Weekly Update: Double Week Edition (July 16th to 29th)

Combined weekly word count: 4200

In the last two weeks, I learned a few invaluable lessons:

1) Make sure your backups are working properly and recording all of the <insert profanity> information that you wanted them to actually back up.

2) My child (and probably most other children) can strip the protective covering off of a power adaptor cord in less than 30 seconds.

3) That protective covering is important because without it, the <insert more profanity> little wires break and then your power adaptor doesn't work and the laptop dies.

My laptop which held all of my information for my blog and website, as well as my WIP and reference notes, became a piece of abstract art early on July 17th, sparking true panic.  I immediately went out and bought a universal charger that turned out to be not so universal.  Its plugs would not match the holes, no matter how much I threatened and cursed and cried.  (Lesson 4: technology is surprisingly resistant to emotional blackmail.)

Okay, plan B.  Switch to my old laptop and use the backup information, while ordering the exact cord I need from eBay.  Discovered the eBay cord could arrive any time between the next week and two months from now.  Cried a little more.  Got my old laptop out and started to access the backups.  Discovered most of what I needed was there, but not all.  Cried a lot more.  There was swearing and possibly some kicking of things which were not impressed by my tantrum.  Least of all my toes, which hurt.

Then it was time to pull up my big girl panties, acknowledge that I did not prepare or handle this as well as I could have and try to get some work done.  I wrote 2000 words last Friday, the first time I had a decent writing day in a long time.  

The next two weeks are the annual company shut down for my day job.  It's two weeks where I can actually live as a full time writer.  Part of my panic was knowing that these two weeks can make or break my writing productiveness.  Last year, I wrote 40 000 words, which is between a third and a half of my novels.  If I was stuck without being able to move forward, then my ability to have a book ready for next year would have been in serious jeopardy.

But I've pulled things together and if it's not ideal, that's how life is sometimes.  The mark of success is not making it work when things are easy.  It's making it work when the universe seems to be against you and climbing over all those obstacles to prove how much you want your dream.