So, I’ve been caught up in the 70 Days of Sweat. Then on Wednesday, I was writing along and I hit save. I got a message saying something like, “Some characters will be lost if you continue.” That was odd, since I’d saved this file before with no problem, so I tried to get out of it. Unfortunately, MS Word shut down completely and somehow deleted the file.

I was a bit heartbroken about it. I told myself to look at it as an opportunity to rewrite the story now that I know the characters and make it better, but it still killed me to think of losing 50 pages. So, I ended up jotting down notes for another story to keep my mind occupied.

In the meantime, I had a couple of friends take a look at my computer to try and find the file. On Sunday, I was able to recover most of the text. Talk about going from trick to treat! Yes, I could have rewritten it, but I’m so glad I don’t have to.

Backups. Always a good thing. I knew that, but I guess I needed the reminder.

I received the cover for my next book, The Greatest Gift.

Frauke from Croco Designs made it, and I think it’s beautiful! I love the sexy and festive look she’s given the cover.

New covers are wonderful.

I’m having a hard time getting the word count meter to work in my sidebar, so I figure I’ll do a weekly update for the 70 Days of Sweat.

5,179 / 70,000 (7.4%)

I’m working on Battle, my Vampire Chronicles story for Cobblestone Press. It’s coming along quite nicely.

I decided to participate in the 70 Days of Sweat writing challenge. Just looking at the banner makes the sweating begin . . .

I’m sure I can do it, though. I need to write 70,000 words between October 15 and January 15 (70 days with time off allowed for the holidays). Since I need to write 50,000 for NaNaWriMo, I have faith that I’ll do it. I’m going to finish my single title Vanished and my novella Battle.

Let the sweating begin . . .

I have a release date for The Greatest Gift! It comes out December 17. I can’t wait to see what they come up with for the cover.

I’m working on a new story now. With each one, I learn more about writing. I think the more you do it, the more you learn. That’s the way it should be. Luckily there are good moments to offset the ones that are a struggle. The latest lesson is the importance of outlining. I do little outlining with shorter stories, so I wasn’t working with one for my latest story. Then the story expanded, and I’m trying to put it all together. My next step: a new outline to get the story back on track.

In other news, I entered the Brava Novella Contest, so I will be waiting to hear the results along with more than 300 other entrants.

Should be fun.

I’m also preparing for National Novel Writing Month–I can’t believe it’s coming so soon! Looks like I have a lot of outlining to do this month.