Saturday, February 18, 2006

It wasn't supposed to be this way -- Jay

This was supposed to be the weekend when I finally finished my YA manuscript. I’ve been working on it for so long that I’ve lived in four cities (in two states) during the work-in-progress phase. And this weekend, I was supposed to finish it. It’s cold outside, I have three days off, and my wife is out of town on the first day. I...was...supposed...to...finish it! Supposed to. Supposed to! SupposedtoSupposedtoSupposedto!!!

So why didn’t I? Because my computer decided to get funky on me. One of those technological leaps called spyware that is making our world such a wonderful place to live. I’ve spent all my free-time trying to de-spy it and copy all my files and running to Mom and Dad’s to make sure their computer had copies as well. Thankfully, nothing’s lost. But now my computer’s in the shop for at least two more days and if I write it’ll be at my parents’ house where the computer is too near the TV and they’re watching the Winter Olympics non-stop. And I want to finish this thing so bad!

Now, my wife’s on her way home (which is a good thing), it’s cold outside (and my wife’s coming home, so that’s also a good thing), and I still have two days off (and my wife’s coming home and it’s cold outside).

Hmm...I wonder if my wife had anything to do with this.

- Jay

7 comments:

Chris Barton said...

Argh! How frustrating -- I hope you get your (writing) groove back soon.

This reminds me of the computer meltdown that a friend of mine experienced immediately upon her return from the ALA Midwinter Meeting, which had left her pumped up and in possession of a lengthy to-do list, all of which was thwarted by said meltdown.

So, it happens. Which doesn't make it any easier to take.

Disco Mermaids said...

For some reason, knowing that other people experience this DOES make it a little better. Misery loves company, I guess.

Right now, I'm at an internet cafe trying to finish my manuscript in longhand. Heck, I wrote an entire mid-grade in longhand so I should be able to do two chapters, right?

- Jay

P.S. "The Day-Glo Brothers" sounds interesting, Chris. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, check out his blog.

Anonymous said...

That is so frustrating, but at least you're working through it. My last computer started sending smoke signals before it gave up the good fight. The tech said he'd never seen such a burned hard drive. Unfortunately, I hadn't backed up in a week and it was one of my more prolific weeks of writing. I lost the additions to my thesis and the works for a novel in progress. I now back up daily and watch for signs of smoke, ha. Hope it works out.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Jay. That last comment was from me, forgot to sign my name.

Jessica

Disco Mermaids said...

Ooh...that does not sound like fun, Jessica. So sorry.

My computer's still being worked on, but I did finish a chapter in longhand yesterday. And it was kind of fun! So there's one more chapter to go before I start polishing this baby up. I can't wait!

- Jay

Paula said...

Long hand can be a great tool for pumping the ol' creative juices.

Good luck, Jay!

Disco Mermaids said...

Yes, Miss P, it can. In fact, I wrote most of MY LAST CHAPTER!!! the other night in long hand because they still didn't have my computer done. I brought it in last Saturday, so why wasn't it done? Because they forgot to work on it!

- Jay