Well, okay, it was the week before the week before Christmas. But honestly, it was a dark and stormy night. As in, hurricane force winds. I was holed up in my cabin on a small island trying to finish my novel. Rain and wind whipped around me, making me wonder when a tree would fall on the house. But I had only a few chapters left to write, and no people interruptions, so easy, right?
First my back went.
Okay, been there before. Just means I pull out my headphones and dictate through Dragon while lying in bed.
But no, the windstorm puts the power out, and my computer memory is almost gone.
Okay, no problem. With my remaining battery power, I’ll just print out my last chapter (by flashlight) and carry on by candlelight and pencil. And recharge the computer when the power comes on in the morning.
But no, the computer memory dies just as I push “print.”
Okay, go to bed, recharge the computer in the morning and carry on.
Meantime, crawl under a mountain of quilts as the cabin goes chilly, flashlight under my pillow. (The cat crawled under the mountain of quilts with me.)
But no. Upon waking, I learn that my power cord has died. Totally died. So I have no access to the novel in my computer. (Remember, I’m on a small island, must book a ferry and drive into the city to buy a new power cord.)
Had I backed everything up on a stick, I could have used my stick to plug into the library’s computer, or a friend’s. But no, hadn’t done that.
So, I carry on in pencil (in shorthand, for those of you old enough to know what that is, since it goes faster and saves on arm weariness), and now that I’m home with my new cord and a working laptop that is willing to reveal where I left off on this novel, I’m good to convert the scribbles to type and bring her on home: finish up those last few chapters. Right?
Except it’s the holidays. Maybe I’ll finish it after the holidays?
Happy holidays to everyone!
