I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date....
So sorry. I had my Wench day wrong on my calendar, but then as well I've been ditzy recently with deadlines and computer disasters and all the rest.
Let me explain. You knew I was on a deadline. Things were going well until my computer decided to dance with death. This computer. It's a video card problem. It's still not quite right, but as you see, it's working. It made the deadline interesting though, because though I write on another computer, I need this one to send the book to my editor in Word.
The Secret Wedding's back, BTW, and my editor loves it. Yay! She copy edits in Word, and I respond the same way. It actually works very well, but I think it'll be hell on archivists in the future and they don't have much hope for the preservation of electronic media.
The Secret Wedding will be out in April, which means there's zero slack in the timetable. It's a follow on to A Lady's Secret and about Christian, Major Lord Grandiston. I'll tell you more later.
I have four computers at the moment. I write in the brilliant XY Write on a DOS 486. I think my edition of XY Write is from the mid '80s and I've never had to update or learn new tricks. Heaven! It also doesn't think it knows better than I do and try to help. It doesn't display as pages, so it doesn't jiggle as it aligns and shifts. It's a glorified typewriter and I adore it.
I am a true Luddite. The Luddites were not mindless vandals. They saw, accurately, that new machinery was going to be bad for them and they tried not to go there. In this enlightened age -- and with a husband willing to store and maintain old computers and parts (including keyboards with the F keys at the left) I don't have to.Now there's a hero. Isn't it true that in the end the hero of a romance novel should have skills that enhance the heroine's life -- in more ways than that, you hussy! ?
I also have an old Toshiba laptop. It did excellent service but the battery's good for about half an hour, plus it weighs about 10 lbs. I use it now as a ridiculously oversized audio book player. My local library has downloadable audio books, but I don't have a portable thing that'll play them. As I mostly listen in the kitchen when cleaning and cooking, I just put the Toshiba there.
I replaced it with a Mac Airbook, which I love. (That's it with Charlie up there, overseeing the world. :) My two other monitors are behind. This set up isn't ideal, but it's temporary.) I can pop the Mac in my backpack and hardly know it's there. I don't find the Mac system nearly as easy as they think it is. They need to recruit some non-Mac users and watch them struggle. Then they'd know what we don't know. But I do love it, and now I have a DOS emulator and XY Write on it, so I don't have to switch formats to work on the road.
And I've been on the road a lot since July. Did I ever point you to my other blogs?
Jo Talk is where I posted about my trip to Australia as sidekick to the wonderful Barbara Samuel.
Then there's Minepast where I post any snippets of historical interest, especially peculiar ones. I just posted about a couple of interesting books from the wonderful Dover Books. And also about a list of causes of death in the late 19th century. If you haven't visited, cruise the archives.
To add to the general chaos of my life, the other day it poured with rain here. An ominous bubble appeared in the ceiling of the apartment bedroom. So the bed's in the living room, which is huge, but still.... On the brighter side, my Christmas cactus is blooming.
And of course there was the US election. I won't get political, but it was certainly fascinating enough to require some time and attention,wasn't it? And I will say that it's great to have a true orator back in politics. In the past, members of Parliament would weep to hear some speak. I don't have time to look it up. Pitt the Elder, perhaps? Anyone know?
We used to have to learn great speeches in school. I remember one that started, "We live in a land of rich soil..." and perhaps went on "and bounteous harvests." I thought it was by Disraeli, but a quick search isn't finding it. Anyone want to do a treasure hunt? First one back with it gets a book.
Oh, and the other computer is this Pentium whatever which is driving me scatty because it doesn't like its video card, not even the new one, and it might be a fan problem -- the whirl around and cool sort, not the stalking Misery sort. :)
And there we are. A glimpse of life chez Beverley. And I'll finish with a picture I took recently here which is just, well, one of those pictures.
So, go hunting for great political orators and that speech. I think it might be "We live in a land of rich soils and wholesome temperatures...." now I come to think of it. The gerbils in the back of my brain are muttering and cursing and they attack the files of long neglected "useless data."
Mother Margaret Mary, Layton Hill Grammar School, Blackpool.Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away...
BC. Before Cabbagepatch.
Jo :)