So as you may, or may not, have noticed I've gone on a bit of a writing hiatus since about Christmas time. Well here's what happened: my laptop that I have had for the last 7 years decided its part in my story was ended. I sat down on the couch opened it up and pushed the power button only to discover that while the media drive was kicking up and the power light was turning on, the machine itself did nothing. The screen stayed black. Thanks to my awesome, amazingly talented brother in law who knows how these machines work, and are dismantled, the hard drive and my files were saved. We thought we might be able to revive the machine so we put in a new processor (which didn't work) then we dismantled it and pulled the cmos battery (which also didn't work) and after all of that decided it was the motherboard that was gone. After a lot of thought I have just decided that rather than put more money into it and pull it apart again I'd let it die peacefully. So today my laptop has officially joined its predecessors in the computer after world. I am so incredibly sad about it because this laptop got me through college, the last two years of Nano writing, and I finished my very first completed manuscript on that machine. It almost feels like I've had a pet die. Rest in peace my laptop friend.
In the mean time, we've decided that our tax return will probably end up going toward a new machine since it is nearly impossible to work on a desktop computer with a two year old trying to be oh so helpful and push all the buttons on the machine. Unfortunately until I can get a new laptop my writing has come to an abrupt and screeching halt. So if you were hoping to see any of my new material or ideas you'll have to wait because for the moment we are experiencing technical difficulties.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
The almost lost stories!
I learned a very fundamental lesson in a very big way these past few weeks and fellow writer's don't make the same mistake!
Back in 2008 when I was going back to complete my last year of college I purchased a very nice Dell laptop. I used it all the time for classes and homework, carrying it back and forth between campus and home but once school was over and I'd graduated the laptop transformed into the writing tool of choice. The convenience of sitting in the same room as my husband or daughter and typing made my laptop indispensable! I eventually ended up with 3 story starts on there (like a chapter or two of book ideas/starters), 1 completed rough draft, 1 completed final draft, and this years Nano project. Now keep in mind the completed manuscripts are around 50,000- 90,000 words a piece.
One day I thought to myself, "hey you should back up" and I did back up to Dropbox. Smart right? You'd think so. Well rewind to about 2 weeks ago. I'd just gotten the kiddo ready for bed and went to sit down at the laptop when every writer's worst nightmare happened. I turned it on and the screen stayed black. "No! No!" I banged on the keyboard hoping it would bring the computer back to life but despite whirring and sounding like it was booting up it wouldn't do anything. I already knew that the work I had done over the past 2 weeks was on that machine since I hadn't backed up recently but then I went to my other computer only to discover that Dropbox didn't get all of the files that I had tried to save on there. I had about 2 years worth of stuff that was sitting on that laptop and only that laptop.
Long story short I ran the computer over to my very tech-savvy brother in law who managed to get my files off of the hard drive so I am no longer sick to my stomach about the files, I have my work back (hallelujah!) but the computer is still dead. We're looking at options to get it going again but I learned a very important lesson. Back up your work! Every time, all the time! Don't make a mistake like I did. I was very lucky to get back what I had but it will never happen again. I've got a jump drive now and am looking into external hard drives!
Back in 2008 when I was going back to complete my last year of college I purchased a very nice Dell laptop. I used it all the time for classes and homework, carrying it back and forth between campus and home but once school was over and I'd graduated the laptop transformed into the writing tool of choice. The convenience of sitting in the same room as my husband or daughter and typing made my laptop indispensable! I eventually ended up with 3 story starts on there (like a chapter or two of book ideas/starters), 1 completed rough draft, 1 completed final draft, and this years Nano project. Now keep in mind the completed manuscripts are around 50,000- 90,000 words a piece.
One day I thought to myself, "hey you should back up" and I did back up to Dropbox. Smart right? You'd think so. Well rewind to about 2 weeks ago. I'd just gotten the kiddo ready for bed and went to sit down at the laptop when every writer's worst nightmare happened. I turned it on and the screen stayed black. "No! No!" I banged on the keyboard hoping it would bring the computer back to life but despite whirring and sounding like it was booting up it wouldn't do anything. I already knew that the work I had done over the past 2 weeks was on that machine since I hadn't backed up recently but then I went to my other computer only to discover that Dropbox didn't get all of the files that I had tried to save on there. I had about 2 years worth of stuff that was sitting on that laptop and only that laptop.
Long story short I ran the computer over to my very tech-savvy brother in law who managed to get my files off of the hard drive so I am no longer sick to my stomach about the files, I have my work back (hallelujah!) but the computer is still dead. We're looking at options to get it going again but I learned a very important lesson. Back up your work! Every time, all the time! Don't make a mistake like I did. I was very lucky to get back what I had but it will never happen again. I've got a jump drive now and am looking into external hard drives!
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