total income to ($25000-$6430)=$18570 Now my actual annual return is 18. 5k/650k = 2 . 9% Of course costs like Agent fees and Owners Corporation are not always applicable but they help to show that in the real world the actual return can be a lot less than a simple headline figure. If I include my own interest costs (which still exist) I must deduct another ($150000*6%)=$9000 from my income. This reduced the complete Real income to ($18570-9000)=$9570 Now my actual annual return on the asset value is 9. 5k/650k =1. 5% Should I Sell this property? There is no right or wrong answer. Sometimes I say without a doubt and my wife says NO! Sometimes I say No and my wife says NO! Do you see a trend here? There is no right answer because everyone has different needs, has different skills and is coming from a several base and most importantly - We all want different things! It depends on your circumstances, your family situation, the personalities with you or your partner and your goals in life. If our main goal in life was to increase some of our cash on cash return or all our assets then it would be a no brainer to sell up and shell out elsewhere (assuming I could expect a greater return than 1 . 5%! ) Having said all that I nevertheless love property, and I love investing in property. It's quite possible to love the idea of property without tender investing in property. In fact most property that you'll "love" will probably be pretty darn useless as an investment. Don't be lost. Would I choose to invest $650k of my actual cash in this investment right now of it were available for sale? That's doubtful! - So why am I still keeping it? I love it and plan to live in it. This is a issue only YOU need to ask yourself and answer on a case by case basis. I've looked long and challenging at my own situation and decided to keep for now based on family reasons, NOT investing reasons. Review just about every property every year For every investment I currently hold I review the property and make a decision based on the real figures, not a fantasy of what I'd like to see happen. That's why I decided to sell my apartment in the Melbourne CBD. It was "Costing" my money to hold, and NOT growing in value anything like I'd hoped may well. So I cut it off. It was why I needed to sell my first home out in the "burbs". It was why I made a similar hard decision to sell a property in inner city KEW that was revisiting a reasonable cash return, and well located but had ZERO capital growth over ten years. It was among the list of reasons I sold a great apartment in Sydney's North. I had improved it and added value. It was eventually time to take my money off the table. Your relationship with a property needn't be a marriage for life. There's certainly no compulsion to "stay together" till death do you part!.

[fourteenacross]

2016 in writing

2016 in fic! This looks SO empty compared to past years, even if it's roughly the same amount of words! Hamilton: i saw the whole story unwind (132,888) Opening Break (3,531) Remote Capture (3,483) Not Your Average Bear! (1,835) Ghost Included (we hope) (2,941) but i won't go far away (12,577) the constellations aligned (10,004) the air grows cold around me and you (27,268) a way to hang the sun up in the sky (9,510) we'll have to muddle through somehow (8,513) Ficlets: Lazy Day (924) Cryptids (1,904) John's Instagram (1,443) Skeptic Refuted Fan Speculation (???)* Apocrypha (aka shit I wrote that takes place after the stuff in the main stories that may be disregarded/discarded as the next three stories develop): For Hire: Ghost Hunter (551) Three Wishes (2,446) Ouija Boards are NOT ALLOWED (1,139) Reality Show (1,538) Star Wars (2,441) X-Men Alternate Timeline Movies: Who Needs Sleep? (2,535) Fifty Dollars and First Impressions (3,574) Ficlets: Alex/Darwin Bookstore AU (343) Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: Phryne/Jack Fake Married (588) Grand Total Fandoms: 3 Grand Total Stories: 23 Grand Total Word Count: 231,976* * I haven't written the transcription of this ficlet yet and I'm too lazy to do it right now, so it's not included in the total. Overall Thoughts: Well, this is a very different list than it's been for the past five years or so. The fandom switch aside, I didn't post any full stories until September, just a handful of tumblr ficlets. I also posted two things chapter-by-chapter, one as a WiP, which--wow, reminder that I NEVER WANT TO DO THAT AGAIN, it's far too stressful! The bulk of the words are all in the same verse, and I'm not even counting the words that I wrote and haven't posted yet, jeez. This stupid universe. I simultaneously hate and love it. Writing an epic WiP in a new fandom was really rough. I'm ultimately thrilled with the finished product--waiting until it was all finished made me redraft over and over again until things fit together the way I wanted. It left me space to go back and seed things that I wanted to develop as I went...I really think the finished product is way better than it would have been if I'd rushed and posted it before it was done. That all being said, gosh, it was lonely. It was so, so lonely, when writing epics usually involves a lot of bouncing ideas off of people and letting them read and suggest as I draft and really digging into the process, etc. There were a couple of people who popped in and out, but life and other interests got in the way (which makes sense considering this went on for NINE MONTHS), and, man, I missed being able to text and IM people will story ideas at all hours and feel confident that they'd be interested in what I had to say. (For all the texting I do, I am actually super shy about it? I'm super nervous about initiating unless I'm 100% positive I won't be bothering the other person, which limits my texting confidence to like, my back-up bunnies and Erica.) Anyway, that's all to say that this year was a very different experience, fandom writing-wise, but I think I learned a lot in the process so...hooray?

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? This year I think my main goal was "FINISH PART ONE OF THE GHOSTHUNTERS" without a specific word count attached, so I succeeded in that part? Knowing me, I probably wanted to crack 300k at least, and while I'm sure I WROTE over 300k this year, what I actually published is about on par with the last couple years, so. NUMBER wise, I think I imagined I'd have a greater output vis-a-vis completed stories, but a lot of the shit I wrote was on the longer side, so. What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? Hm. Well, there's a lot more porn in the ghosthunters than is in most of the fic I've written, traditionally, but nothing really shocking. Most of it was ghosthunters words, so...yeah. I guess the Angel/Raven was sliiiightly a surprise because I figured if I had to step in and write some SM pinch-hits it would be all Charles/Erik stuff, but I really liked that story and I have shipped that pairing for many years so....not super a surprise. What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest? I loved a lot of the stories I wrote this year, because I'm super obsessed with myself. [[< -- I think I've kept that sentence in for the past few years because it remains true]] I really love most of the ghosthunters shit, but if I had to pick a favorite....idk, I'm torn between i saw the whole story unwind because it's so epic and took so long and I put so much into it and the constellations aligned, because it came so easily and I'm a total sap and it's a totally sappy story. Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? Sitting on the ghosthunters until the first part was complete was new. Like I said above, that kind of patience and planning was difficult, but I think the end product was much better for it. So what I learned is probably "sit on a story for a couple days after you finish." I've always tried to employ at least cursory beta readers and done read-throughs after finishing, but the slower approach does actually lead to a better product. IMAGINE THAT. My best story of this year: Best? Hm. It's hard to compare i saw the whole story unwind to anything else, given it's length and the breadth of subjects it covers, so I'd say probably that or but i won't go far away, which deals with a lot of intricate emotions and explanations. My most popular story of this year: Okay, see, I wrote two chaptered stories this year and chaptered stories totally throw off your stats. Hit counts, kudos count, comment count...all of that is inflated by repeatedly pushing those fics to the top of the tags and having people come back for each chapter and all of that. Still, I'm p sure that i saw the whole story unwind was the most popular story? And I think a lot of that can be attributed to the above facts and also to the fact that it's the oldest and the longest and the first in the series, but...I'm gonna go with it anyway. Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I don't know that any of them are! Again, probably because most of them are in the same series, but...yeah, I'm pretty happy with the response to everything. I remember thinking at the time that there was something weird going on with the hit count for but i won't go far away because the hits-to-kudos ratio was WAY off. There were way too many hits accumulating in the first couple days it was up, like, way more than usual, even though kudos were accumulating at the correct rate? It was strange. And I did feel like that one got slightly less attention than some of the others, but that might be a mind trick based on that weirdly inflated hit count. Most fun story to write: Hm, I got a kick out of doing the twitter ficlet, and I wrote the constellations aligned in basically one sitting, so. Story with the single sexiest moment: This is one of the few years I have a lot to choose from. I think John's slow, intoxicated seduction in the constellations aligned probably wins that award. Definitely sexier than the sweet and kind of goofy sex scene in i saw the whole story unwind or the contemplative one in but i won't go far away. Story with the single sweetest moment: Hmmmmmmmm. "Sweet" is kind of my whole deal, and I like to think there's a lot of sweetness in my stories overall. I'm going to choose i saw the whole story unwind for this one and pin the sweetest moment in question as either Alex and John driving up to Peekskill or the two of them talking after Alex's nightmare. Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: Nothing really. Nothing cracky for me this year. Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: I mean, this whole series has been a lesson in picking apart these characters and seeing how they tick. So. Hardest story to write: i saw the whole story unwind, for sure. Jesus, it took me forever to finish and I was entirely despairing during parts of it. Biggest Disappointment: Just that I didn't finish more, I think. Biggest Surprise: People actually getting so into the ghosthunters. I honestly didn't expect anyone to read any of these stories and to have a tiny group of people who seem to eagerly await each new part...it really warms my heart and makes me so happy. I can't overstate who wonderfully surprising that has been. Most Unintentionally Telling Story: I think there are a lot of places where I project pretty hard on John, or maybe it's that I use a lot of my own experiences to color some of his? We don't actually have much in common besides being gay and being depressed, and I'm older and (I hope) wiser, but, you know, mental illness is a deep well to mine for content. I'd also say I mine a lot of my Jersey shit for Herc and that Molly is the closest thing this series has to a Mary Sue. I'm not into science or math, but I am a cheerfully sarcastic fat brunette lesbian who spends a lot of time whining "why don't girls like me?" and as Opinions about pizza. Plans for the next year: I'm gonna say 300k published words next year. I'd like to post at least the next three ghosthunters anchor stories, maybe venture outside ghosthunters for Hamilton related shit? Pick up my MG novel again. Set a writing schedule and try to stick to it. Leave more comments. Try to put some more good in the world, because it's gonna be a shitty, shitty year.

[beingmad2017-blog]

Making an funding in Assets - What's the High-quality Manner to buy Condo Property?

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Making an funding in Assets - What's the High-quality Manner to buy Condo Property?

Investing in Assets

What is the Satisfactory Manner to buy Rental Assets?

The query you need to ask yourself is – Am I buying this belonging as an investment?

Now, this looks as if a pretty silly query, right? However, in fact, many human beings (myself protected) have made a buying choice on the premise that they love the “Belongings” no longer the “funding.”

Belongings

What do I mean? Nicely you want to prevent and ask yourself do I truly love Making fine investments in Assets or do I actually like to personal Belongings. Many have sold a “funding Belongings” on the premise that they “favored” it, in the vicinity of because they had calculated it might provide a first rate move back.

Whilst Making fine investments in Belongings you must continually run your numbers through a Belongings funding calculator before determining whether or not or now not to even look at a Belongings, not to mention purchase it!

My first CBD Apartment – aka “Making an investment in property owners for Fools!”

I would constantly need to very own a bit of the CBD. Growing up as a child I cherished touring the ���town” to study the skyscrapers and imagined coming properly here for paintings like my Dad did every morning. Fine, I was Making an investment in Property . I was Investing my emotional security in a Belongings area! So that you can see pretty definitely that it changed into an emotional, rather than a hard-headed desire to shop for a newly complete one-bed room unit again in the early 2000s. It becomes simply something I might continually favor to “have.”

I do not forget using around the internal town with an extensively identified Belongings spruiker looking at projects he became worried with. Of direction, his stage of involvement changed into as a draw close salesman. A unit became to be had for approximately $230k. As a more youthful couple, my wife and I mentioned the pros and cons and I determined in competition to the advice of my wife that this could no longer be this kind of great idea.

On the equal time, every other unit had grown to be available in the internal city block of flats that I used to be presently dwelling in. It modified into to be had at a similar rate. My wife counseled me to take into account this as an alternative. My “adviser” had discouraged me on the premise that I would be placing all me eggs in an unmarried basket. There was a few truth to this recommendation so I accompanied my “dream” of a condominium in the “city”.

When I went to the workplace to signal the papers I don’t forget being advised that the authentic unit will become not to be had, However, a one of a kind one on a better ground grow to be, at a higher fee! I stated Appropriate sufficient, No trouble like we Aussies have a tendency to do. Then I used to be offered with the choice to shop for a “furnishings bundle” for an extra $20k. This may “guarantee” a Condominium pass again of 8% to me for the primary 2 years of my quality investments. I hadn’t formerly considered this, However, of direction, I stated “Certain” recognize and became informed what a sensible desire I had made. (Of route this made my experience tremendous approximately myself!)

The reality becomes I bought the unit no longer on the concept of its capability financial pass back However it is straight away emotional go lower back. I in no Manner did emerge as residing in it or maybe spending a single night there, even though I might regularly wander beyond and gaze up at my balcony and marvel how “cool” it’d be to stay proper here.

In truth, the Belongings have become a whole drain on my financial institution stability because of the high fees related to the not unusual areas collectively with pool and gymnasium system. The rent by no means paid for the outgoings and I lived inside the desire that the rate would possibly pass up so I ought to make a “paper” income at the least!

Now someday later I did come to be selling the unit for around $300k, so it changed a ways from a complete catastrophe. In the end, I was very glad to promote and phone it even. In fact, the fee to me grows to be a possibility rate. What else may additionally need to I have been doing with my cash?

I looked these days for income data At the city block in a query and determined a comparable unit sold for $355k, approx. 10 years after my initial purchase. presently within the inner city block, I was dwelling at, fees are over $650k. Keep in mind that 10 years ago the one’s houses had been selling for approximately the equal rate. If I had listened greater to my spouse and much less to my personal emotion I’d have ended up $300k better off!

What did I learn? I found out that even because it’s amazing to take note of “advice”, be aware that every now and then advice might be just a little biased! I have discovered to keep in mind my very own instincts extra and weigh advice in the direction of what Understand to be genuine and less expensive. The reason I preferred the Rental in my own block turn out to be that it become located Well. It modified into quiet, had views, changed into close to the metropolis, walk to tram, bus, and train and There has been no excessive-rise in the place. The place couldn’t be quick re-evolved and units delivered. In quick, the amenity turned into perfect and There was not going to be any new homes brought inside the foreseeable destiny. This supposed There was a cap on shipping.

inside the metropolis here isn’t a cap on delivering. There are various inclinations beneath manufacturing at any given time. I might be more than happy to stay in many of them. However, I would not purchase then as an investment! Except they were in a landmark building of a few sort there’s no shortage rate in them. They’ll be changed without issue.

If certainly one in all your acquaintances wants to sell and wants to transport speedy, bet what. They set the rate on your unit. You’ve got sincerely no manage over the market. Irrespective of what you do to your very very own residing space the complete fee of the block might be decided through factors out of doors your manage.

Making an investment in Assets for cash flow or for the increase?

funding

Permits are honest. The general public is Making an investment in Assets due to the truth we anticipate that charges are very in all likelihood to move up! Rather all and sundry realize approximately “terrible gearing”. In essence, it approaches we’re capable of write of our “losses” on our investment in opposition to a different vicinity of earnings. I do no longer disagree with the idea, we ought so that you can weigh our earnings towards our losses and pay tax On the internet result. However, if all we very very own are “investments” which might be make a “loss” and we’re offsetting that in opposition to an “advantage” from our process, it certainly is now not definitely smart Making an investment is it?

occasionally a property owners is probably developing in cost at an extra rate than we should expect to make a coins income from our funding. This is not constantly the case as you could see from my enjoy inside the Melbourne CBD. However at what point does this quit to be a legitimate cause for figuring out to invest of even “preserve” and present investment? Steve McKnight from property owners Com once said something very illuminating at an occasion I attended. Essentially he said we ought to do an audit of our Property portfolio each year and re-test whether we ought to keep or sell every Belonging!

Significantly. I by no means concept I used to be going to promote something – Ever!

Early on in my property owners adventure, I would determine I used to be going to “Gather” Assets. buy and never promote! That changed into my motto. As quickly as I would pay down the loan I would be sitting on a nest egg and having rent more than cover my outgoings.

However, take into account this! Real global instance –

My unit in internal Melbourne right now could be well worth about $650k and but it’d command a weekly Rental of round $480. it’s miles about $25k Apartment annually.

The yield is, therefore, 25k/650k yearly or three.eight% of the charge.

Setting apart such things as loan payments, there are despite the fact that constant costs on any Assets – In my case, they include for the closing economic twelve months:

Council Quotes $820 Water $945 Coverage $302 Owners Employer $1660 Agent costs $1815 Renovation $890 Popular consistent expenses for the year $6430 This reduced the entire earnings to ($25000-$6430)=$18570

Now my actual annual go back is eighteen.5k/650k = 2.9%

Of direction feels like Agent costs and Proprietors, Corporation isn’t always continually relevant However they serve to show that in the actual international the real go back may be masses much less than a simple headline figure.

If I embody my hobby prices (which nevertheless exist) I must deduct a few other ($150000*6%)=$9000 from my profits.

This decreased the entire actual profits to ($18570-9000)=$9570

Now my Actual annual return at the asset price is nine.5k/650k =1.5%

have to I promote this Property?

there may be no right or incorrect solution. sometimes I say Positive and my spouse says NO! occasionally I say No and my spouse says NO! Do you see a pattern right here?

There may be no right solution due to the reality absolutely everyone has unique needs, has exceptional capabilities and is coming from an awesome base and most significantly – all of us want diverse things! It is predicated upon to your situations, your circle of relatives state of affairs, the personalities of you or your accomplice and your goals in existence.

If our fundamental purpose in existence become to increase our coins on coins pass lower back or all our Assets then it might be to promote up and make investments some location else (assuming I may need to count on a greater cross lower back than 1.5%!) Having stated all that I nonetheless love property owners , and I love Investing in Belongings or assets.

Belongings

it is quite viable to like the concept of Assets without loving Investing in property owners . In fact, Maximum Belongings that you’ll “love” will in all likelihood be quite darn vain as a funding. Do now not be pressured.

could I select to make investments $650k of my real cash in this funding right now of it had been available on the market? possibly no longer! – So why am I, however, keeping it? I really like it and plan to stay in it.

That may be a question only YOU need to ask yourself and solution on a case by using case basis. I’ve looked long and hard at my personal situation and decided to preserve for now based on family reasons, no longer Investing motives.