Life Got Wild Last Week, And I Wasn't Ready 🔧⚙️
Aug 05, 2025 5:39 pm
With an email title like that, I'd better dive straight into the madness my husband and I faced last week.
First off, yes, we do own our house. And yes, it's a little shack built in the 1940s. Which means we end up having to attempt some wild repairs every so often.
Neither of us is particularly 'skilled' at home repairs.
But after we got quoted $2,400 to get our water heater replaced, well.... 🤯
I don't sell enough books yet to be THAT rich!
One day maybe? 🫣
Water Heater Replacement
On Tuesday last week, we woke up to the dreadful news that our somewhat elderly water heater—which sits oh-so-peacefully inside our tiny kitchen—decided to release all of its contents onto the floor. 😵 Which resulted in an extensive online search for a local plumber with reviews claiming 'affordability.'
Found one.
When the dude came out, we got the quote listed above.
Yeah, that ain't happening. 🤦♀️
On Thursday and Friday last week, I spent hours watching YouTube videos on how to replace a water heater. Read the installation guide for the model we have (since we'd replace it with the same model). Wrote out a list of each step required to remove the old heater and hook up the new one.
Talked to my dad and found out we might have to solder copper pipes. 💀
Learned about SharkBite fittings thanks to a YouTube search about soldering pipes. (Probably the best lightbulb moment in this entire process!)
Then late Saturday night my husband began the grunt work, since I'm way too girlie to loosen plumbing connections. 😅 Things did NOT go well that night, as we learned we needed to return to Home Depot for some parts we hadn't thought about. Went to bed after successfully removing the old heater and setting the new one in place (without its connections connected).
Sunday at lunchtime the process began again. Did more online research. Got some SharkBite connectors. My husband had to cut only 2 pipes, neither of which were copper. Ran the water through the heater as instructed, which resulted in NO LEAKS! 🎉
Then we connected the wires (which were ginormous and un-twisty, so the YouTube videos weren't quite accurate there). Got everything sealed up. Turned on the hot water. And....
It works! 🙌
Spent around $700 on the new water heater and parts. Saved $1,700. Pretty sure that's a win, even if my brain's been too fried to work on the next part of Helena and Konstantin's story until yesterday. I'll admit it's been a struggle to get my 'writer brain' creating like it should for this forthcoming story. But I'm pressing onward in hopes we can all see the dawn after Claimed by the Undead ended on such a harrowing note.
Itch.io Bundle: Staycation
Now that you've heard a plumbing story you probably didn't want to hear, how about we see what's happening over on Itch.io this week?
This email is dropping into your inbox a little too late (sorry about that!), but if you happen to be reading this BEFORE 6pm EDT on Tuesday, you'll be able to check out and buy the Around The World In 12 Books bundle. Perfect for a staycation if you're stuck inside right now. Discover compelling adventures set in India, Connecticut, Germany, Austria, London, the four seas, and more!
If you're reading this after 6pm EDT, you've missed out on your chance to go around the world in 12 deeply-discounted books. But more bundles are on the way later this month and in September, and next time I shouldn't be telling you about them at the last second.
(As long as my husband and I don't face another sudden repair).
Other Books You Might Like
Found two indie books to keep your imagination occupied this week. Both are available on multiple retailers and Kobo Plus, so you've got options. Whether you're ready to read a fairy tale retelling or a romance set during a masquerade ball, my fellow authors have got you covered.
He hates mortals. She defends them.
Twenty-year-old Mira is training to be a Keeper of the Wards, a secret society within the mortal guard. With it comes magic, but she has to earn it first. She's on a quest to prove herself when the powerful enemy queen—with a penchant for tarot—threatens the princess and the alliance her kingdom so desperately needs. Powerless against the magic and running out of time, Mira's only hope is to deal with the threat head-on.
When Mira confronts an enemy breaching the kingdom’s wards, she’s captured by the Raven—the ruthless and enigmatic second-in-command to the enemy queen. When secrets unravel, loyalty will be tested, and enemies will become unlikely allies. Together, they must stop the enemy queen’s twisted arcana magic from destroying the realms, but it will force Mira to face her deepest fears.
Will Mira accept who she truly is or will the realms fall to darkness?
He ruined her once with a whisper. Now she’ll ruin them both with a lie.
Lady Clara Mapleton believes in love—the kind worth waiting for, not the kind brokered in drawing rooms or secured by titles. It certainly doesn't include Crispin Hallworth, Earl of Oakford, a man so steeped in scandal he’s earned the name Devil of Oakford.
But when a masked kiss at a lavish masquerade threatens to destroy her reputation, Clara does the unthinkable to protect herself: she claims they are engaged.
Crispin is stunned. Clara is the one woman he’s never managed to charm or forget. A fake betrothal might serve them both... if they can resist the temptation simmering behind their practiced roles long enough to find a way out.
With every stolen glance and every staged touch, hatred gives way to something far more dangerous—desire.
I hope you enjoy all your reading adventures this week. In the meantime I don't have any excuse not to crawl back into the writing cave and reconnect with Helena and her Black Priest muse—who seems to be contemplating tragic possibilities at present.
Let's try to pull him back from that. Send me all your writing vibes, please!
Also, let me know if YOU have ever replaced your water heater yourself. Whether you expected to do it or if it snuck up on you. Do any actual plumbers read my books? Tell me! I want to know. 🤩
Talk to you soon,
C.L. Carhart
Around The World Bundle (ends 6pm EDT on Tuesday):
https://itch.io/b/3163/around-the-world-in-12-books
Start Helena's saga with Konstantin:
https://bf.clcarhart.com/fd9deoy799
Learn how Helena and Konstantin first met:
https://bf.clcarhart.com/z0k1vqfsss
Browse all of my books: