Castles in the air, or maybe not, with a dash of rivalry

Chatting at dinner tonight with youngest, she said that she was going to buy a castle in France. It was just so much better value than New York real estate! Now, courtesy of Buzz, I give you the comparison. 

This is the chateau. The description reads:

This 12-bedroom, 6-bathroom, 12,916-square-foot castle is like a fairy tale come true. With over 42 acres of land, a guesthouse, and a beautiful view of Touraine, France, you’ll have no issues entertaining friends.

**Knight in shining armor not included.**

The price? An absolute snap at just $US3.8 million. By contrast, this is the the New York apartment. The caption reads:

Here’s a 5-bedroom, 1,331-square-foot townhouse in the Bronx. The bars on the window will help prevent burglary and are probably a fire hazard.

  And the price? Just $US4.9 million.

I have to say that's a rather grotty apartment. I remarked in passing, I had Bronte in mind among other suburbs, that Sydney might dwarf both,

Eldest, despite her new and very elegant French jacket purchased recently in Paris, did not seem suitably impressed even at the prospect of staying on one of her planned shopping trips. I had the strong impression that things like upkeep were crossing her mind. And how was youngest to pay for it all?

Youngest was not put off. The money would come from her new, best selling novel whose publication was to be financed via crowd funding. Mind you, that's not quite as silly as it may sound. She completed her first novel in manuscript, Blood Cross, when she was, what, fifteen? It was actually a ripping good yarn. She is heavily editing a later epic with the aim of publishing mid next year.

Now my girls are in no way competitive. Perish the thought! Thoughts of being a CEO or a best selling author would never cross their minds. Nor would youngest even think of entering into competition with he father.

Given this, I just note in that in response to a question, I said that my next publication (two chapters in a book) was coming out later this year. I asked innocently (tongue firmly against cheek), could I count enough of these as a single publication?

Youngest looked at me kindly. If you get four books with at least 25% of the writing yours, I will count it as one book.

You will understand that I am not in any way competitive myself. Besides, what father would compete with his own daughter?  Surely that would be wrong? I just note for the record, and it has nothing to do with this discussion, that my target is to get my first e-book out on management early next year.

As i said, i am not competitive, However, i do reserve the right to poke my tongue out at youngest! But that will be a secret between us.