Oh, NaNoWriMo, you always seem like such a good idea at the time…
Two years ago, I was happily plugging away at my NaNo novel when–my laptop died. Just died. On Thanksgiving, With a whole lot of tears, prayers, and desperate promises to whomever was listening, I managed to get it to boot up one last time so I could get my project off of it (yes, I know, always back up your work, and I do. Just not as often as I should, obviously) and then woke up at 4 AM on Black Friday to camp out at our Radio Shack to buy a new one.
And then I went home to set it up, do some quick shopping, and WRITE. Crisis averted, though my pocketbook was much thinner.
Last year was without major technological incident. I should have known.
Thursday of this week–almost halfway done with the month–my laptop’s monitor cracks. Totally out of the blue–I used it in the afternoon, hibernated it, set it aside, and when I came back to it six hours later–A CRACK. I could see well enough to get my latest version of my novel onto a flash drive, fortunately, so I was able to write that night with the desktop, which is usually the Mini Moes’ domain. On the plus side, they weren’t down on the desktop while I was writing, giggling like loons. On the minus side, the keyboard felt all wrong to my fingers, and the F key sticks.
Not at all convenient when your hero’s name is Frank and the heroine is frequently called Miss Fairfax by those near and dear to her, believe me.
After some Internet research (Google is my bestie!), I decided not to burden Mini Moe #1 with the task of trying to fix it, no matter how many websites claim the fix is easy and for total beginners. Instead, I dropped my baby off at a local repair shop that had a replacement screen in stock and charges a flat fee for repairs AND is only fifteen minutes from my house. Fingers crossed, I’ll have it back tomorrow afternoon.
And be two hundred dollars poorer.
But I’ll be able to write again, as God intended–on my own laptop.
Despite the impending crisis and novelling stress, I somehow still managed to get some reading done this week–though it was mostly novellas. Five of them, if you’re counting: ‘Tis the Season to Kiss Santa, ‘Tis the Season to Get Lucky, Neighbors, On His List, and Roman Holiday 1: Chained. The last two are highly recommended, especially if you’ve had a week like mine and you need a good laugh.
I also finished a few longer books: The Christmas Cookie Collection by Lori Wilde, Mary Balogh’s The Arrangement and Definitely, Maybe in Love and am working my way through Mine by Katy Evans and Read it and Weep by Jenn McKinlay. Remy, the next book after Mine, is next on the list, then Bittersweet Magic by Nina Croft.
And yes, probably a few more novellas, because they’re instant gratification and I’m really supposed to be writing more this month than reading anyway. As soon as I get my laptop back, that is.
On audio, I finally finished The House of Hades–fabulous read! Not as cliffhanger-ish at the end as Mark of Athena, thank goodness, so the wait for the next book won’t be quite as painful. I really do think I like the Heroes of Olympus series even better than the Percy Jackson and the Olympians one–I just love the blend of Greek and Roman mythology in them, as well as the expanded cast of characters.
And for your reading pleasure: Barnes and Noble posted a “10 Signs Someone You Know is Doing National Novel Writing Month” blog post earlier this week that I just had to share. Do YOU know the signs? Numbers 4, 7, and 8 are my favorites…and can I just say that 8 is so, so true? Not to mention, grossly unfair.
Tiny bridges of lies and betrayal indeed….
What punctuation mark, if any, do you have a love/hate relationship with? (And if your answer is none, why not?)
Update: My laptop screen has been replaced, but apparently now it WON’T TURN ON. Yeah. Had to leave it at the repair shop–I am clearly CURSED. The “boss” will look at it first thing on Monday. MONDAY. So I am writing on the sticky-keyboard desktop until then, and HAVE NO LAPTOP TO HOOK UP TO THE SMARTBOARD AT SCHOOL ON MONDAY.
I might need to take a personal “mental health” day Monday, because obviously I’m hanging by a thread here. On the plus side, I do have 35 Catholic school children witnesses that my laptop was absolutely able to turn on Friday afternoon, before I took it in….
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