Help Us Catch A Break

I don’t like doing this, but I am at my wits’ end. 2019 has been an absolutely hellish year for my family and me. It seems the universe is determined to keep throwing up roadblocks in front of me... specifically, chair-shaped ones. 

I’ll start at the beginning. I’m a writer, specifically science fiction and fantasy. Since I’m independently published, all of the duties of a traditional publishing house fall to me, which includes promotion. Part of my job is traveling to different fan conventions, speaking with fans, doing readings and signings, and of course selling my books. 

You can find my work at www.adamjwhitlatch.com

Just before the beginning of the year, my mid-2011 iMac bit the dust, and I was able to borrow $1,200 from my parents to pay for a replacement, but I had to pay them back as soon as possible. 

As I’m sure you’re all aware, this summer has been hotter than usual. Last year, our air conditioner broke down. Luckily, we have a warranty, so we called the company that installed it. They sent a technician and he diagnosed the problem as a faulty coil, then ranted at length about the factory making them being moved to Mexico. Well... he never came back to install the part. A month later, we called them again. This time, they sent TWO technicians who came to the same conclusion: faulty coil. Guess what... they never came back. This summer, I called them again and demanded to know why they hadn’t fixed it yet. They claimed they had. After I insisted they had not, they came out, admitted their error, and replaced the faulty coil... then presented us with a $250 bill for labor!!! After making us wait literally A FULL YEAR for a repair covered by our warranty, they had the nerve to bill us. 

Understandably, I placed that bill at the bottom of our growing stack. If we can wait a year for service, they can wait to be paid. Right? Seems fair to me.

As I mentioned before, I travel to promote my work and expand my readership. Of course with travel comes vehicle maintenance, and we’ve had a lot of it. After a show in Minneapolis, my van needed new struts, brakes, and ball joints, which set us back over $1,200. After another show in Oklahoma, the van desperately needed tires and an alignment to prevent the new tires from being ruined in the same way as the old ones. That was another $400.

This doesn’t include over $600 in repairs made to my wife’s car over the summer. 

While I was in Oklahoma, the defrost coil on our refrigerator shorted out and needed to be replaced. There goes another $350. Bye bye, book sales!


Two weeks ago, someone or something smashed my van’s rear window. Our insurance covered it, but we still had to pay a $100 deductible to Safelite for the repairs. Now, they promptly came out to replace the glass two days later, and they did a good job... 

Except...


THEY DIDN’T PUT IT BACK TOGETHER RIGHT! There’s a plastic piece above the rear window that houses the third brake light and washer fluid dispenser. The Safelite technician didn’t reattach it properly, and the piece flew off during travel, leaving my van without a brake light. I’m still waiting to hear what Safelite plans to do about this.

Now for the kicker... the most bizarre part of this INSANE year... 

Last night, our family went to town to pick up a few things after I returned home from a moderately profitable convention in Michigan. On the way home, in my wife’s car, we struck something laying in the middle of the road at 65 MPH. It tore off a section of the front bumper, took out at least two lights, and part of the rear bumper. That’s the damage we can see, at least. 


While my wife called 9-1-1, I walked back nearly 1/4 of a mile to look for the thing we hit. A semi almost hit it, overcorrected, and swerved onto the opposite shoulder... nearly hitting me, but I managed to dive out of the way.

That thing about your whole life flashing before your eyes... Can confirm. 

So what did we hit, you ask?

Would you believe a damn CHAIR!?

While I was trying to get a photo for the police and insurance company, another semi came along and obliterated it. I hauled the bulk of the debris into the ditch and returned to the car to wait for the police. A very kind deputy soon arrived to check on us, stopped traffic to remove the rest of the debris I’d missed, and filled out an accident report for us.

My wife called Progressive to file a claim today, and we have an appointment with one of the nearby GM dealerships, but our deductible is going to be $500.

In the blink of an eye, all of my profits from the weekend in Michigan are gone. We were counting on those sales to take care of overdue bills, including some of the aforementioned car repair bills. 

Both of our credit cards are maxed out, and with all of these unexpected bills coming in one after the other, we can’t even afford to pay the minimum monthly payments. 

Add in a few non-financial stresses, and we’re feeling very overwhelmed right now. We hate asking for help, but the universe is determined to deal us a bad hand, and we’re desperate. I honestly don’t know if $5,000 is enough to dig us out of this hole, but at the very least it’s a start. 

ANY help is greatly appreciated, and I thank you for taking the time to read about my woes. I hope this summer has treated you better than it has us, because I wouldn’t wish this much bad luck on anyone.