It came with Windows 7, and I’m beginning to notice that some of the problems I was having when surfing the web and doing other things are likely Vista-related.  Plus, the old laptop wasn’t really having any other problems after the replacement of both the hard drive and the motherboard.  The hubby will be wiping it and installing Windows XP so that he can use it as a gaming laptop, which is really all he uses a computer for.  I’m the one who has all the important stuff: pictures, Quicken, Turbo Tax, buttloads of music, and of course, my writing.  We’re still keeping the slow and old desktop as it still serves its purpose and has been ridiculously reliable.  We did have to replace the hard drive on it about five or six years ago, but before it died, it gave us a warning of sorts (I forget what happened exactly), and we were able to back everything up and install a new hard drive before the old one completely went kaboom.

I checked out Scrivener’s website yesterday and noted that they still haven’t released the full version for Windows yet.  I debated downloading the most recent beta, but I think I’ll use the interim time to force myself to finish the reread of “Awakening Bloodlines”.  I’m editing as I go.  Not sure if that will end up being detrimental overall, but I simply can’t help it.  Old habits die hard.  But I figure since I’m having to reread it anyway, I get a free edit pass.  Right?

This thing ate about 6,000 words back in November, but I can only blame myself for not backing it up.  I’m taking it as a sign to go back and work on my “shelved” project: Awakening Bloodlines.  As I haven’t even glanced at it in quite some time, I’m a little apprehensive about picking it up again.  I’ll have to read what’s there and then decide if I should leave it and keep writing or edit what I already know needs fixing.  Tough one.  I already know that pretty much the entire first chapter needs to be sliced off, but at the same time, I’m trying to get past this obsessive-compulsive need to edit my work as I go.  I’m up for suggestions, advice and/or recommendations here.  I’m really not looking forward to the task of rereading it, but rather the writing that will pick up after.

So, other resolutions…  I resolve to blog at least once a week, read some of those books about novel-writing on my shelf, and find what works for me in terms of writing time that won’t make me pull my hair out.  Oh, and I’ll continue with my Weight Watchers diet.  Rough stuff being on a diet during the holidays, but it was nice to have already made progress before the new year.

And now to print up my current draft of Awakening Bloodlines.  Pay no attention to the moaning and whining.

Yeah, okay, well, I’m on the laptop, but I’m not a happy camper.  If I have the number lock engaged, several of the letter keys come up as numbers.  Watch this: He336 every6ne, 5sn’t th5s the c663est th5ng ever+!  Heh.  Not a lot of fun.  I could pretend to be cool and try and say it’s L33t speak or whatever that nonsense is, but those in the know would be happy to tell you that I’m not that cool–or more to the point, that my grammatical prowess won’t let me type something so obnoxious because I’m just a tad OCD about good grammar, punctuation, etc.  So there’s problem number one.

The second problem is that the quote and apostrophe key is temperamental.  If I want to use the quotes, I have to space and then back up to get it to work.  Same with the apostrophe.  When writing fiction, this becomes a difficult obstacle.  Especially when one types as fast as I do.  It’s really putting a dent in how long it takes me to type a page.  I don’t know if there’s any real fix for these problems because after a little investigating, other HP laptop users have encountered the same problem.  Bleh.

The good news!  Yes, there’s good news!  As promised, Scrivener has released a beta version for Windows users!  Pardon me while I do a craptastic happy dance. <Insert pause here.> Okay, all better.  But seriously, this is the absolute best software out there for novel-writing.  It’s why so many authors can be seen with Macs–well, that’s my theory at any rate.  Interested? http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerforwindows/ Please understand that this is the beta version and you should read all the info there about how a beta works and what they need, etc, etc.  If you have a Facebook page, I highly recommend seeking them out on Facebook for helpful tips and whatnot.  The guys that created this software are awesome!

Now to figure out how to get around this quote and apostrophe issue…

Once the new motherboard arrives and is lovingly installed, likely amidst a strain of inappropriate expletives, I will be all set to tear up this year’s NaNoWriMo.  I currently have in the works a brand new idea as well as the foreign concept of a rough outline.  Never outlined a manuscript before, so it feels awkward, but at the same time, it feels very organized.  I feel the days of writing as a “pantster” are close to an end.  We’ll see what comes of it.  I have this feeling it’ll either be a complete disaster or lead to me finally reaching that goal of “The End.”

In other writing technology news, the lovely makers of Scrivener have announced a Windows version.  Le gasp! And they’re even doing it in conjunction with NaNoWriMo, so that successful completion comes with a coupon for 50% off the product.  How sweet is that? And just in time for NaNoWriMo will be a beta release around October 25th or so.  If you’re not familiar with Scrivener, it’s quite possibly one of the best software programs on the market for novelists.  Up until now, it’s only ever been available for Mac users.  This is why you see many of the best-selling writers using Macs. I’d be willing to bet they’ve got Scrivener.  Just one of those little things I’ve learned through my personal writing experience.

Feels like this is just that month where things will turn around for me in the writing sense.  With any luck, my next blog will be done from my laptop!

“Are Books Your Crack?” was the title.  Simple answer?  Yes, yes they are.

I knew that I didn’t even need to bother to read the “Eleven Ways to Tell if You’re Addicted” to know that I had a serious problem.  One look at my Quicken expense report on how much I spent on books last year would be enough.  I had one bill totaling over $100 in one trip.  That’s bad, folks.  And there’s no Readers Anonymous meetings for those of us compelled to read more than we write.  Still, I feel compelled to share this list.  And no, I’m not going to tell you which ones I’m guilty of.

-          Your bookshelf is stuffed with unread books, and you just bought one more.

-          You have a different audiobook every day… for your car, laptop, and iPod.

-          The library clerk has to remind you, again, that you’re at your limit for check-outs.

-          You have more than 200 friends on Goodreads.com, but the local librarian is your best bud.

-          The only writing you do is book reviews.  (Okay, so clearly doing a review of this article makes me guilty of this one.)

-          People have begun to follow your reviews.

-          You’re skimming a magazine on the elliptical machine, while you’re listening to a book on tape.

-          There are more than 500 books on your to-read list.

-          Friends say they’re amazed at how many books you’ve read.  Repeat: read, not written.

-          Neighbors marvel at your ability to walk the dog while reading.

-          Your family resents books.

While the above list can easily be laughed at and even seem somewhat extreme, it is actually a real problem for me and can very much be blamed as one of a few reasons why I haven’t finished one of my manuscripts yet.  (I plan on covering the other reasons another day.)  The article listed twelve steps to recovery, but that list is somewhat longer and more involved and not necessarily relevant to me.  So, I’m going to use parts of it to create my own fail-proof method for making sure I get some writing done.

1. No more buying books for a while until I get through the books on my shelf. Now, I know this sounds harsh, but it will also put money back in my pocket.  I’m excluding books purchased with gift cards and I’m also excluding the possibility of utilizing the library.  We’ll see how this goes.
2. I must limit myself to reading no more than one non-craft book a week. If I’m reading more than one book a week then there’s the potential for all sorts of things not getting done in my life.  So this is just good practice.
3. I’m not allowed to read until I’ve written at least 1,000 words on a weekday or 100 words on a weekend. Breathe, Kathryn, you will live through this one.  This also goes for craft books.
4. Leave the dishes there. They will still be there later.  So will the laundry, the cleaning, the bills… ugh.
5. Take a solid week off from reading. Eek!  This was one of the suggestions from the article, but I admit that I am too weak to even think of doing this one right now.  I just started a new-to-me series and I want to get through the most current one before I do this.  I hate forgetting what happened in prior books.  So yeah, that’s my excuse.  Lame, I know, but…moving on!
6. Set goals for myself. Again, taken from the article.  Letting these manuscripts drag on unfinished for however long it has been now is tragic.
7. Stay away from time-wasting websites and no logging into Yahoo! Messenger during writing time. This will be another hard one.  So if you see me online when I should be writing, throw a virtual shoe at me?

With any luck, some or all of these will help push me closer to finishing one or all three of my current manuscripts in progress.

I had started researching various writing software after I read on someone’s blog (possibly Larissa Ione’s, but I’m not sure) about Scrivener.  Scrivener seems to be what many prefer, but that only works if you’ve got a Mac.  Much to my dismay, the software is not available for Windows-based systems.  So, while I’m now (for the first time ever) praying for a Mac, I decided to investigate some of the software programs recommended by the Scrivener folks for those of us not blessed with a Mac.  They list several good ones on their website.

Last Tuesday, I went to an ARWA meeting where our speaker was going to be our own Julie Kenner talking about building a story bible.  Little did I know, this would be a life-changing experience for me.  Well, okay, a writing-changing experience for me.  She had several screen shots printed out of what Scrivener looked like and how she used it for various things.  She also used something called Evernote, but I have yet to look into that.  After asking some of the ladies in our group what they used and after some investigation, I discovered that WriteWay Pro is my best option.  For a close but not quite comprehensive option that’s free, look into yWriter 5.

For me, the more organized I can make something, the more excited I get about it.  This goes for just about every aspect of my life.  Case in point, I bought a new family planner recently and sat down for quite some time just to play around with the dates, stickers, etc.  My schedule is now highly organized, but I digress.  I was feeling lost and overwhelmed after sorting through 100+ pages of current manuscript trying to figure out when the first time my hero bit my heroine occurred.  Yes, I said bit; it’s a vampire story.  Plugging it into WriteWay Pro (only the demo right now as I have yet to purchase the full software) has been extraordinarily helpful, but it is taking away from my writing time while I try to organize my scenes into chapters.  The good news is my first chapter is 100% established and I feel that this manuscript now has a concrete base that I’m excited about continuing to develop!

Note: I don’t have links to any of these posted, but if you Google the aforementioned software, it’s easy to find.

Today’s agenda also includes writing a small book review for the ARWA newsletter.  I’ve chosen to do it on J. R. Ward’s “Dark Lover,” by far my favorite vampire romance of all time.  Not sure why, but maybe in the course of working on this review, I’ll figure that out.  I may post it here once I have the finished product.

So, rain.  Wow, lots of it!  It’s one of the good things I have to comment on at this point.  There’s another saying for you: Texas droughts always end in floods.  Well, yeah, Jarrell got 14″ in one day?  Something like that, and they’re just a short drive up the road, where I heard they had to shut down part of I-35 on Friday due to water over the road.  I have no idea how much rain we’ve gotten at this point, but it’s enough that I have little baby mushrooms growing up around a wood divider between my sidewalk and my driveway.  Cute.  Actually, this dreary weather is so perfect for writing that it’s a shame I got off to such a foul start this morning.  Writing this blog has seemed to settle me a bit, though.  And that’s good.  Especially given that the only possible chore in the house that could really keep me from making writing progress is laundry.  And even then, I think there’s only enough to do one load.  I spent all weekend getting my hard drive up and running as well as making sure this house was in perfect condition for me to have zero distractions this morning.  Hah!

Alright, enough bitterness from me.  I’m thankful to have had the time to blog because as always, writing is a good catharsis, even the kind where all I do is sit and bitch.  I think I may go read for a bit, and then sit down and write.  I’m expecting my husband to call me during his first break this morning in a few moments where I’ll expect to discuss my idea as well as discuss the possibility of growing the world’s first real money tree.  Well, one can dream.

Firstly, I couldn’t be more pleased with my son’s school, with one huge exception.  Everyone there is so incredibly nice and helpful… with one exception.  This “exception” has caused me to contact the school district’s superintendent with my concerns.  We played a little phone tag last week and I’ll be trying to get in touch with her again sometime this morning.  This has become such a huge issue for me, last night instead of being excited and happy about the prospect of taking my son to school today, I was anxious and nervous.  There’s nothing like sitting in your car and telling your child to wait just a moment while you wait for someone else to disappear behind doors of the school you won’t be going through just so you can avoid them.  I probably shouldn’t even be talking about this on here, and I’m leaving out many, many details, but it was such a huge part of stress in my life last week that I couldn’t not talk about it to some degree.

My hard drive was probably the next biggest issue that came up last week.  It’s been acting flaky for a while now, and a couple days last week it took 3-4 hours to get it to boot up properly, and then on… I think it was Wednesday, it started up several times in such a way that I could only describe it as getting a flat-line.  After running the recovery disk and realizing that the only real and huge important thing I didn’t backup was my iTunes, I managed to get my computer back.  Against my better judgment, I allowed my husband to take the hard drive out of my laptop.  We noticed what looked like possible evidence of overheating.  I do admit that I often keep my laptop (my main computer for doing just about anything) on all day long and have sometimes only put it to sleep overnight.  I’ll no longer do this, but at the same time I recognize that my laptop was originally a store model and the damage could’ve been done long before I brought it home… which is quite possible because I recall having to run the recovery disk not long after I brought it home.  After spending some time on Tiger Direct’s website, my husband discovered that a replacement will only cost around $50-$80.  That’s a huge relief and I’ll likely only upload very few things to this computer until we purchase a new hard drive.  It’s still acting up a little and I don’t trust it.  Also, rather than upload all sorts of stuff only to lose it, I’d rather just wait.

Everything else that happened last week seems incredibly minor compared to those two biggies.  We signed up the kiddo for soccer and he starts practicing for the first time this week.  I attended a writing workshop led by Sherry Thomas in conjunction with a critique session that was full of all sorts of things I could mention, but none of which would be appropriate.  The workshop was informative, but the critique session… Let’s just say that I left feeling not-so-confident about my work.  After I returned home, I received an email from one of the critiquers (probably the most qualified of the small group) telling me not to believe everything I hear.  I guess what I need to do is put my fears aside and enter my first chapter into a contest.  What’s the worst that could happen?  I’d be out the entry fee and some contest judge would tell me that my writing sucks?  Well, yeah.  It seems like such an easy thing to put aside, but my work is a close part of me.  I’ll admit that it’s not as close a part of me as it once as, but we’re working on becoming reacquainted.

On that note, happy Monday and hopefully I’ll have a better week than the last one.  I wish the best for all of you, too.

It was difficult to leave my son this morning on his first day of school at “the big kids” school, as we’ve come to call his elementary school.  I think when I was just about to leave that he was beginning to pick up on my vibe of almost crying.  Almost.  I honestly didn’t, which given the pregnancy hormones is just a complete miracle.  I’m glad we had gotten there as early as we did.  I got a parking space and walked him inside and all the way to the cafeteria at the back of the school.  His teacher met us there and he was the first of her class to arrive.  After a brief stop at the nurse’s office to give them an updated shot record, I headed back outside to find a mess.  Cars were parked everywhere, including places they shouldn’t have been, despite the police cruiser and its lights.  Based on what the news said last night, my guess was that each school had at least one police officer there this morning, maybe more at the middle schools and high school.  Surprisingly enough, I managed to make it out of there, driving well below the speed limit to make sure that I had at least three inches between me and the cars on either side of me.  I just prayed that the parked ones didn’t open their doors as I was passing.  I got lucky.

So, here I am, back home and ready to get back into my writing groove.  Mondays will be my blogging days with writing getting started soon after this.  I’ve noticed that some of the links to writers I read here are wrong or dead, so I’ll be gradually fixing things like that as well as adding new writers and authors as I get their info and/or as I pick up their books.  I’m not entirely sure how much writing I’ll get done this week as I need to prepare for a critique session this Saturday by reading around ten pages of three other people’s manuscripts as well as reading mine in its entirety as I begin what will likely be the  daunting task of writing out a synopsis and filling out a few character sheets.  “Real” writing may not actually begin for me until next week, which might just be a good thing as I slowly slide back into this groove.

Hmm… out of coffee.  I suppose it’s time to get at least some work done.