Thankful for writing one word at a time

Wow, next Monday is Christmas Eve. Where has the year gone? How did the holiday get here so fast? I swear it was just February a minute ago.

I know a few people who haven’t done Christmas shopping or any holiday prep because of the fear of the world ending this Friday. I’ve never been worried about the date, and NASA was nice enough to let a video slip out into the mainstream a bit early to possibly help calm any remaining fears. The video was supposed to hit the Web on 12-22-12. It’s interesting to watch, and only about 4 1/2 minutes long. The Mayans were very intelligent folks and it’s amazing what they did without all the crazy technology we have today.

My Accomplishments List (aka Success Journal) has a lot of nice entries from last week. It’s one of my most productive weeks all year. There’ s a lot of work on my desk and I can get easily stressed about it, but Wendy reminds me “it’ll all get done.” Just saying that to myself a few times slows the heart beats and gets me breathing normally again. Writing gets done faster when I know “it’ll all get done.”

That mindset ‘thing’ is quite powerful. Thanks, Wendy.

I’d like to give shoutouts to my other fellow bloggers today, too.

Susan has beautiful images for this blog. I like this Christmas pic – a lot of elves are relaxing for a bit. I picture them sipping hot chocolate (with marshmallows) and their feet propped up on footrests for some must-needed rest. (See? This is how stories get started)

Lee has gotten me thinking a lot about what I read, what I have read, and what I should be reading, through some of her posts. It blows me away that she, and others, can remember what they read in high school. I’m lucky if I can recall the title of the book I’m currently reading. I track all my books in a spreadsheet, trying to top last year’s number of books read each year, but the fast few years have been low – I don’t count the manuscripts I edit, although maybe I should since I read them 2-3 times each!

Jamie blows me away with her posts – so much great information – and I wonder how she finds the time with all her other projects and personal life. But mostly, she’s quite an inspiration to a self-employed writer!

And there’s Diane, whose posts always seem to come at the right time. I love how she mixes in some coaching techniques here and there. Little tidbits that give me the right nudge seemingly right when I need that particular nudge. We’re going to be helping each other get some short stories published in 2013.

Deborah brings a lot of writing experience to the blog. I ‘met’ Deborah through her book “Into the Wilderness” when I interviewed her for my blog and reviewed the book. I like the glimpses she gives us into Vermont. I don’t get to the state nearly as often as I should. I didn’t actually meet her until this past July.

Julie, Julie, Julie – thank you so much for joining this blog. You bring your pep and theatre and mystery writer perspective here and it’s quite enjoyable. I know you have a busy year ahead as President of Sisters in Crime-New England and being on the committee for the New England Crime Bake conference in November — nevermind all your StageSource commitments!

I love being a contributor on this blog, and thank you Readers for being our audience. Your feedback keeps us going and keeps us writing, which is the goal. Always feel free to let us know if there’s something you’d like to know more about and we’ll get it covered for you.

I raise my glass and toast you all — thank you for letting me into your lives one word at a time.

Lisa J. Jackson is a New England-region journalist and a year-round chocolate and iced coffee lover. She loves working with words, and helping others with their own. As Lisa Haselton, she writes fiction, co-blogs about mystery-related writing topics at Pen, Ink, and Crimes, has an award-winning blog for book reviews and author interviews, and is a chat moderator at The Writer’s Chatroom. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. 

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Where Do You Find New To You Books To Read?

I was a voracious reader as a child. In those days, book recommendations came in the form of school assignments or the Scholastic Book club flyers. Fast forward more years than I’d care to count, I am once again a voracious reader. I have a Kindle people and I am NOT afraid to use it! I have a bunch of samples in a folder labeled TBR (To Be Read), but I don’t think you can EVER have enough books in the wings. I am always looking for book recommendations.

So, in a reversal of the old “You show me yours and I’ll show you mine”, I’ll tell you where I get my book recommendations, hoping, you’ll tell me where you get yours. Who knows, maybe we’ll both end up with new suppliers of good book crack.

• Twitter – Although I’ve heard it said otherwise, I get many of my book recommendations from Twitter. I follow a number of my favorite authors and a few editors. I always know when my fav’s next release is due, but they are also excellent sources for new authors. They tweet “Happy Release Day to XYZ” and I head to Amazon to check it out.
• Amazon – Speaking of the behemoth, I frequently get book recommendations for new Authors from the “Customers Who Bought This Also Bought” section.
• Yahoo! Groups – I’m subscribed to several Yahoo! Groups associated with different writing groups. Some of them are made up of local writers that I know IRL, but several are large groups made up of writers from around the country and around the world. I’ll skim the table of contents at the top of the summary post looking for new release announcements and again head off to Amazon to grab a sample.
• Publisher E-mails – I’ve consented to allow a few romance publishers to market directly too me. Carina Press is the one that jumps to mind, but there are a handful of others. It’s nice to get the cover, a description and an excerpt right in my in box

Those are my biggies. I have yet to sign on to Good Reads because I’m not one to check out reviews prior to buying a book. I prefer to make my own judgement based on the sample I’ve read.

What is your best source for book recommendations?

Lee Laughlin is a writer, wife, and mom, frequently all of those things at once. She blogs at Livefearlesslee.com. Her words have appeared in a broad range of publications from community newspapers to the Boston Globe.

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Book Review: Goal, Motivation and Conflict

Typically, if a book is not available in Kindle format, I don’t read it, but this book got such rave reviews from my fellow writers in the New Hampshire Chapter of Romance Writers of America, that I borrowed it from the chapter library to see what all the fuss was about. Two chapters into the book, I knew I had to purchase my own copy. It was so chock full of great information, I was just itching to whip out a highlighter and start underlining.

It took me a while to chase down my own copy.  I found it on Amazon, but it was only available via third party sellers and they were asking $65 when the cover price was $19.95  It finally occurred to me to go directly to the publisher. Bingo! A few clicks, a credit card and five days later I had my very own copy in my hands. I’ve been through college and graduate school and never have I been this excited to mark up a book.

Dixon breaks the plot of a story into three main parts. Goals, are what the characters want. Motivation, is what drives your characters and conflict, is the tension that prevents your characters from achieving their goals. She uses the movie The Wizard of Oz to demonstrate her concepts throughout the book. The common reference point makes it easy to assimilate her points. She gives you concrete structures that you can use to analyze your own work.  There are charts you can recreate and questions to ask that can help you flush out your story’s GMC.

Dixon is a successful romance writer, but the book is not romance focused. Her process is applicable to all fiction. Along with The Wizard of Oz, she cites examples The Fugitive, Star Wars and Casablanca and talks about mysteries and even non-fiction books.

It was an amazing book but I did find, my muse was a tad bit intimidated after I finished reading it.  My brain was all excited to have a logical structure to build, my muse basically stuck her tongue out and walked away.  All is not lost.  We struck a deal where The Muse gets to spill her guts and then she can take a few days rest while The brain organizes everything into the structure.  The Muse really appreciates being first

The opinions express in this piece are my own and I was not compensated in any way. It is also worth noting that my fellow NHWN writers may or may not agree with me, but I will happy loan them my well marked up book if they want to read it.

P.S. A little birdie told me that Ms. Dixon might be coming to New England to offer a work shop in the spring of 2014. I’ll share more as I have confirmation of dates and details.

Goal, Motivation and Conflict 

Debra Dixon

Gryphon Books for Writers

©1996

Lee Laughlin is a writer, wife, and mom, frequently all of those things at once. She blogs at Livefearlesslee.com. Her words have appeared in a broad range of publications from community newspapers to the Boston Globe. She is currently at work on her first romantic fiction novel. 

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What Do You Do With Your Journals?

I just finished The Unfinished work of Elizabeth D. by Nichole Bernier. In the book, Elizabeth and Kate met through a playgroup and stayed friends even when Kate and her husband moved to Washington D.C. When Elizabeth is killed unexpectedly in a plane crash, Kate learns Elizabeth bequeathed her journals to Kate. “I’m leaving them to her because she’s fair and sensitive and would know what should be done with them and ask that she start at the beginning. I’ll come soon to drop of a letter for that should go with it.” The letter never gets dropped off.

I enjoyed the book immensely, but a review is not the intention of this post. Elizabeth’s journals are a key element of the story. Kate is overwhelmed with the task of determining their fate. As you would expect of a journal, the content is brutally honest and not always the most complimentary of those Elizabeth writes about including herself. While not entirely negative, they reveal a much different person, a more complete person than Kate knew.

I journal, it is an activity started as an angsty teen, but only sporadically completed. Journaling didn’t become a habit until my mid-twenties when I read Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and started writing morning pages. I still have most if not all of the journals I’ve finished.  Frankly most of it is rubbish. narcissistic drivel, a daily emptying of the garbage can in my brain. There are some entries worth keeping. Underneath the to-do lists and the free writing, there is a chronicle of my life, one telling of my story you will.  Like Elizabeth, I am not always complimentary of those in my life or myself.  Sometimes those pages are just an out and out bitch fest.

The Unfinished Works of Elizabeth D., resonated with me in many ways, it posed some interesting questions about relationships and friendships, but for me it brought up the age old question of what do to with my journals.

Should I die before my husband, I really don’t think he would have any interest in reading them.  Would my kids want them? Would they gain anything by reading them? I think I’m an open book, but but reading my journals they would learn the gritty details of my relationships with them, their father, my own parents and various acquaintances and dear friends.

I’ve never gone back and read them. Should I? I’m not the type of person who says “Gee, I wish I could be twenty again. There are specific events I wouldn’t mind living again and of course there are some I’d prefer to never remember.

Hmmm, perhaps a huge bond fire is in order.

Do you journal?  What do you do with the books once you’ve filled them? I don’t have a good solution to this. I’m very interested in hearing how other’s handle their journals.

Lee Laughlin is a writer, wife, and mom, frequently all of those things at once. She blogs at Livefearlesslee.com. Her words have appeared in a broad range of publications from community newspapers to the Boston Globe.

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Reading Until It Hurts

It is oft said, that to be a good writer, you must be a good reader. One look at my Kindle and you’d think I was on the New York Times Best Seller List. That is to say I read, I read a lot. I enjoy most of what I read, but not everything. The adage “Life’s too short to read bad books” often applies especially since I can download a healthy sample for review before I purchase. I dislike some books because I disagree with the author’s premise, others, are just not my cup of tea, but there is a third group. The sample shows promise so I go ahead and invest. As I get into the meat of the book, I want to like it, but for a variety of reasons, I can’t. Those are the books I force myself to finish. Those are the books I feel can teach me the most as a writer.

When I talk about not liking an aspect of a book, I’m not referring to hating a particular character. I once read a romance where the hero made me so frustrated I wanted to chuck my Kindle across the room every time he opened his mouth. By the time I got to happily ever after, he had progressively redeemed himself in a way that was believable. When I can get that wrapped up in a character, that’s good writing. It’s the things the separate me from the characters that I notice. Is the character a caricature? Is the dialogue stilted? Is the premise completely unrealistic? There’s stretching a point and then there is over the top. Over the top usually loses me. Has the story line been done before, but no attempt made to alter or interpret the story or the characters in a new way? That’s when I switch from reader to analyst, taking notes in an attempt to learn something.

Once I’ve made the commitment to buy a book, it is rare that I don’t finish it, but it does happen. I read a book recently, that was really good at building the story. I really cared about the characters, I was concerned for both the hero and the heroine. So much so, that I just HAD to jump ahead. I had to know how things turned out. I was glad I did because it turns out the author ended the book abruptly. Notice, I said the book, not the story. I was furious. I went out to Amazon to discover not only was there a sequel, but there was a third book in the same storyline due out in a few weeks. I stopped reading then and there. The Fifty Shades series, (talk about a series that provided a fertile learning ground), did the major cliff hanger between book two and book three, but not to the extent that this author did it. In this case it felt like a horrible breech of etiquette between writer and reader. Note to self, you must give the reader some satisfaction in each book and then leave a carrot for the next story.

Obviously, I don’t only take notes on the things I don’t like, I also make note of the things I do like but it that case, that usually means re-reading the book because I’m too wrapped up in the story the first time through. Thankfully, there are many more of examples of good books in my library than bad.

Do you finish a book like it or not?

Lee Laughlin is a writer, wife, and mom, frequently all of those things at once. She blogs at Livefearlesslee.com. Her words have appeared in a broad range of publications from community newspapers to the Boston Globe.

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Writing Through the Rolls

Since last Thursday, three people I know have died. Thankfully, none are my immediate family, but still I ache for the losses. The closest to me is my cousin, Sue. We weren’t close, but we weren’t distant either. We were just busy moms who always picked up right where we left off when we connected at family gatherings. Despite the degrees of separation, I find myself impacted by these deaths. I’m distracted and it’s hard to concentrate

©2010 Lee Laughlin All Rights Reserved

As the saying goes, no one gets out of this live alive. Things happen (sometimes even good things) that will through off your writing schedule. Kristine Kathryn Rusch calls them “Life Rolls”. The term came from a role playing game she used to play as part of a workshop she co-taught.

When we taught the Master Class, we (along with Loren Coleman) invented a role-playing game that mimicked the way a long-time professional writer’s career works. … [W]e had disruptive events coincide with every writer’s role-played career. Those events were called “life rolls.” Sometimes they were positive—for example, you got married (of course, you’d lose money for the cost of the wedding plus weeks (maybe months) of work, but you might not have to pay all the bills on your own any more). More often than not, the rolls were disruptive. We took one bestseller (in the game) out for five years with a succession of life rolls that prevented her from working.

We all experience Life Rolls, the question is, how do you handle them? There are the events that directly impact you (marriage, birth of a child, death of a loved one), but I find there are also events the indirectly affect me that can also through my writing off. Here are three tips to help you get through them.

Give yourself a break

Some events are so severe they demand it (death of someone close), other events are so fleeting (a sick child) they are easier to accommodate. Either way, ask yourself, if a friend were in the same position, would you be encouraging them to cut themselves some slack? Apply the same thinking to yourself. Just be careful not to take too long of a break. You don’t need a visit from the witch of self doubt. She makes getting started again an even bigger challenge.

Write through the hard times

When one of my Dads died, I set up a blog and wrote letters to him. I kept it anonymous. On it, I talked about my feelings, what was happening as we made plans for his memorial service and when I felt him close as life went on. The writing helped me process his death. I added to it for a while after he died. I’ve never stopped thinking of him, but these days I can usually wait to voice my thoughts in my journal. At the time, I needed the immediate release. If you are facing something insurmountable, Write. Say things that are not socially acceptable, just get it out. I like having the blog to go back to. It’s nice having a secret place for just he and I, but you may find it more helpful to get your feelings out and then shred them.

Change it up

Sometimes the words won’t come. You can bang your head on the keyboard like a muppet and still, *crickets*. When that happens, work on more mundane, less creative tasks. My list might include filing, laundry, bread making and walking. These are all tasks that need to be completed, but they wouldn’t be my highest priority if I could get my muse into gear. Sometimes changing things up gives my muse the space she needs to get back on track. Again, be aware and don’t let the muse disappear for too long.

What do you do when you hit a major or minor life roll and the words won’t come?

Lee Laughlin is a writer, wife, and mom, frequently all of those things at once. She blogs at Livefearlesslee.com. Her words have appeared in a broad range of publications from community newspapers to the Boston Globe.

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For me, it is the story

photo © 2004 hobvias sudoneighm | more info (via: Wylio)

What is it that makes you feel compelled to read a book through to the end? Some would argue, characters, some would argue setting, but I would argue it is the plot, a.k.a. the story.
I’ve read all the books in the Twilight series. Most would agree this series is not great literature, yet, I still went out and bought three of the four books in hardcover on or near release day. It was the story. I had to know what happened.

Before Christmas a friend recommended the Humphrey books by Betty Birney as a read aloud book for my son (a first grader). We finished The World According to Humphrey in short order and I was instructed to immediately acquire the remaining books in the series. By the time we were reading the second book, I noticed my fifth grade daughter magically appearing whenever we broke Humphrey out. Hmmm.

We went to visit friends over spring break. While there, my son insisted we stay on top of our Humphrey reading. What started out as he and I grew to an audience of two adults and four kids in minutes flat. Keep in mind we were in the middle of the book and still, they where rapt. I spoke with my friend a week or so after we go home and out of the blue she said “By the way, what every happened with Humphrey?” I gave her a quick synopsis of the rest of the book.

I can be given a book in a genre I never read, if the story is good, I’ll finish it. Harry Potter is a good example. I’m not a huge fantasy/sci-fi fan, but Harry had me at Privot Drive.

I don’t mean to say that character and setting don’t matter. But, my active imagination can fill in holes in the setting and I can round out a flat character but if the story lags, or meanders aimlessly, I’m done.

Twilight drove me nuts with the cardboard characters and angst-ridden exposition. There were times when I wanted to choke Edward and slap Bella, but still. I wanted to know what happened so I slogged on.

What about you? What makes you feel compelled to finish a book?

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Women who write

Gail Collins is an editor at the New York Times and a published author. I recently had an opportunity to hear her speak at Bunker Hill Community College. The focus of Collins’ presentation was the evolution of women’s rights. I took the teenage daughter of a friend to see the presentation. It was interesting to see her face as Collins detailed all the things women couldn’t do, such as leave dorms wearing “slacks”, get credit cards in their own names, sign a lease or get a mortgage. Then there was the story of the woman who was berated by a judge for having the nerve to wear slacks to court to pay her boss’s parking ticket. There was the stewardess who was forcibly removed from a plane during a refueling stop on a cross country flight. Her “crime”? Her employer discovered she was married. Oh the SHAME! Stewardess were supposed to be young, beautiful and single!

What about former Vermont Governor Madeline Kunin who graduated from college with a degree in journalism, but was unable to find a job. When she applied for a copy editing position, at a newspaper, she was offered a job as the waitress in the executive dining room.

Collin’s subject matter and the ensuing conversation with my teenaged companion got me thinking. There was a time when women weren’t “allowed” to write. Hell there are still places in the world today where women aren’t even worthy of an education.

We are certainly aware of Emily Bronte’, Jane Austen, and Virginia Woolf, but how many more wonderful women writers would there have been if women had not been relegated to second class citizenship?

I write because it is my passion. I can’t imagine having my words dismissed just because of my gender. While is less likely to happen today, it can and still does happen. I have a colleague with a negative experience that is less than a year old.

I write to show my children that not just men, not just women, but everyone has voices and we are all entitled to make our own choices. They may make different choices, but it is my hope that whatever path my kids follow, they do it with passion.

Collins said she was the second wave. That she is grateful to the women before her who paved the way so she could rise through the ranks mostly unimpeded by her gender. She said she is amazed by today’s women who work from home juggling children and a career.

It is my hope that my teenaged companion and my children after her will continue to share the words that inhabit their brains and that they will be judged on the quality of their work rather than their gender.

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New Hampshire Writers’ Conferences

My name is Lee and I am a conference junky. There, I admitted it. I love attending conferences on topics of interest to me. I love the focus on learning and the opportunity to connect with those of a similar mindset to me. At one time, I planned conferences for non-profits and small businesses for a living. It was such a thrill to watch people making connections. Typically I sign up for New Hampshire Writers’ Day as soon as registration opens, but this year I procrastinated which turned out to be a good thing as I eventually found out I have a volunteer commitment, one that can not be rescheduled, on the same day. I haven’t been to a conference in a while and was starting to have withdrawals, so I started searching for other learning opportunities. Here is an incomplete list of writers conferences and workshops in New Hampshire.

Our very own Susan Nye read at last year's Writers' Day Photo Credit Lee Laughiln

New Hampshire Writers’ Project Writers’ Day

Every year, the New Hampshire Writers Project offers Writers’ Day. This year’s event will be held Saturday March 5, 2011 at Southern New Hampshire University. The Keynote Speaker is Paul Harding author of Tinkers. The day is filled with workshop sessions, panels and networking. Registration is now $135 for members and $195 for non-memebers. For more information or to register visit the New Hampshire Writers’ Project website.

Seacoast Writers Association Annual Spring Writers Conference.

Details appear to still be in the works for this event, but it will be held May 14. 2011 at the McConnell Center in Dover. There will be four workshops offered and the winners of the 21st Annual Seacoast Writers Association Writers’ Contest will be announced. There will also be plenty of time for networking. Details and registration information will be published as they become available at http://seacoastwritersassociation.org/.

The Frost Place Festival and Conference on Poetry

“We’ll live and write and think and talk poetry under one roof . . .” This is a one week “intensive poetry camp” that includes lectures, readings, and creative time. Organizers encourage poets of all ability, experience level and age to apply for this program. Participants work eat and stay together at a nearby school and visit The Frost Place Barn for readings by faculty at night. The last night is devoted to student readings. The cost is $1,375 and that includes tuition, room and all meals. For more information visit the Frost Place Festival and Conference page.

Live Free and Write – A New Hampshire Getaway for Poets & Writers

This event is offered by Murphy Writing Seminars and focuses on memoir and poetry writing. The event will be held August 21-26, 2011 at the Dexter Inn in Sunapee. Participation is limited to 12 poets and 10 writers. Prices are $995 for a double, and $1,295 for a single room and include all workshops, lodging and meals (except one dinner on your own). A $45 discount is available to members of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project. Details and application information can be found at the event web site.

Odyssey – The Fantasy Writing Workshop

Odyssey is run and hosted by Jeanne Cavelos, a writer a scientist and a former editor with Bantam Doubleday Dell. The workshop is likened to a Master’s Level graduate course and runs from June 6, through July 15th at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. Tuition is $1,900 for those who pay by cash or check. Students have the option of living in Saint Anselm apartments and partaking of the campus food plan for additional fees. Detailed information is available at http://www.sff.net/odyssey/

Keene State College Writers’ Conference

This year’s event is still in the planning stages, but I was able to confirm the dates. The conference will be held July 24-30, 2011 and The cost will be $850 per person. The program is intensive will still allowing time for writing. Your week will include workshops, one-on-one interactions with faculty, craft talks, readings and informal after-hours events. Program details and the application should be finalized by the end of February. Watch http://www.keene.edu/conted/ for a link to more information.

I’ve been to Writer’s Day in the past and can say it is a well run event and worth the cost of admission. Have you been to any of these other events? If so, please offer your two cents.

As I said at the start, this is an incomplete list, what did I miss?

Events listed do not constitute and endorsement. These words are my own and were not influenced by any outside party.

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Backup, Backup BACKUP!!!

photo © 2007 Jon Ross | more info (via: Wylio)
You’ve heard of second child syndrome right? That’s where there are approximately half the photos of the second child’s early years as there are of the first child’s early years. I worked hard to insure my son did not fall victim to this injustice, but alas, the Gods of Technology, had different plans. When Mim was 18 months old, the hard drive on my desktop machine seized. Death was instantaneous and despite my best efforts at resuscitation, there was nothing that could be done. Despite being an avowed technology geek, I had very few and mostly outdated backups. All of my files including the precious photos of his infancy were gone. I vowed upon the arrival of the new machine, all files would be backed up. 5 years ago, backing up computer files, was a cumbersome, manual process, Today? Today, I don’t even think about it unless I need to reclaim a file.

You Need Both Kinds of Backup

For sanity, and security, you should have both onsite, and remote back ups. Onsite back-ups can be as simple as dragging your Documents folder to an external hard drive (although I recommend finding an automated solution that backs up ALL of your data files including photos and music). I’m a Mac User and Apple offers TimeMachine as part of the operating system. Time Machine backs up my data files to an external hard drive. This recently saved my bacon in a big way. Mistakenly, I deleted a file from my downloads folder (I thought it was a copy but, SURPRISE, it was an original!). TimeMachine allows you to literally go back in time and see what your hard drive looked like on any given day at any given time. This is limited only by the size of the device you are storing the backups on. A quick Google search turns up a multitude of backup options for the Windows operating system. Which product do you use for onsite backups?

There are a number of Internet based remote backup services. Basically, so long is your computer is connected to the Internet, the service will back up your data files to remote servers. I use Carbonite http://www.carbonite.com/ to back up files to the cloud. For $60 a year it is great peace of mind.

Archives vs. Backups

It is important to note, that most of these services work as a mirror. They capture a snapshot of your hard drive as it is at a specific moment in time. If you delete a file from you hard drive, the next time your computer is backed up, the remote service deletes the file from their back up. I know of one woman who moved files to Carbonite then deleted them from her hard drive not realizing that after 30 days Carbonite deleted the files too.  The loss of those files literally brought on a panic attack.

There are some files (i.e. notes for an op-ed that I wrote for the Boston Globe in 2005), that might be valuable, but are not mission critical. Those notes do not need to live on my hard drive on a day-to-day basis nor do they have to be backed up regularly. I have a separate external hard drive that I use for archiving files. A place where I put files that might be nice to have someday but the world wouldn’t end if they disappeared.

None of these methods are foolproof, in 2007; even Carbonite had hardware failures that caused the loss of data for some customers (conflicting news reports make it hard to determine exactly how many were affected). Hard drives fail, servers crash. That is why it is crucial to have multiple backups especially of files you absolutely cannot live without. For example if you have completed your novel and are shopping it to agents and publishers, it may be worth doing things the “old fashioned” way. Copy the files onto a CD or DVD make multiple copies and store them remotely (e.g. your office, a safe deposit box). These measures may seem like overkill, but what happens when you hard disk is fried in a storm? The very same storm that flooded the data center for your remote backup provider? Think I’m being extreme? Do you remember Hurricane Katrina? This very circumstance happened to a colleague.

The process of backing up your hard drive has been reduced to a few clicks of the mouse. There is absolutely no reason anyone should lose files in this day and age. If you don’t have a plan for backing up your hard drive, you are playing chicken with Mr. Murphy. Technology is great, but it is not bulletproof, the key to peace of mind is redundancy.

The products and services I’ve mentioned here work for me. I pay for them and have not been compensated in any way for what I’ve written.

Lee Laughlin is a writer, wife, and mom, frequently all of those things at once. She blogs at Livefearlesslee.com and Thisnhlife.com. Her words have appeared in a broad range of publications from community newspapers to the Boston Globe.

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