This was a writer related post, but it got me thinking back. Many years ago my late father had a soft furnishing company. It was top of the line, but even so, he offered considerable discounts, think cost price, to relatives. His nephew never stepped up. Not once. They lived in an outdated apartment with the drapes in rags and no, they were not poor. If you both earn and you don’t spend, you have the money. They never took up a cost price offer, not even for scatter cushions.

I guess a person can get out of the habit of spending if they live their whole life never improving anything. My cousin’s wife still had a twin tub washer long after these became dinosaurs. Darn, it even had a mangle on the top. Does anyone remember what a mangle was, even? I feel kinda sad for them really. They had no children by choice, so they had the opportunity to treat themselves, and yet didn’t. I fail to see the point of endless hours spent and dire jobs when there is no carrot in the offing. I expect my cousin’s wife’s relatives got a nice next egg on her demise, after he went, but what about them? Where was their payout for the years of work? Not comfort, not home ownership, not even nice vacations. So sad.

Coming back into full circle, I guess this is why I don’t spam family and friends. It is there and I will give a discount as allowed by my publishers, but I will not push it down your throat. Speaking of which, I do have some copies of Darkspire Reaches that I can give a 20% discount on if anyone is interested. Postage and Packing to the States is another $7.60 CAD on top, but not out of line with what Amazon charges for a single purchase. Oh, and then there is one copy earmarked for that special person who gives the most interesting comment on the cover. I will cover the cost of postage for this to anywhere in the world.