Okay, your peace and quiet is now over, 120 Socks is back. After 2 weeks of no internet connection, I am on line again.
Living up in the mountains mean internet signals are somewhat like smoke signals, they can change shape and form depending on the wind. But this time around it was different, as even the smoke signals stopped. Apparently, after the problem laboured its way through various phone calls, engineers, and some DIY on behalf of yours truly, (not to be recommended) the culprit was discovered. Lighting from two weeks ago played havoc with lots of things, including it would seem the phone lines, and somewhere along the way, our Internet connection was struck down by this act of God.
I felt a bit like I had lost a friend, which sounds a little sad, although it is not meant to. But anyone who has been disconnected from their use of laptops, mobile phones, telephone lines etc, gets my drift. I would love to say that I was writing loads of new material in the interim, but that would be untrue. I was however working on things associated with writing, like pitch letter, synopsis and doing final edits on chapters of novel, and in part I did get success. And, wait for it.......for the first time, the little package with opening chapters, synopsis and pitch letter aimed at seeking a book deal, went off in the post! The recipient was a very valued advice source and, I got lots of positivity, (you should always lean to the positive I believe) and also, I managed to get a lot of good advice, mainly on my opening chapter.
The opening chapter is somewhat of a camel at this point! You know when you want a horse, but you get a camel, the reason being that I have done too many rewrites, spent too long going backwards and forwards, changing it from having lots of information to too little, then changing it from being too clinical to having too much emotion, then changing it back again and losing the flow that it might have originally had, because the crazy thing is, most of my rewrites were on chapter 1, the other two chapters, chapter 2 & 3 changed very little from their original form, yet according to my trusted advisor, (who I do trust), they work really well. So I am guessing maybe I was doing too much digging with chapter 1, and in too many places, so all I ended up with was lots of holes, and the best thing might be to start it all over again (scary I know, but true).
So, with my head filled with lots of advice, I am going to do what I do best, work hard and get it right, starting by writing up my notes from this morning's phone call with my 'trusted advisor', and get chapter 1 to the same quality and interest of the other two chapters. So fingers crossed for me!
It's good to be back, hope some of you agree!!
And it's fantastic to have you back. Hoping you're not feeling too traumatized (I'm sure I would have been), but looking forward to that peace you mentioned being disturbed!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave, it's mad how we get used to such varied communication links, and miss them so desperately when they are gone!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back socks.
ReplyDeleteMy sister's laptop's power cord became ensnared about the neck of a friend's dog and came tumbling off the table onto the tile floor. It died an untimely death...she has been without it for 19 days now...she sent it to its manufacture...Dell. 14 phone calls later after its return, it still does not work and she cannot find anyone to tell her what they did for $159...
I know it's awful. My own laptap was having a scary moment a few weeks back, and all I could think of was, 'when did you last back up your stuff'. No matter how many times, I tell myself to do it on a regular basis, I just slip back into old habits! Hope your sister's laptop gets fixed soon.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I admire your work ethic! Fingers crossed with pleasure, and nice to have you back.
ReplyDeleteThanks Titus!
ReplyDelete