Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Moping.

No post today because just as I was sitting down to write a little something about a mad assasin sheep, I noticed that Google Drive ate 2/3rds of "Witch's Moon"--from about 2 paragraphs into chapter 8and beyond is gone. Well, not GONE gone. I do have a print out of an early draft so I can recreate it with a little effort, but yeah. All the work I've done on it since getting it back from the freelance editer is gone. And now I get to retype 40,000 or so words and start the editing process all over again. I hate technology some days...

In honor of having lost my mind, I offer random pictures from my WTF-ery files. Enjoy!

~ Rebecca




13 comments:

Savanna Kougar said...

OMYGAWD! Rebecca, that's awful. I totally feel for you!!! I don't even know what google drive is... but I'm a fiend for backing everything up on several flashdrives.

Right now I'm doing the Siren edits for Ride the Roan Stud... and that was hard enough to get opened up on my system since I don't use microsoft word ... but about every half hour I send it to the flashdrive.

Especially love the dragon lay cartoon!

Rebecca Gillan said...

Google Drive is a cloud server. I started using it as a back-up a few years ago after I lost a lot of work when my laptop crashed. And then I started working with the documents directly on the drive because I could access the document with any device that could connect to the internet. But I did learn from the last time and had many copies and print-offs. Unfortunately, the e-copies were all of the first version, which was written in third person and very different from this first person version. But I do have a hard copy of the WIP from just before I sent it to the editor, so all is not lost. I just wish I hadn't deleted the e-mails containing copies of the WIP!!!

Pat C. said...

Gahhhh! This is why I print out everything. I also email myself chapters and let Yahoo Mail save stuff for me.

I also have stuff saved on flash drive; I'm slowly moving into the technological age. Then there's the handwritten first draft, which no one will be able to read in another generation because it's cursive. When I'm famous (and 10 years dead), they'll have to hire experts to decypher it.

Just eat a lot of chocolate. Everything will be all right.

Savanna Kougar said...

Got it about being a cloud server. Yeah, I don't generally delete those emails, just in case. Does the editor have an ecopy?

I wish I could print it all out. Right now, that just doesn't work.

Yeah, if anyone reads the decades of WIPS I wrote in cursive... well, good luck... huh.

Rebecca Gillan said...

I checked; she said she only keeps them until her client confirms recipt. But, I do have the paper copy sans editing, so there's that. I've got one chapter copied back in and am remembering a lot of the changes. Just 12 more chapters to go! And I'm saving that s.o.b. off line as well as on line at the end of each chapter this time!

Savanna Kougar said...

GOOD! on the saving.

Serena Shay said...

Oh hell, Rebecca, that sucks! I'm kind of surprised that Google drive ate your work...I use the Microsoft one drive and it has been wonderful and quite secure. Of course now I'm thinking I need to back up my back up again. :)

I use flash drives, the one drive, email and a separate hard drive to save everything. It seems excessive sometimes, but I've had flash drives kaput on me before and computers crash...it sucks.

Good luck!

Savanna Kougar said...

Smart moves, Serena. That's one reason I use several flashdrives. I'm hoping they won't all go bad at once, if that happens. So far 'knock on wood' they're okay.

Rebecca Gillan said...

Serena, even the help desk tech at Google couldn't believe it had done that. I used to use flash drives, but honestly, I do most of my actual writing on my phone and an iPhone does not have a USB dock. (Yes, I know how insane that sounds, but it works for me.)

Savanna Kougar said...

If you're mobile, writing on an iphone makes sense... I used to write on work breaks for example... back in those days. But really, an iphone should have a USB dock... why not?

Savanna Kougar said...

On second thought, since clouds are being hacked, so you think someone did that?

Rebecca Gillan said...

I can't picture anyone hacking my google just to wipe out part of a manuscript. I'm just not famous enough. Or at all. It's probably just a glitch.

Savanna Kougar said...

I just meant as a side affect of hacking itself... they could have made a mistake... anyhoo, ya never know. Maybe someone did want your mss.