Simple pleasures

So, as you can see from my word count bar, I've been progressing pretty well on my next book and averaging about 2k words/day. Er, besides from yesterday that is. I've had some kind of cold/flu/sickness for over a week. I'd begun feeling better a few days ago, but yesterday just took the wind out of my sails, and I felt yucky really again. So only 199 words were added on the book. I've been waiting to work on this novel in particular for a few years now. It began in a previous incarnation, but the pieces just weren't fitting together properly. I ended up re-envisioning it, and now it's flowing pretty well so far. Some of what I'd thought before is staying, but other things are being put in the missing pieces that make more sense.

But one of the things I love about the book is the setting.  It takes place in a faraway country called Finland, which I absolutely love. Yesterday while I wasn't feeling well, I looked over a photo website http://taivasalla.net/english by Niklas Sjöblom. It definitely counted as novel research. *grins*

The picture above is one of my many favorites from the picture website of Helsinki's South Harbor. And then there's the webcam from http://ek.fi/kamera/palace30.jpg, which is also of the South Harbor. 

Valuable Lesson Learned...

Don't forget to hit SAVE every once in a while!

That charming little autorecovery save feature in Microsoft Word is really nice, and it's saved my butt a couple of times when I've had my computer crash unexpectedly. I'm quite fond of it. But today after working hard on completing a tricky chapter and beginning the next one in a neat fashion, I walked away from my computer to talk to my husband. When I strolled back, I notice that my computer has in fact rebooted itself because of the ridiculous feature on Windows 7 that causes a computer to restart if 15 minutes have passed without the user to hit a Postpone button.

When Microsoft Word popped back up, my entire day of writing was gone. Auto save had apparently taken a hike while I'd been working today (which I know isn't technically true since the feature itself is enabled, it just didn't save anything. Techie hubby tried to figure it out to no avail). I ended up having to rewrite the scene to make sure I didn't completely forget what I wrote, but the damage has been done since I think what I rewrote is lackluster in comparison to what I initially had.

So don't let this happen to you... SAVE your work throughout the writing session.

The Friday 56

The Fifth Sentence

"I pushed as hard as I could, not caring at the moment if the movement tore my neck, just wanting him off. My hands were at an awkward angle on his shoulders and my strength was no match for his, but something about the action seemed to get through. He stopped." - Embrace the Night by Karen Chance

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
* Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.