The Hard Way

June 30, 2007 | Writing

My grandfather used to there were two ways to go through life; the easy way and the hard way. An old chestnut, maybe, but one I happen to agree with. Like the situation I found myself in two weeks ago.

The hard drive died on my computer, taking with it all that I had saved on it. This included three completed MSs and my WIP. (Not to mention tons of scenes, research, crits and notes. Let’s not mention them because they are still sitting on the hard drive.) The short version of this story, DH managed to salvage my WIP and two completed MS’s. The only one I couldn’t get was Witch–it had been open when the computer crashed. I did find an old version of it from last summer on DH’s computer when I was about midway through the revisions. And a crit partner had chapters that I had posted from 17-24. So all is not lost. There’s a whole lot of work ahead of me, but it could have been much, MUCH worse.

Clearly, I would not have found myself in this situation had I been backing-up my work regularly. Now I am the back-up queen. I have back-ups of my back-ups. It’s all a touch of obsessive, but better that than finding myself in the same situation again. After all, I’d much rather go through life the easy way than the hard way.

Skunks and Other Happenings

June 5, 2007 | HellHound

So last week Hell Hound got sprayed by a skunk. Really, living here with such a bull for a dog, it was only a matter of time. We bathed him in a mix of vinegar, baking soda and dish soap (though there was a far more recommended recipe that uses peroxide instead of vinegar, but Hell Hound got sprayed in the face and we worried we’d get it in his eyes.) Luckily, he didn’t get bit. I’m a little behind on the rabies shots, but needless to say I have an appointment booked to get him caught up. And as if that wasn’t adventure enough for Hell Hound , while I was checking him for bites I found the beginning of a hotspot.

For anyone who owns dogs prone to hotspots, they know how quickly they can spread. Last year was the first time Hell Hound got them and it took me about a day and a half to realize what was wrong with him. By the time we took him to the vet, they had to shave a third of him. And then end result was a nearly $500.00 vet bill.

This time I caught it right away. It was just a small spot on his face that had barely started to spread. And this time my bill was only $80.00. As much as I hate to admit it, I probably wouldn’t have caught the hotspot so fast if he hadn’t been sprayed by the skunk. Fate is funny sometimes.

My writing has also taken an upswing. The WIP is continuing to come along nicely. I’m approaching the midpoint and I think I know how it’s going to end. But we’ll see. Anything can change.

I’m rewriting B&B again, having managed to work through the snag I’d wound up in. I sent a follow up letter to the editor who has LL so hopefully I get some kind of response soon. And no recent rejections for TWS. No news is good news.

I’m also toying with idea of writing a short story for a specific market. One wouldn’t assume this would be a challenge, but I don’t think I’ve written a short story since high school English class. Condensing an idea to between 10 and 20,000 words will be a challenge for me. But change is good. Or so they say.