Hillary & David's House Fund
Donation protected
Hi. I'm Hillary. I write books under a couple of names--Hillary Monahan, Eva Darrows, Thea DeSalle. I'm a feminist and a queer activist and generally a lot of fun at parties if by "fun" we mean I'm in the corner stealing your silverware.
I want to tell you a story. Bear with me, okay?
The dude in the picture is David, my husband, who's a pretty great guy. I've known him for twenty years. We've been through a lot together. Ups, downs, in betweens, but we've had each other through it all. We'd like to go through a lot more together, but in a positive way. See, we're supposed to be going in for IVF in January/February. I'm getting long in the tooth and it's now or never. I've always had reproductive problems, and I won't lie, the last six months have been a struggle. There have been a lot of crazy-making pills, three procedures, and one surgery with another on the horizon. The medical bills have been steep, but we've justified it as being worth it. It's a kid. We'd like one of those if it's possible. Maybe it won't even be a serial killer.
Enter the House Thing. David and I bought this house seven years ago. Our first home, it was supposed to be where a lot of awesome stuff happened. Except six months after we bought the house, David lost the job he'd had for ten years. His entire department got cut. He was on unemployment for almost two years and my solo salary from my then-day job wasn't enough to float us. We managed to make it up eventually, but it put off the kid thing. We got comfortable, started thinking about family again, and my payment on one of my books took an extra six months, so we were once again behind on the mortgage. We paid it off, we were okay, and then it happened again--another delayed payment from a publisher. All of these ups and downs with money took their toll on our family-making. See, the crappy part about being an author is you don't get weekly paychecks. I get big payouts of advances and on-delivery twice a year, but by the time it shows up, I'm usually already behind on stuff. I never felt stable enough to try for the baby. We were always too precarious.
I'm now in my late thirties and once again, we're looking at foreclosure if we can't get current on our mortgage. I haven't got payments due in from publishers until spring at this juncture. We'll be able to make up what we owe then and a little more, but the bank's not okay with that wait and informed me today that if I'm not paid off by the end of January, they're going to take our home. There are things we could do--I could go back to a day job, for example, and give up writing for a 9 - 5--but IVF.
Another delay on the kid. Y'all, I can't wait forever. My body's not getting any younger. Babies, if you can't have them au naturel, are expensive to grow in jars, come to find out. Infertility is hard.
This is a lot of personal stuff, I know, but I want everyone to understand where David and I are at. We want this family but without a house to have it in, what's the point? And with the amount of medical attention I've needed to get here, our resources are tapped. Medical stuff adds up quickly. I'd like to be able to keep writing as my full time gig. I make decent money (when it eventually gets here) but . . . behind. Perpetually behind.
I started this GoFundMe at the advice of friends. It's a lot of money, and I don't expect to make it, but if we do, saving the house means maybe I can keep my IVF appointment and not have to give up on that particular baby dream. There aren't any guarantees for the future beyond I'll Tweet a lot and make inappropriate jokes whenever possible, but we've made some positive changes that I think will balance our finances in the long run (taking in a boarder, writing romances that pay quarterly, etc.) It's just not an immediate fix.
If you've made it this far in the story, I thank you. And if you can help, I thank you. It's not easy to swallow the pride and come clean about how difficult things have been and how hard something like having a baby and infertility is when the money is always such a struggle, but here we are. I'd like a house after January. I'd like a family to put in that house. If you can help with that, you'll have my forever appreciation.
Much love,
Hillary
I want to tell you a story. Bear with me, okay?
The dude in the picture is David, my husband, who's a pretty great guy. I've known him for twenty years. We've been through a lot together. Ups, downs, in betweens, but we've had each other through it all. We'd like to go through a lot more together, but in a positive way. See, we're supposed to be going in for IVF in January/February. I'm getting long in the tooth and it's now or never. I've always had reproductive problems, and I won't lie, the last six months have been a struggle. There have been a lot of crazy-making pills, three procedures, and one surgery with another on the horizon. The medical bills have been steep, but we've justified it as being worth it. It's a kid. We'd like one of those if it's possible. Maybe it won't even be a serial killer.
Enter the House Thing. David and I bought this house seven years ago. Our first home, it was supposed to be where a lot of awesome stuff happened. Except six months after we bought the house, David lost the job he'd had for ten years. His entire department got cut. He was on unemployment for almost two years and my solo salary from my then-day job wasn't enough to float us. We managed to make it up eventually, but it put off the kid thing. We got comfortable, started thinking about family again, and my payment on one of my books took an extra six months, so we were once again behind on the mortgage. We paid it off, we were okay, and then it happened again--another delayed payment from a publisher. All of these ups and downs with money took their toll on our family-making. See, the crappy part about being an author is you don't get weekly paychecks. I get big payouts of advances and on-delivery twice a year, but by the time it shows up, I'm usually already behind on stuff. I never felt stable enough to try for the baby. We were always too precarious.
I'm now in my late thirties and once again, we're looking at foreclosure if we can't get current on our mortgage. I haven't got payments due in from publishers until spring at this juncture. We'll be able to make up what we owe then and a little more, but the bank's not okay with that wait and informed me today that if I'm not paid off by the end of January, they're going to take our home. There are things we could do--I could go back to a day job, for example, and give up writing for a 9 - 5--but IVF.
Another delay on the kid. Y'all, I can't wait forever. My body's not getting any younger. Babies, if you can't have them au naturel, are expensive to grow in jars, come to find out. Infertility is hard.
This is a lot of personal stuff, I know, but I want everyone to understand where David and I are at. We want this family but without a house to have it in, what's the point? And with the amount of medical attention I've needed to get here, our resources are tapped. Medical stuff adds up quickly. I'd like to be able to keep writing as my full time gig. I make decent money (when it eventually gets here) but . . . behind. Perpetually behind.
I started this GoFundMe at the advice of friends. It's a lot of money, and I don't expect to make it, but if we do, saving the house means maybe I can keep my IVF appointment and not have to give up on that particular baby dream. There aren't any guarantees for the future beyond I'll Tweet a lot and make inappropriate jokes whenever possible, but we've made some positive changes that I think will balance our finances in the long run (taking in a boarder, writing romances that pay quarterly, etc.) It's just not an immediate fix.
If you've made it this far in the story, I thank you. And if you can help, I thank you. It's not easy to swallow the pride and come clean about how difficult things have been and how hard something like having a baby and infertility is when the money is always such a struggle, but here we are. I'd like a house after January. I'd like a family to put in that house. If you can help with that, you'll have my forever appreciation.
Much love,
Hillary
Organizer
Hillary Monahan
Organizer
Bridgewater, MA
