*hyperventilates*

[rj_anderson]

Had a hard time getting to sleep tonight. Finally drifted off, only to be awakened by a shattering clap of thunder and the sudden, dread conviction that all fifteen newly edited chapters of my novel had been zapped out of existence. Worst. Feeling. Ever. Waited until the storm had mostly passed, and then leaped out of bed to check.

It's still there.

It's still okay.

*takes deep, calming breath*

I have now backed up the chapters to my secondary drive and saved them to diskette as well. Tomorrow I'll make a third backup copy just in case.

I can't believe I haven't been doing this all along. Did I learn nothing from the tragedy that befell Ben Aaronovitch? Or lizbee, for that matter.

So very grateful the book is still there. Now maybe I can sleep.

Comments

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Why don't you put the drafts up online somewhere, just in case your entire house is wiped out by a falling asteroid?

Not that it'll do the book much good, unless you're away from home at the time. But for peace of mind...

(Not kidding. I have so many backups of various fics. I learnt my lesson!)

[(Anonymous)]

Oooohh, that's a good idea--post a bit for us impatient folks, willya?

Naomi (I live for spoilers)

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

Ooh, scary. Glad everything's all right.

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that would give me the shakes in a big way. *hugs* Glad it's ok.

[sabrinanymph.livejournal.com]

Ah the paranoia that comes when you have a very long work in progress on your computer. I always quite feel that things aren't safe there-except then I think of Little Women and Amy burning Jo's novel and I realise they weren't safe on paper either.

Backups are good. Yay for backups!

[mingbutterfly.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear things worked out well for you, in the end. I'll add dropped laptops to the catalog of horrors. At least, it's always best to learn the "backing things up really is important" lesson without losing any actual data! Still, I'm sorry to hear you went through such panic.

[rose-in-shadow.livejournal.com]

Not only save it to a disk, but burn it to CD and invest in a flash (thumb) drive. I bought one at the beginning of the school year; best $10 I've spent.

Backups are good

[callyperry.livejournal.com]

I still have nightmares about The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and that wasn't even me. ( T.E. Lawrence left his completed manuscript on a train. He had to rewrite it from scratch. )