The "L" Word

I finally have a new laptop! (cue Theme From Rocky)

That may not seem like a big deal to most people. But, to an author, that can mean the difference between 500 words a day and 5,000. Especially when the "L" key doesn't work.

At first, this gave me no end of amusement, laughing at the words and phrases that appeared in my writing: "She ooked at him with ove in her eyes." Funny as hell. Unfortunately, I am the type who cannot ignore a misspelling or grammar mistake if I see it. Which means I was constantly eying up that irritating red squiggle, trying to continue the narrative, then giving up and going back to punch the "L" hard enough to leave a mark. It was like working on a faulty typewriter.

(Note to people born in 1990 or after: A "typewriter" was an ancient device people used for writing before word processors and computers.)

(Additional note to those born in 1995 or later: A "word processor" was an electronic typewriter.)

(Note to those born after the year 2000: The word "electronic" refers to... never mind.)

Anyhoo...  By the time I was getting to the end of my rope with that, the "N" key was malfunctioning intermittently. Also, the old laptop refused to stay online. There was a "WiFi" button on the front that had to be physically held to the right to stay on the internet. Eventually, even that didn't work, so I had to plug an old LAN card into the USB to stay on, but that had terrible connectivity, which made researching topics for my book, or advertising my previous work a nightmare.

Now, I'm averaging about 2,000 - 5,000 words a day.  I'm far less distracted while writing because there are almost no squiggly red lines to draw my eye. (Except for the occasional typo, that is.) The only downside is the EXTRA "L's" that come from the habit of hitting the key twice because I assume it didn't take the first time. That can get realllly annoying.

 I finished writing my newest book on the old laptop. Considering that it ended up being over 130,000 words, I don't feel bad about how long it took. My next book, which is in the works, will be a collection of short stories. The first story, a haunted house-type tale, is almost done. The next three (or four; I haven't decided) should not take too long.

I'm waiting on my initial editor, my wife Brenda, to read the epic and give me her much-needed feedback before making my edits and sending it out to be reviewed. So, don't expect that book, an end-of-the-world story, until Spring of 2015.

(Obligatory self-promotion to follow)

While you wait, why not give my first book, Four From Below, a read? It's available in paperback and ebook through Amazon, and also in paperback through Createspace.

Thanks, as always, for reading!

Daniel P. Coffman