I know that readers have been eagerly waiting for me to finish this and I have been anxious to get it done. That said I've hit two snags lately.
First, a few weekends back, I'm working away on the novel and step away from the computer for a minute. My eldest daughter gets on to do some schoolwork, which is necessary because - even though the kids have a relatively new laptop - I had failed to put MS Office on it. (Word, to be specific). When she leaves and I get back on - you guessed it - everything since the last save is gone. It's depressing, but I pour myself some liquid courage and dive back in, convinced I can make up the time. (I also load MS Office on the kids' laptop at the first opportunity.)
A week later, I'm working away on the novel when the screen goes fuzzy. (Actually, it's more like a shimmering.) Completely freaked, I look around just to make sure it isn't my eyes (thankfully it isn't), but packing up my desktop and racing out to get a diagnosis reveals that the graphics card has gone bad. I try a work-around or two, but ultimately end up buying and installing a new graphics card. It works for maybe a second - long enough for me to grab the latest version of Kid Sensation 6 (with only minimal work lost), but now the darn thing won't boot. However, I'm less worried about that - and having to get a new PC - than I am about getting my data off the hard drive. Thankfully, I've got an external hard drive that I back everything up to, so I think I'm safe. Unfortunately, when I go to retrieve my stuff from the external hard rive, there's nothing. It's been reformatted - most likely by the kids, who will randomly do stuff like that. At this point, I'm almost inconsolable.
Anyway, I spent almost every spare moment over the next week-and-a-half trying to get the PC working again, but to no avail. Reseating components, clearing CMOS, and so on... None of it did any good. From all indications, nothing was wrong; the thing just refused to work right. I finally gave up last week and put some effort into trying to find a decent Black Friday sale. The only silver lining: a last ditch effort to get my data off the hard drive actually worked, so at least I haven't lost anything. For those curious as to how, I used a Sabrent Hard Drive Docking Station:
I just pulled my hard drive out the PC, popped it into this little baby, and then connected it to another computer. Then it was just a matter of copying my data. As far as I'm concerned, this device - which, I believe, is sometimes called a hard drive enclosure - is a lifesaver. (Of course, it probably won't help if there's a problem with your hard drive. But as long as the issue is something else, one of these may help get your data off a computer that isn't working.)
So where does that leave things with Kid Sensation 6? Before my computer woes, I was a few days from finishing. Thankfully, that's still the case, so I anticipate finishing by the end of the week. Of course, I'm now definitive proof of Murphy's Law ("If anything can go wrong, it will") so just keep your fingers crossed that the next few days are smooth sailing on the writing front.
I just pulled my hard drive out the PC, popped it into this little baby, and then connected it to another computer. Then it was just a matter of copying my data. As far as I'm concerned, this device - which, I believe, is sometimes called a hard drive enclosure - is a lifesaver. (Of course, it probably won't help if there's a problem with your hard drive. But as long as the issue is something else, one of these may help get your data off a computer that isn't working.)So where does that leave things with Kid Sensation 6? Before my computer woes, I was a few days from finishing. Thankfully, that's still the case, so I anticipate finishing by the end of the week. Of course, I'm now definitive proof of Murphy's Law ("If anything can go wrong, it will") so just keep your fingers crossed that the next few days are smooth sailing on the writing front.
Sorry to hear about the computer troubles. Why is it that all computers go bad right as your about to be done something lol. Glad to hear book 6 is on the way. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving btw.
ReplyDeleteThanks, hope your holiday was great as well.
Deletewait so is the kid sensation book going to be out in a week in the shop or do you have to send it to your editor and get the cover page so it will be out later..?
ReplyDeleteStill have to send it to the editor, but she's aware that it will be en route shortly.
DeleteWhy do you hear about this happening to so many author's? Well I hope everything goes well for you and you can finish without another upset.
ReplyDeleteYou could also get a thumb drive that locks for back up data. they are pretty affordable. would help with the problems your having maintaining backups.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally back stuff up to a flash drive - usually when I'm going on the road or something. However, I typically just email the latest version to myself. I haven't actually heard of one that looks for backup data, so I'll have to check that out. However, the whole point of the external hard drive was to serve as a backup for everything - in fact, it's how I previously moved all my data a few years back from an older machine to the one that just crashed. I just didn't realize that somewhere along the way it got reformatted. (Guess I should have checked it regularly to make sure it was doing its job, but it worked so well the first time I didn't imagine there would be problems.)
Deleteyou could also using something like google chrome that will automatically save your data as well as keep it in the cloud so no matter what you can access it from anywhere you have wifi.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably me being cheap, but it seems that no one offers enough free cloud storage. It's all like 5 or 10 gigs - just enough to tease you, but to get more they want you to pony up some cash. (I suppose you could use multiple free accounts, but I don't want to have data lying all over the place.) At some point, I'll probably end up with a paid cloud account, but I'm just not there yet.
Deletehonestly, the $120 a year I spend on dropbox is worth it. Not only is everything backed up to the cloud, I also have all of my files on every device I own or use.For $10/month I get 1 TB of storage
DeleteMan, you sure know how to make a guy feel cheap, LOL. Seriously though, after this last fiasco I'm certainly thinking about it, but I'm not quite ready yet.
DeleteDropbox has a free version, not huge in terms of size but it should be enough for your needs.
DeleteYou could have a dedicated PC (tower/laptop/ultrabook) JUST for your writing with a small form factor usb flashdrive like the sandisc ultra fits for backup. Since you already use office check out Office 365 (if you haven't already). 365 gives you cloud based access to Office productivity software on any PC and store/backup any files on microsofts OneDrive.
ReplyDeleteoffice also has autosave options where you can set it to save at set intervals
DeleteA dedicated machine is the goal - probably a laptop for portability - so you've hit the nail on the head. And yes, the version of Office that I use does autosave at regular intervals (and if there's a shutdown of some sort it usually saves the last iteration as a new doc). I didn't get the latest version as a new doc the last two times, so something got changed in there (and again, I'm blaming the kids), but I've got tunnel-vision now in terms of finishing the book, so I'll address those other issues when I'm done.
DeleteUh oh sounds like someone got grounded.
DeleteLOL. She didn't get grounded, but we had a talk about how the next time I step away for a second and she decides she needs to use the computer, she needs to get the high sign from em first. (Basically, I need to save my work before she does anything.)
Deleteone word, googledocs, it is perfectly fine for your kids to do their homework and it is free!!
ReplyDeleteThey use Googledocs occasionally - usually when it's required for an assignment. Otherwise it's MS Office: Word, Excel, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you just use a d3dicated flash drive as backup that the kids can't go near. Every time you write next bit save to computer and flash drive. You can even get thumb print ones now so kids can't mess with it. Been a week since your post so hoping e-book will be out soon?
ReplyDeleteIf you bothered to read a few comments you would see he said about a week away from finished writing it. That didnt include having his editor go over it. Whos to say hos editor didnt notice something he needed to go back and fix. Give him some time im sure this part of releasing a book is very hectic and takes time.
DeleteI've got some TV remotes that the kids aren't allowed to touch because they eventually end up all over the house and I can never find them. I even have a sticky note on them that says "Don't touch." As you might guess, I found the sticky note, but the remote was gone... (And, of course, nobody owned up to taking it.) Long story short, a dedicated flash that they aren't allowed to touch may not be the solution.
DeleteAs to the book, it's done. Got held up a bit because of the day job, but my editor has it now.
So when the book coming out.😁
ReplyDeleteIt's in my editor's hands, depending on the turnaround, I'm thinking a January release.
DeleteAny chance of getting myself an early Christmas gift?
ReplyDeleteLOL. I was shooting for that, but the wheels came off that timetable by virtue of the day job. That said, I do have some Kid Sensation merch on the new website.
DeleteAny news on the next kid sensation book?
ReplyDeleteIt's in my editor's hands, but it looks like a January release.
Deletejust a few apps you should use more Dropbox/Google Drive/Microsoft Onedrive.
ReplyDeleteand office 365 home subscription for a user pool of 6.
I think the Onedrive app is on the new PC, so I'll probably make use of it.
Deletefeature not everyone is aware off:
ReplyDeleteuse MS Onedrive, have documents in onedrive folders use office with said documents : Autosave function is on, revisioning is enabled, work is saved constantly.
I did notice that - when we had some issues with one of the laptops a few months back - when the kids' account was reinstalled a good chunk (if not all) of their docs had been saved by Onedrive.
DeleteI'm sorry I can't hold it in anymore are you getting close how much longer till release?
ReplyDeleteThe writing is done; we're still at least a few weeks from release.
DeleteI'm confused - on 25th nov you were a few days from finishing now it's 11th dec and still no book or update?!?
ReplyDeleteWith everything that's been going wrong for him lately I bet his dog ate his computer.
DeleteNaaaah i bet the editor blasted him for not having PC terms and trends in his book..... hence the delay to add these and make the book bad....
DeleteWhat's the matter did your favorite show or vgame get pc?
DeleteIt's more like the day job gobbled up everything. By way of example, we had a specialist we brought in for half a day for a specific project. That particular project went well past quitting time, resulting in the specialist angrily spouting "You needed an entire day for this. This was NEVER a half-day project..." (Needless to say, they charged us for an entire day.) And that's just one thing...
DeleteIt's going to be a christmas miracle if he can get this book out before christmas or the end of the year for that matter.
ReplyDeleteIt's done, but no miracle this year. I'm anticipating a January release.
DeleteSome of y'all comment's are mad mean,are y'all sure you are fans of his?you don't know what he is going through he could be having a family issue.didnt your parents ever teach you that if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all.this man don't owe y'all anything so stop coming at him like he does.
ReplyDeleteFamily issues absolutely do come up, but I rarely talk about those. Besides, it's mostly the day job that has eaten into my writing time. I enjoy what I do, but it's been very hectic of late.
Delete