# My worst day as a writer



## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Yesterday, after lunch, I stopped by a local Houston Walmart to pick up a case of ice tea.

After 15 minutes in the store, I came out to find my pickup truck with a busted window.
My computer bag was gone, on it were 3 WIPs, one of which was a day or two from going to editing (a novel over 100,000 words).

The parking lot cameras weren't working. The cop was useless, the store manager annoyed at my distraction.

On the way home, it started pouring rain. I, having no window, didn't appreciate that.

No problem on the books - I've got it backed up... NOT. 
I've been using Microsoft's new Office 365, and evidently I did something wrong because there is no backup.
After several hours on the phone with Microsoft technical support, the window replacement guy arrived. He worked and worked and worked, but couldn't get the glass to fit. While he had my door completely apart, it started raining again.

Finally, the window was in and I was very late for an appointment. The truck wouldn't start - a victim of the window guy leaving the key on while listening to the radio for three hours.

After bothering a neighbor for a jump, in the rain, I went to apt and then on to the computer store where I purchased the latest whizbang, mega-nasty laptop.
It won't boot. Windows 8 won't install.

Words cannot describe my emotional mix of anger and frustration over losing those books. The thought of starting all over again on a nearly-complete work is just crushing. I tried last night to start typing it in again, and I just can't right now.

All of this over someone's need to take a laptop worth maybe $150 bucks at a pawn shop. If the good lord could give me any 15 minutes back for a re-do, I would wish that I left the Walmart a bit sooner and caught whoever was vandalizing my truck. It would not have been a good day to be a thief.  
  
I'm writing this on Mrs. Nobody's laptop, which in itself is another adventure.

Yesterday, it sucked to be a writer.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Urgh, that sucks. Window and laptop can be replaced, but the manuscripts... ouch.

I guess manual backups rule. Use Dropbox or similar as well as other backups.


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## William Stacey (Jul 7, 2012)

Dude, 
I'm so sorry for you. That sucks so much. I need to make back ups. I've been putting it off, but maybe now I'll get off my lazy butt and do it. I'm using Scrivener, and I understand it's fairly easy to back up on cloud. Now I'll figure it out--today!

Sending best thoughts your way and hoping the universe gets the person who ripped you off.

I'm certain that whatever you write next will be waaaay better then what was stolen from you, as hard as it is to climb back up on the horse.


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## Nicole5102 (Mar 12, 2012)

I can't even imagine what you are going through having to face re-doing all that work. So sorry this happened to you.


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## brendajcarlton (Sep 29, 2012)

That'll teach you to go to Walmart. (Just kidding)  So sorry.  Maybe you could try contacting all the local pawnshops and try to intercept the laptop if it comes in?


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

That is absolutely horrid. I hope you take some time to recouperate and take some time to be nice to yourself. make sure you do rewrite that book at some stage. Don't give up on it.


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## Dee Ernst (Jan 10, 2011)

Oh, I am so sorry.  I can't even imagine what you're going through.  Totally sucks.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

The bummer of all bummers.


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## Darren Wearmouth (Jan 28, 2013)

That's terrible Mr. Nobody. I hope that's all of your bad luck used up for a number of years. I also hope there is some justice.


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## Nicki Leigh (Aug 25, 2011)

I am so sorry you had to experience something like this.

I think many of us have lost manuscripts in the past. Take me for example. Around 2004, before Dropbox or anything like that, I only ever saved my work on the laptop I was using. That laptop ended up crashing and not booting up again. I had a 160k MS on there which, at the time, was my pride and joy (it's now trunked). I also had a lot of art on that laptop I was in the process of completing.

I was fortunate that I was able to take it to Best Buy and get my files burned to a disk (for a fee) but I do understand the frustration you speak of.

Give yourself a few days to destress. Go for long walks, or a drive maybe. Don't try to write right now as you may only get frustrated from the lost work. That said, I think for now you should start something new. Wait a bit before you try to go back to what you lost.


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## KerryT2012 (Dec 18, 2012)

Oh no, this is so sad. I lost Part 2 (WIP) on my computer. After hours, couldn't find it. So, I know how you feel but obviously not to the same degree as your loss. Take a deep breathe and think about all the good things in life, such as Mrs Nobody. Then, its start again, when you're ready.


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## kathrynoh (Oct 17, 2012)

That sucks.  I hope by some twist of fate, you manage to get it back.  

You don't have parts of the WIP you've emailed people?  That's how I salvaged my novel when my computer died.


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## Jason Eric Pryor (Jan 30, 2013)

Dude...just...wow. 

I felt myself getting angrier and angrier at the person that broke into your truck the more I read through your post. What a horrible experience! So sorry brother.


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

I'm so very sorry, Joe. That just sucks.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

DDark said:


> Could you try calling all the pawn shops in town as a heads-up? I'd tell them I'd be willing to pay for it if they get one in, because they can't know if items are stolen. I've seen people go to the news with stuff they had stolen or accidentally sold at a garage sale. So sorry to hear, but maybe your rewrites will be even better.
> 
> Please start using Dropbox or something similar and backup each time before you close your laptop (or every 5 minutes, like I do). Then copy to flash drives.
> 
> ...


In that area alone (FM1960), there are over 100 pawnshops (according to Google) within 10 miles. I did do a search of Craig's list last night - nadda so far.


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## leedobbins (Feb 5, 2011)

I'm double backing up all my stuff today and double checking the backups.  That's so terrible. Ughhh.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

kathrynoh said:


> You don't have parts of the WIP you've emailed people? That's how I salvaged my novel when my computer died.


I don't normally email folks my WIPS. I have three paragraphs that I sent my editor with a grammar question, but that's it. Sigh.


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## Silly Writer (Jul 15, 2013)

Joe, that is so horribly rotten it stinks.  

Maybe you could put up a reward sign at Walmart, asking for just the laptop... Criminals are stupid, they'll do anything for $50 bucks. I'm sure you know this, but you get to purchase one iPad a year as a write-off on taxes in this profession. Every time I finish a chapter or anything really, I email the WIP to myself, then open it my iPad-mini to be sure I have it before closing down my computer.


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## Magda Alexander (Aug 13, 2011)

I'm so sorry this happened to you.   Hope you'll somehow, some way retrieve your work.


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## Barbara Bartholomew (Nov 13, 2010)

That's just terrible. All my sympathy.


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## Onedayatatime (Oct 14, 2012)

I'm so sorry!!! That's horrible!


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## Nathalie Hamidi (Jul 9, 2011)

So sorry to hear that.   

When I write, I email myself a copy every night on Gmail.
This is useful, that way I won't lose more than 2k words.

Good luck!


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## MQ (Jan 5, 2011)

Wow, sorry to hear that.  All that bad luck at once?  Again, wow.

Laptops and other equipments can be replaced but not WIPs.  I am paranoid about losing work (I once did and it was torture having to re-write those scenes) so now I make sure to back up my work each day on my laptop, USB, SD card, and once in a while on a DVD.  

This is a good reminder to all writers to make sure to store their WIPs in different locations.

Again, really sorry to hear that, Joe.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

I almost cried when I read this, it's one of my great fears, my life is on this laptop and I've never backed up! I must do it.

Joe, post offers for rewards everywhere. You cant lose the work! Put a reward on craigslist, put up that sign at Walmart. Offer a truck load of money.  Make it clear you dont care about the theft or anything and that return could be completely annoymous. Play to their concience by saying it has deeply sentimental photos of your dead mother or something and play to their avarice by offering money no strings attached, no consequences.

I appreciate you probably want to batter their heads in, but your writing is too good to lose so much work. Big hugs x


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## timskorn (Nov 7, 2012)

Wow, I feel for you.  I hope you can somehow find out who stole it.  Hopefully they are not smart enough to look through your stuff and try to publish your WIP!!

If it's any consolation, Green Day had the master tracks for their album "Cigarettes and Valentines" stolen right before it was finished.  They didn't attempt to re-record the album, and instead began working on an entirely new one which ended up winning a Grammy for Album of the Year, and sold some 16 million copies!

Maybe you can try and contact the NSA?  I'm sure they have perma-backup on everything you do.


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## George Hamilton (Dec 14, 2010)

L.L. Akers said:


> Joe, that is so horribly rotten it stinks.
> 
> Maybe you could put up a reward sign at Walmart, asking for just the laptop...


So sorry for your loss. The above is exactly what I was thinking. Definitely worth a shot.


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## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

Holy shit, Joe.
Writer or not, words fail me at this point.

I lost a single chapter once and thought that was the worst ever. 
If you were here I'd buy you a stiff drink and let you rant about things to do with that thief if you had him/her in your hands.


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## elizabethareeves (Jul 6, 2013)

I am so sorry for you lost. I can't imagine you loss. I have had cases were my lab top was stolen with writing projects on it and it was not backed up, but nothing like 100,000 words. 

I wish the best for you and I hope you have a quick recovery from this set back.


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## EC Sheedy (Feb 24, 2011)

Just OUCH!    I hope it turns up, Joe... I detest thieves. Scum and worse.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

So sorry to hear this, Joe....

And the laptop may very well be out of the area now.  When my laptops were stolen (in the Washington, DC area), Google notified me that someone tried to access my account in Georgia not long after.  (I had change my password right away.)

Betsy


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## RinG (Mar 12, 2013)

Really sorry to hear this happened to you. I'm sure it's every writers worst fear.


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## Anne Frasier (Oct 22, 2009)

my heart is pounding in fear from reading this. i can't even begin to imagine the frame of mind i'd be in if this happened to me. so terribly, terribly sorry.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

Sorry to hear this, Joe.  You have my empathy and sympathy.

Hope that it works out somehow.  What a nightmare.


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## Anne Berkeley (Jul 12, 2013)

Wow, so sorry.  I second the flash drives. I back everything up every time I shut down for the night.


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## Cege Smith (Dec 11, 2011)

Joe- I am so so sorry. I have been there. Three years ago, my husband picked me up after work to take me out to dinner in DT Minneapolis. We came outside and I found a similar smash and grab job and my backpack which held my work laptop, my brand new Mac, my Kindle, my work phone and my personal phone in it all gone. Yes- I was stupidly carrying around my LIFE in that backpack.

Of all the equipment in the backpack, the thing that I cried for weeks over was losing a small leather purse that had about 5 flash drives in it that contained pretty much everything I had ever written in my life on them. (WIPs, blog posts from blogs that I started and shut down, college papers, short stories, etc.) That stuff was irreplaceable. 

It took me almost six months to find it inside to start writing again. It was a truly horrific emotional experience and I felt completely violated. I STILL get upset about it and will always remember the day: May 13th, 2010.

Like some other folks mentioned, be good to yourself and let yourself work through all the emotional rollercoaster of what happened. Then you'll pick yourself up and start again because that's what you have to do- look forward as opposed to looking back. Again- so so sorry.


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## S. Shine (Jan 14, 2013)

I was thinking the thread title was tongue in cheek, not expecting to read a real life tragedy. Joe, I have no words for this. I hope you'll rise above the anger and frustration it must cause. My sympathies.

And now I feel like kicking the wall in replaced anger. What a [crappy] thing to happen!!!


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## blakebooks (Mar 10, 2012)

I'm so sorry, Joe. It's happened to me, on a lesser scale. I lost about the last third of my dog book to Word and a hard disk glitch when I was writing it - and it was the hardest part to write. So I had to go back and recreate it from scratch. Really sucked.

As will this. But you'll prevail. What's the alternative?

Now I save everything to a flash drive every evening.


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## TJHudson (Jul 9, 2012)

Urgh, that's so crap (especially what happened after the crime too). So sorry to hear to all of you who've had similar experiences. It's not the machines, it's what's on the machines that's truly valuable.

To echo others here, use Dropbox and email yourself the manuscripts too.


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## MatthewBallard (May 21, 2013)

Wow. Words cannot convey how sorry I am for your loss. I know you must feel devastated. 

I've been a professional software developer for 17 years and losing code is always a huge fear. Microsoft uses the SkyDrive for its cloud storage. Are you absolutely sure its not there? Did you save it to SkyDrive? 

I'm a fledgling writer and roughly 75k words into my first novel, and if I lost it...well, it wouldn't be good.

I use google drive. After you sign up for an account you can install google drive on your laptop and treat it just like a normal hard drive. Between it and Srivener (which auto-saves every few seconds) I'm hoping to avoid this catastrophic event.

Again, I'm so sorry. If I could help you recover it, I would do so in a heartbeat. Good luck.


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## Maggie Dana (Oct 26, 2011)

What gets me is the calm and reasoned ( and oh so well written) way that Joe explained the situation ... the mark of a very classy guy.

I can't begin to imagine what this must feel like. So sorry it happened to one of my favorite kboarders.

ps: If you put all this in a novel, critics would say it was OTT, not believable, not "real life." I know an agent would!


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Reading this made me feel queasy, and it didn't even happen to me. So sorry you experienced this. If I lost a 100k WIP, I'm pretty sure I'd be out of the game for months trying to recover. I second all the suggestions about trying to put up rewards. $500, no questions asked, would be awfully tempting if the person saw it I imagine. Best of luck!


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## @Suzanna (Mar 14, 2011)

I'm so sorry that happened to you! I can't even imagine how devastated you must be. I know it doesn't help, but I'm sending {{hugs}} your way.


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## Chris Northern (Jan 20, 2011)

Empathy ouch. Sorry I can't think of a single practical or useful thing to say.


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## Nathan Elliott (May 29, 2012)

Ouch. My heart hurts for you, Joe. When you feel like writing again, I hope that the newly rewritten books will outshine the lost ones prototypes.

I imagine you've considered this, but I've gotta ask just in case... Have you possibly either emailed any of the WIPs to anyone at some stage of completion, or transferred to a Kindle or phone or other device for proofing or anything? I have often been surprised at the electronic trails I've left behind.


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## WG McCabe (Oct 13, 2012)

Joe that is friggen awful, man. I hope you can somehow recover the laptop. I must echo others suggestions of using Dropbox or something similar.



Joe_Nobody said:


> The parking lot cameras weren't working. The cop was useless, the store manager annoyed at my distraction.


Last year I got home from work one day and noticed my back door open and glass all over the floor. Someone broke into my house and stole my PS3, iPad (I stupidly did not have Find My iPad turned on because I never took the thing out of the house) and laptop (they left my EVH Wolfgang guitar, though, and could have gotten more money for it than the other things). On the laptop were family videos, photos that aren't replaceable, and two novella WIPs.

The 911 operator told me I should not have gone in the house in case the person was still in there. I told her that had the person still been in the house "this would be an entirely different kind of 911 call".

I got everything replaced about a week later (new stuff) and I noticed an odd email address pop up in the log in field in Facebook. It was a Yahoo address so I took control of said yahoo address and took hold of this dude's Facebook account. I have screengrabs of the thief trying to sell my stuff to his friends via private messages on facebook. I did all the legwork for the cops, know who the guy is and where he lives (and know his criminal background) and they did nothing. They thanked me for the information and that was the last I heard about it.

I use Google Chrome and that helped with finding the guy. It's a struggle not to go to his house and beat his ass.


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## Steve W. (Feb 23, 2011)

So sorry this happened to you, Joe. What a nightmare.


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## whatdanwrote (Oct 18, 2012)

I'm really sorry that happened to you. Even though I don't know you, I'm annoyed on your behalf, especially for someone who is always being helpful on these boards.

I had this happen. I used to write scripts and my computer crashed, I had no back-ups. I lost all of them, except for one I still had printed out. It ended up being a great thing. I had spent enough time screenwriting, and it led me to writing books, which I much prefer. And the one script I had printed is the only one I want to turn into a novel. So for me, it was a blessing in disguise.

Not that this will provide much comfort, but if you do have to rewrite it all, I'm sure you will reach a point where you say it's the best work you've ever created. 

But again, sorry this happened to you. It really stinks.


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## Satchya (Sep 5, 2012)

Joe, I don't even have words!  I am so sorry this happened to you.  I have no patience or sympathy for thieves.  .


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## Nathalie Hamidi (Jul 9, 2011)

Here are ten thousand unicorn-farty compassionate patpats on the back, and a few Nicholas Cage as your favourite Disney princesses to make you feel better.









































































You can also have a plate of my LEGENDARY tiramisu.

*hugs*


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

So sorry for the loss of word - that just sucks.

Not sure if anyone posted it yet, but might not be a bad idea just to drive to a few local pawn stores and ask if a laptop had been pawned. Never know.


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## Ardin (Nov 1, 2012)

So unfortunate.
If you can find a bright side, fixate on that.


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## scottmarlowe (Apr 22, 2010)

blakebooks said:


> Now I save everything to a flash drive every evening.


Flash drives are notorious for failing without notice. Just saying.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Joe, I'm so sorry this happned to you. That really sucks. Yikes.

Going forward, I would suggest dropbox. I use that, email myself my manuscripts periodically, and sometimes also flashdrive it. But the dropbox I use every time I write or edit anything so that I have the most up to date copy.


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## scottmarlowe (Apr 22, 2010)

This sucks in so many ways. I hate thieves. They're the worst kind of people.

My parents had their house broken into and the cops were pretty useless as well. Bastard got away with tens of thousands worth of jewelry. Bad on my parents for not having that stuff in a locked down safe or even an alarm system in the house, but, still...

They also tried the pawn shop route, but one of the cops said most of the time they just melt the jewelry down and sell the gold, so no way to tell where it came from or where it went.

Laptop will probably get sold on the street for some smack, sad to say.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Oh, that REALLY, _REALLY_ sucks!  I'm so sorry that happened to you. No words of advice except to build a time machine and go back in time to prevent it.


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## AnneMarie Novark (Aug 15, 2010)

Wow. Just Wow.

So very sorry.  Hugs.


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2013)

Holy crap, that sucks.


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## LG Castillo (Jun 28, 2012)

OMG! So sorry that you had to go through all that. You need a hug.


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

So very sorry.


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

Ugh.  I'm sick for you and everyone else this has happened to.  Sometimes people really, really suck. I just don't understand how a person gets to a place where they think it's okay to do something like this.

I'm certain many, many writers are busy backing up their work today after reading this, so I thank you for that reminder.


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## scottmarlowe (Apr 22, 2010)

My personal backup options, for what it's worth...

1.) Dropbox (free; provides a 3 system, real-time sync'ed backup for me--personal laptop, work laptop, cloud)
2.) Carbonite (~$100/2-3 years; real-time, unlimited storage backup to cloud; I use this to backup the wife's stuff as well our photos, etc.)


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## Marti talbott (Apr 19, 2011)

That is sooo awful. I am so afraid of losing my work, I email a copy from one of my boxes to another each day after I finish working. What happened to you makes me glad I do. The Microsoft guy couldn't find it in your backup? You could try another Microsoft guy, maybe he can.


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## Donna White Glaser (Jan 12, 2011)

All of a sudden, I realize I might suck as a writer, because I have no words... That is a sucker punch from life, for sure. I'm sorry this happened to you, Joe.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

scottmarlowe said:


> My personal backup options, for what it's worth...
> 
> 1.) Dropbox (free; provides a 3 system, real-time sync'ed backup for me--personal laptop, work laptop, cloud)
> 2.) Carbonite (~$100/2-3 years; real-time, unlimited storage backup to cloud; I use this to backup the wife's stuff as well our photos, etc.)


^This. When I did tech support for a living, I always recommended three different forms of backup...

Betsy


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

You now have material (and inspiration) for a whole new subject for a book. It would be an especially painful one to write though. I keep thinking how I would feel in your shoes and it almost makes me sick. May tomorrow be full of better days for you!


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## Gina Black (Mar 15, 2011)

Ugh. What an incredible nightmare. I truly feel for you. 

Yes, Dropbox, Dropbox, Dropbox. It's like saving to your computer but it also puts it in the cloud so whatever is in there is available anytime anywhere. Also redundancy. Save it elsewhere too. Mail it places. Put it on a Kindle. Have a backup program save it regularly to a hard drive.

I'm with checking with another person at Microsoft. Or two. Or three. How could it not do what you were paying it to do? Something is very wrong there.


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## jackz4000 (May 15, 2011)

I live in a low crime area and have never left my laptop in my car--it's low crime but if it's even partially visible some skank will steal it. I wouldn't leave a Smartphone in a car either. Portable electronics are as good as cash.

I'd run a local ad and maybe flyers with a reward posted and no questions asked for it's return. Good luck.

Last month I learned how important multiple back-ups are when my laptop went suddenly wonky. But at worst a tech can pull the HD and grab my files, but recovery will cost a bit.

Since then I back-up daily to G-Drive, G-Mail, and SkyDrive. And Amazon Cloud for other stuff. I had become careless about backing-up. Now I'm relentless.


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## B. Ashcroft (Jul 3, 2013)

I think what bothers me most was how even after something so awful happened, the rain just had to keep beating on you, like the universe just had to keep whacking you. That and the incompetent window guy and the lateness. When it rains it pours, literally in this case. I would call 100 pawn shops. No, that's what someone strong like you could do. I would go fetal for days. My husband thinks you are the coolest guy ever. Oh that thieving coward, if only he could know who he crossed.....
But on top of that you're just a really awesome guy. This is some crazy suckage.


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

That sucks donkey balls, I'm so sorry.  

(And I just backed up the documents I'd moved out of my Google Drive)


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## Claudia King (Oct 27, 2012)

That's awful. 

I remember my college writing professor telling me how the exact same thing happened to him once upon a time -- he popped into the store to buy something, and while he was gone someone broke into his car and stole the laptop containing the only copy of his near-finished novel.
Ever since then I've been backing up everything twice, on google docs and a USB drive just in case.


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## Teri Hall (Feb 10, 2013)

I am so sorry. We all know the work a manuscript represents, and to have that just  . . . gone. Take a day and regroup doing nonwriting. You deserve a break.


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## Ben Mathew (Jan 27, 2013)

Sorry to hear that. I lost a paper in college that was due the next day, and that was painful. But three books? Yikes!


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## 41352 (Apr 4, 2011)

deleted


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## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

Please call all the pawnshops, and local computer fix it guys within a fifity mile radius. Offer a $100 reward. *Call the local newspaper and ask them to write a story about it. Someone will come forward with your "found" laptop.*

We did this at our church when someone broke in and stole three guitars. One had sentimental value, as it was given to our physically challenged (born without legs) Choir director on his sixteen birthday from his father who is no longer living.

We did recover them. 

I'm praying for you as I can't imagine how awful I would feel. I'm sick to my stomach just reading about it.


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

Sick in my heart for you, Joe... Oh man... I installed Google Drive onto my computer, thinking I was finally going to be responsible and make sure all my work was backed up.  Norton thought it was a virus and uninstalled it, destroying a couple days worth of revisions, and I thought the world was going to end.  I can't imagine ALL your WIPs lost, plus the violation of a theft, thinking you were backing up to Microsoft and then finding out something went wrong.  PLUS the window.  PLUS the car.  A very, very bad day.  I don't know what gypsy curse got thrown on you, but I think this calls for sacrificing a bucket full of KFC chicken to the gods or something.

P.S.  What brand was your laptop?  It's a stretch, but sometimes the manufacturer can either track or lock your system remotely.


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## Jan Thompson (May 25, 2013)

Wow, Joe. That sounds like a plot right out of a day in the life of Jack Bauer. (Sorry, I write thrillers.)

Consolation - you are unhurt, your family is unhurt. Thank God!

I agree with others -- backups, backups, backups.

My background in IT tells me that most people don't view backups as important until they lose something. Then they get upset. Back up everything before anything happens.


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## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

You poor thing. How wretched. If it's any consolation, I'm sure the thief will get his karmic payback.

But that was a good suggestion to go round all the local pawn shops. Might be worth a try. Especially if you tell them that you'll pay over the odds for it.


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## johnaburks (Jul 7, 2013)

Man that blows. I thought cloud backup was one of the big points of Office 365? What did they say you'd done wrong for it not to work, if you don't mine me asking.


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## Moondreamer (Apr 27, 2013)

Man, I'm so sorry. This is a horrible thing to go through. I can't imagine losing a 100k manuscript (eyes her computer nervously). Please, take a few days to unwind and, as others have said already, flyers, an article in the local newspaper and a monetary reward might help you get the laptop back.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

Ach!

Another suggestion: http://mozy.com/

Mozy automatically backs up, which is great when you suffer from CRAFT (like me). I did have a crash once, and when I restored with Mozy to a new laptop, it even had all my bookmarks and email folders just the way I'd set them. It was a miracle!

And ... I'm sorry for your loss!


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

What a nightmare. Knowing how much work goes into a manuscript, I'd be beyond gutted. To lose 3 books on top of everything else is gut-wrenching. I'm paranoid about losing work and save everything to USB drives and an external hard drive.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Joe - just Ouch, that really is bad news. All the best for recovery.


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## Joseph Turkot (Nov 9, 2012)

Sorry to hear that! I always send my work to my email so that it's in the cloud. Easiest way to back up writing in my opinion.


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## Theresaragan (Jul 1, 2011)

So sorry. Horrible.


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

That is beyond horrible, Joe! I went ballistic when I lost an 8-page comic book script once. I can't imagine losing a whole novel! You have my condolences and admiration for remaining strong through it all.


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## KaryE (May 12, 2012)

Man, oh man does that suck!!

I'd offer tea and sympathy, but tequila and vengeance might feel better.

Also, my backups are like so: I work on all WIPs in Dropbox, I email finished stuff to myself and betas, then back it up on a thumb drive that stays on my person if I leave the house. That's 4 copies of almost everything. I also have an external HD, but I haven't set up auto-back-ups yet. I need to, so thank you for the timely and pointed reminder. I live in fire and earthquake country, so if I have to bug out fast, I can grab the external HD and go.


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## MT Berlyn (Mar 27, 2012)

Oh, that is a rotten thing to have happened to you. Really rotten. I swear, there are energy vortexes that surround things once in a while and wreak havoc until burning out. I suppose the same could be said for a streak of unexplainable fortune as well.

Because of a computer crash wherein I lost everything a couple of years ago, I write in Google Docs and transfer all work from there, so the original is always retrievable. After edits are done on another program, I just copy another file in Google. I also email the files of everything I write to a separate address. I've had files inexplicably corrupt themselves, but the email storage file will still be fine, so I have that as backup to retrieve if needed. I keep all images in Photobucket due to that crash also.
_
Just breathe_ really works sometimes.


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## KevinH (Jun 29, 2013)

I once lost a day's worth of writing (about 10 pages) and I was almost hysterical.  I can only imagine what you must be feeling right now.  Other than your WIPs, I hope there was no personal identifying info on it (SSNs, etc.) that would put you at risk for identity theft or the like.


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## ecg52 (Apr 29, 2013)

I truly can sympathize with you. My hard drive crashed a few years ago and I thought I lost everything. I had no backups. My WIPs, my finished works, 50 years of family photos that I had painstakingly scanned, etc, etc. Fortunately, I was able to take it in and get the data recovered - at a cost of $1500. Since then I have used Carbonite for backup. Only $59 per year and you can get your data from any device. Dropbox is free, and I use it as well. I also use two external drives. The computer tech that recovered my data told me always have more than one backup for extra security. I have four backups now, no matter what happens it's a pretty sure bet one of them will give me back my data.
You don't even have the option of trying to recover your data since your laptop was stolen. I do like the idea of monitoring local pawnshops that another comment suggested.

Good luck, Joe!

Evelyn


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

*shudder* Our shared nightmare.


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## KellyHarper (Jul 29, 2012)

You let me know where we're rallying and I'll be there with my pitchfork and an angry face!

I'm sure it's already been recommended, but Dropbox is a wonderful backup tool. I originally started using it as a virtual network between laptop and desktop, but it serves a dual purpose incredibly well. 

Also -- you can avoid the Win8 problem by just buying a MacBook Pro... really can't go wrong with them


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

I can only echo everybody else&#8230; I can't even begin to imagine how devastating this must be.

Looking to the future:

* _*Never leave anything visible from the outside in your car.*_ Not even cheap sunglasses. A druggie might think they're Ray-Bans and smash your windows for them. Take the trouble to put your laptop in the boot (if you have to leave it at all). It's not visible there so there is no temptation to break into your car and it's harder to get into them than smashing in a window anyway. I don't want to rub salt into the wound, but this simple measure alone could have prevented the break-in and all subsequent misery.
* Synchronize your files with a cloud-service. I use Dropbox.
* Regularly backup your files to another cloud-service. I compress the folder containing all my books, WIPs, covers, maps, research, etc., password protect it, and upload it to Google Drive and Mediafire.
* Invest in an external drive. I backup my Home-directory daily.
* Invest in a second external drive and synchronize it with your first external drive on e.g. a weekly basis. Keep the second drive in a different location (at least another room).

More practical:

If you're going to advertise, maybe just ask for the files back.

You have my sympathy and I hope you somehow can recover your work.


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## 54706 (Dec 19, 2011)

Joe,
I am SO SO sorry to hear about your terrible day.  This shouldn't ever happen to anyone, but to you, who works every day to put good vibes out there for the rest of us?  Disgusting.  This thief is so going to pay.  Karma is a bitch.  I hope he pees his pants when he realizes WHOSE computer he stole, and looks over his shoulder in fear for the rest of his life.

In the meantime, I hope you visit every pawn shop in town until you find that computer.

I know it has to be awful for you to share this nightmare, but I appreciate the reminder not to keep valuable things where assholes can see them and to backup all the time.

My heart goes out to you, Joe!!


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## ElisaBlaisdell (Jun 3, 2012)

I feel heartsick for you. It's sickening and infuriating.

I'll echo all the good advice that others have given, adding a special nod to e-mailing the WIP to yourself. Do that every day, at the end of the day, and you have a good backup to add to the others.

As others have said, I make sure that anything that might attract a thief goes in the trunk of my car. I'll add that I make sure I put those things in my trunk at my departure point, not my destination. 

Best wishes to you.


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## KellyHarper (Jul 29, 2012)

If you'd like to PM me the particulars about the laptop, I can cruise through pawnshops on my side of town. I may be just far enough from you (but not too far) that it would make sense...


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## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

So sorry to hear it, Joe. I'll cross my fingers that you catch a break and maybe it shows up at one of the local pawn shops.

Sounds like maybe a good revenge story might not be a bad choice for the next book.


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## jackz4000 (May 15, 2011)

Joe, I think if you make alot of noise and offer a big reward the right person will get greedy and then...you'll know what to do with the big reward.

Confession: If my laptop is with me it stays with me--even into the supermarket or shopping...might look neurotic to some.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

I'm so sorry. That sucks beyond words.  I really hope that you're able to get it back. Each day I back up a zip file of my WIP and I save it on Dropbox. Again, I hope you're able to get your stories back.


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## KellyHarper (Jul 29, 2012)

Stacy Claflin said:


> I'm so sorry. That sucks beyond words.  I really hope that you're able to get it back. Each day I back up a zip file of my WIP and I save it on Dropbox. Again, I hope you're able to get your stories back.


Have you considered working directly out of your dropbox folder? That's what I do with Scrivener, and I've never had an issue


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## Bruce Rousseau (Mar 3, 2012)

Before I opened this thread I was pretty skeptical. Worst day as a writer? Come on, this is Joe Nobody, the guy eats success every day for breakfast. How bad could it be?

Nightmare after friggin nightmare! This is a major tragedy! I wish I'd been there, near your truck. I'm sure a lot of us feel that way.

Man, I hope you're able to somehow recover those files.


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## Hilary Thomson (Nov 20, 2011)

That's really awful, and I'm sorry to hear about it.  A suggestion.  Thieves are lazy, and the majority of them commit crimes close to where they live.  (You can look that up).  Your thief probably lives close to that particular Wal-Mart, and is most likely to use pawnshops in the area of that Wal-Mart.  Look up pawnshops on Google Maps, and go to the ones in an immediate radius around that Wal-Mart. That's not an impossible task.  Secondly, even if the thieves deleted data on that laptop, you can still retrieve data if it hasn't been written over, though you'll need a specialized service for that work.  By the way, show up and look over the shops' contents in person.  One that accepts stolen goods will deny it on the phone because they'll get into trouble with the law if they're caught at it.  You'll be able to identify your laptop better than anyone can.  Just one day spent looking over shops may give you a score.

My own backups go to a flash drive, one external hard drive, and a DVD-RW, and I periodically put a backup inside a bank's safe deposit box.  

Have an alarm system installed on your truck with visible warning stickers on the windows about this.  Also, if you're making a decent living with your writing, I'd also suggest that it's time to move away from Houston.  Living in or near a high-crime area isn't worth the hassle.

One more thing, if you do find your laptop, don't throw a fit at the counter.  Just buy it.  It's deductible off your taxes.  Then go outside with the laptop and call the cops on the shop to file a complaint.


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## Jan Thompson (May 25, 2013)

jackz4000 said:


> Confession: If my laptop is with me it stays with me--even into the supermarket or shopping...might look neurotic to some.


Uh, I do that too LOL. That's one reason it's a great excuse for me to carry a big tote and call it a purse, or a messenger bag (I bought one that has a laptop compartment from WalMart for only U$15 - it's not Timbuktu, but good enough). It'll look weird with bags hanging off you, like you're going through the airport, but your laptop is safe with you.

Only thing is... I get this kink in my shoulder from all that laptop weight. I want a MacBook Air!! But Dear Hubby said I have to sell some books before we can afford it. So I now carry my iPad with me -- light as a feather -- but I can't write on it. I'm old school. I need a real keyboard with all its noisy keys.


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## kdarden (Aug 23, 2012)

So sorry to hear this! I've had similar things happen over the years - including losing 4 hours of writing one day not too long ago when the computer closed unexpectedly and I couldn't get the autobackup file to open. I even had a stolen computer returned once about a week after I replaced it. Cops did say that hardly ever happens.

I do have dropbox but have not yet set up Scrivener for it. Of course I move to Word for my final edits, so would need to have those there, too.

One thing I did recently is to purchase Crashpad - which automatically backs up to the cloud, and includes all the computers in the house. I'm feeling much more comfortable now. 

One of my high school teachers used to have us do a composition, turn it in, and then write it again. Then she would give us back the original and have us combine the two. Just pretend that's what you are doing. I suspect your new manuscript will end up even better than the first - once you're ready to go back to it.


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## AmberDa1 (Jul 23, 2012)

So so sorry this happened to you.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

scottmarlowe said:


> Flash drives are notorious for failing without notice. Just saying.


True and they can be stolen or destroyed. I use Mozy for automatic, off-site backup and back up to a flash drive so that if one fails the other should work. I also periodically test both to be sure they're both working.

Joe, my God, I can't even imagine. I wish I could think of a single thing in the world that would help. I can't but that is indeed the worst possible day as a writer. To put it mildly, I empathize.


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## Al Dente (Sep 3, 2012)

D*mn, Joe! That's horrible. I'm sorry that happened. Freakin' punk thieves. You'd think they could use all the time they spend thinking about new ways to be dishonest getting an education or a real job.

Consider signing up for a Dropbox account. It's super easy and free.


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## J.R.Mooneyham (Mar 14, 2011)

Joe, I haven't trusted automatic backup systems since around 1990, when I had an expensive tape backup system for our corporate in house servers where I was Network Administrator, and when the time came for it to help solve a problem, it was missing in action (didn't do the job the manufacturer/developer claimed it would).

Thankfully, since around 10 years earlier I'd lost a personal WIP consisting of about one and a half year's worth of work, ever since I'd always made manual back ups of everything too-- a practice which I did for the company server as well ten years later, and which saved us when the automatic backup failed.

Only about a week ago the automatic backup system on my personal Windows 7 PC announced that it was screwed up-- apparently because of a glitch where MS Security Essentials now jumps in in the middle of backup procedures and corrupts things. Oh well. I'd only turned it on 2-3 years back as one more possible layer of backup security: my main backup method has continued to be completely manual all this time.

First off, I use a desktop PC, which offers several advantages over a laptop (including presenting fewer opportunities for theft by strangers). I also use a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) so that power blinks and outages can't necessarily corrupt my data. I also follow safe computing practices in general to avoid problems with malware and the like, for similar reasons.

I frequently save incremental versions of my WIP files. Like filename1, filename2, filename3, and so on. I once had to go back 250 versions in programming code to find the last instance of 'good' code for a critical function which I had inadvertently introduced a tough-to-fix bug in after that (so I was really glad I had that many versions backed up).

I rarely work on a file for more than 15-20 minutes without also saving a copy of the latest version to a second and third hard drive, in order to have three separate copies, each on their own drive.

At the end of the day (but sometimes more often) I also save the latest version of a file on a thumb drive, which I carry on my person at all times.

I use relatively small thumb drives, like 4GB or 8 GB, since they're cheap, and text files tend to be small, so it can take a while to fill one with backup copies. Once a thumb drive gets full I 'retire' it to a fireproof box as an archive (in previous decades I'd occasionally burn CDs for this, but that's incredibly time-consuming, and the disks often only last 3-6 years in storage anyway).

Whenever I get a new computer, and copy over all my files, I keep the old unit in storage, just in case. So in theory I could crank up a computer I used in the late 1990s to retrieve a file I know is there, today in 2013.

Losing that 1.5 years worth of work in the early 1980s was traumatic for me: I do my best not to repeat the experience.


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## Incognita (Apr 3, 2011)

Joe, I don't even want to think about what you're going through right now. Just a horrible, horrible loss. I agree with others who've posted to say that karma is going to bite that thief right in his/her *ss.



JanThompson said:


> Only thing is... I get this kink in my shoulder from all that laptop weight. I want a MacBook Air!! But Dear Hubby said I have to sell some books before we can afford it. So I now carry my iPad with me -- light as a feather -- but I can't write on it. I'm old school. I need a real keyboard with all its noisy keys.


I purposely buy big purses so my MacBook Air can fit in them. I'm so paranoid that I don't even want to leave my laptop in the trunk.


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## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

jackz4000 said:


> Confession: If my laptop is with me it stays with me--even into the supermarket or shopping...might look neurotic to some.


Chain it to your wrist. People will point and whisper and think it's your job.



KellyHarper said:


> Have you considered working directly out of your dropbox folder? That's what I do with Scrivener, and I've never had an issue


I do that. Then I back things up to my computer, instead of the other way around.
That said, I just realized that all the work for my upcoming cover is on this laptop, along with the licensed artwork. Better follow my own advice right quick.


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

Joe, I'm so sorry. It's rough.

I had a smash and grab in my car about two years ago in my own driveway (a little welcome to the neighborhood moment a week after I moved to my new house.) They broke out the back window where I had a laptop bag that was full of random power cords and card readers that I needed to sort through.

Right below it I had a bunch of fabric grocery store bags. Inside one of them was my Macbook because I was too lazy to empty the aforementioned laptop bag. I don't even know why I left it in there overnight. It was a busy time.

They didn't steal it. They didn't even know it was there because it looked empty and flat like the others. They were RIGHT THERE. They took (and tossed) the laptop bag when the laptop was just below!

So now an HEB shopping bag is what I put my laptop in if it has to stay in the car for even a few minutes.


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## Not Here Anymore (May 16, 2012)

Oh, Joe, that is terrible. So sorry it happened, and I hope you're able to recover your work.


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## JShepard (Jul 9, 2013)

Joe, 

I know the words are small consolation, if any at all, but I'm sorry. That is terrible. Hopefully you'll be able to get it back.


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## Cory (Nov 6, 2012)

Wow, really sorry this happened to you. At least the worst-day-ever is over, right?

Also, if it hasn't been mentioned yet, dropbox. https://www.dropbox.com/. I use it for everything important to me.


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2013)

Just ouch! 

Losing those manuscripts hurt. 

I'm so sorry.


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

I'm awfully sorry to hear this, Joe. Losing those manuscripts must be a nightmare.


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## AshMP (Dec 30, 2009)

Sorry about your computer and manuscripts ( ) and windows ... but I do believe in karma and whomever did this has a big ol' bout coming for them.


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## BlankPage (Sep 23, 2012)

_Comment removed due to VS TOS 24/9/2018_


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## Kwalker (Aug 23, 2012)

I'm so so sorry Joe. 

I feel awful for you.

I had my laptop crash last year, and I've learned that the best thing for me, is to keep my files for books in Dropbox. That way no matter where I access them, the latest version is always accessible to me anywhere.


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## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

I'm terribly sorry to hear about this, Joe. I wish you had stuck the laptop under the seat or something, because they are definite targets of smash and grabs. You even have to be careful sitting at a table in a restaurant with one these days.

I have external hard drives, plus Carbonite, plus I write mostly on my iPad now so my in progress files are on iCloud too.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Oh my goodness, Joe.  That majorly, majorly sucks.

I really feel for you.  I second the newspaper/reward thing - worth a shot.

I hope that karma bites the thief big time for this.

I once had a notebook stolen from my bag that had a bunch of songs I'd written in it.  I was totally gutted - and that wasn't a 100,000 word novel.


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## Gennita Low (Dec 13, 2012)

So, so sorry to hear this, Joe. What a nightmare.

I don't know what else to say to make you feel better. Losing an entire manuscript with no back-up...I'd cry and cry.

Here's wishing you strength in starting all over again and I know it'll be an even better book this time round! Hugs.


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## bhazelgrove (Jul 16, 2013)

Alright. Worst Day as a writer. My second novel had been bought by a small publisher in Texas. Nothing happened for a year. I called and called and called and was told they were working on it. Six months later I received a call from the publisher. She said it was too YA and they were not going to publish after all. Bad. Bad. Day.


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## Ethan Jones (Jan 20, 2012)

I'm praying the manuscript will be returned to you.

Ethan


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## John Twipnook (Jan 10, 2011)

Suuuuccccks. You're right. That's the worst writing day ever.


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## Cheryl Douglas (Dec 7, 2011)

Joe_Nobody said:


> Words cannot describe my emotional mix of anger and frustration over losing those books. The thought of starting all over again on a nearly-complete work is just crushing. I tried last night to start typing it in again, and I just can't right now.


Oh no! I'm crushed when I lose a day's work, so I can't imagine how you must feel. So sorry that happened to you.


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## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

KellyHarper said:


> Have you considered working directly out of your dropbox folder? That's what I do with Scrivener, and I've never had an issue


This is what I do also.

Joe, I'm in a position to know that thieves at Walmart are most of the time repeat offenders. What I am saying is that if you talk to the Asset Protection guys at Walmart, they can look on their video recordings (your break-in will be on them) and probably identify the criminal on sight. They can then keep an eye out for him when he returns (which is likely). If the manager you spoke to didn't help you do that, go above his head. Call Walmart corporate if you have to.


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## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

I once lost 15,000 words of a story and abandoned it because I couldn't face recreating. My heart goes out to you so much, Joe. I hope you do find that laptop somehow and if not that you bounce back more determined than ever.


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## R M Rowan (Jul 13, 2011)

Nathalie Hamidi said:


> So sorry to hear that.
> 
> When I write, I email myself a copy every night on Gmail.
> This is useful, that way I won't lose more than 2k words.
> ...


+1 I do the same thing. I email from my laptop to my desktop. So very sorry to hear about your loss, Joe. I can't even imagine the hurt and frustration you must be feeling over losing your WIP. I hope you get a miracle.


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## thesmallprint (May 25, 2012)

I'm gutted for you, my friend. I haven't read the whole thread - perhaps this has been suggested: contact the local media, ask them to do a 'best selling writer loses all' story. The worst it will do is get some publicity for your current books, and might just get your laptop back,

Good luck
Joe


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

I am so sorry to hear this. Please everyone, use Dropbox. The cloud really is your friend.


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## IreneP (Jun 19, 2012)

I am so, so sorry - can't even imagine the pain.

And, yeah, everyone - dropbox, dropbox, dropbox.  Stick your WIPs in there and stop having to think about backing up ever again.

Stopped a major panic attack when my desktop died last month and I wasn't sure I would be able to access the HD to get stuff off.


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## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

That's an awful series of events, Joe 

I hope something works for you, such as putting up reward posters, or if Walmart is willing to look their surveillance videos, as mentioned in posts above.


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## draconian (Jun 7, 2013)

Dont even attempt to type the manuscripts in again.  It will be too depressingly soul destroying.
Instead, just make a page or so summary of characters, plot, and all those clever ideas, etc... and file those away in a sealed container marked "do not open until 2020".

And write something new and different.
Something that doesnt remind you with every word of what happened in the past.


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## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

OMG, Joe, I really feel for you. I'm so sorry you had the worst writerly day ever. Your post was amazingly articulate and rational for someone who'd just lost all those words. I would be a blubbering mess.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Joe, I'm so very sorry to hear this. I'm quite sure that you have the strength to pick yourself up and carry on, but that's a heavy blow to endure. Please accept a virtual hug all the way from New Zealand.


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## DidIWriteThat (May 16, 2013)

Put this on the new laptop: http://preyproject.com/


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## KellyHarper (Jul 29, 2012)

Steeplechasing said:


> I'm gutted for you, my friend. I haven't read the whole thread - perhaps this has been suggested: contact the local media, ask them to do a 'best selling writer loses all' story. The worst it will do is get some publicity for your current books, and might just get your laptop back,
> 
> Good luck
> Joe


Considering his subject matter, this might not be the best idea.


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## Sarah M (Apr 6, 2013)

Oh no! My heart dropped when I read your post. I am so sorry.


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## Mark Philipson (Mar 9, 2013)

That really sux. I hope it all works out.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

WOW! I haven't been on the boards all day and was shocked at how many of you good folks took the time to read about my woes. 

I read through each and every response and I'm am sincerely touched by the outpouring of support. Thank you one and all - it helps... it really does.

I've spent the day setting up the new computer and have started retyping in the book. It's all I can do - right?

I have a police officer friend who is supposedly doing some follow-up for me and a couple of buddies who are making rounds at the pawn shops with the serial number.

Walmart is worthless because the video recorder for that section of the parking lot was down.

I signed up for Carbonite (SP?) immediately with the new computer.

Thanks again to all of you.


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## NicoleSwan (Oct 2, 2011)

Just a note - if you do ever get the computer back, but find it's been wiped/formatted, do not give up hope, there is actually a high probability the data is still there and just needs to be expertly recovered.

Wishing you all the best with your return to normality after this most terrible of days.


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## R.V. Doon (Apr 1, 2013)

Joe,

Check out Craigslist in your neck of the woods. Pawnshops not so much. Glad, you're back up and moving on. I would have been dead in the water for a week.


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## Vera Nazarian (Jul 1, 2011)

Joe_Nobody said:


> Yesterday, after lunch, I stopped by a local Houston Walmart to pick up a case of ice tea.
> 
> After 15 minutes in the store, I came out to find my pickup truck with a busted window.
> My computer bag was gone, on it were 3 WIPs, one of which was a day or two from going to editing (a novel over 100,000 words).
> ...


Oh my lord, Joe! I am SO SORRY! This is honestly awful! My heart is with you! Everything else really sucks too, but losing your books, NO!!!

Maybe, by some miracle, your laptop might be recovered?

HUGS!!!


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Ugh. There's no worse feeling than losing a WIP, especially one that was so close to finished. You have my sympathies.


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## Lanie Jordan (Feb 23, 2011)

This is so unbelievably sucky. I'm crushed when I lose a few thousands words because of crashes. I can't imagine what it'd be like to lose so much more than that. 

Saying I'm sorry doesn't cut it, but you have my sympathies, dude.



Joe_Nobody said:


> WOW! I haven't been on the boards all day and was shocked at how many of you good folks took the time to read about my woes.
> 
> I read through each and every response and I'm am sincerely touched by the outpouring of support. Thank you one and all - it helps... it really does.
> 
> ...


I read through all the pages, hoping your laptop had been recovered.  I'm sorry it hasn't been yet. But I'm glad you've got something to cover you in case something like this happens again.

Something I heard (don't know for certain if it's true), but legally, pawn shops are supposed to hold everything they buy for 30 days, so hopefully you've got time to find it if the thief tried selling it to one.

Good luck, Joe. Sorry again for what you lost. I really do hope it's recovered.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Joe - I am so saddened to hear of this. How awful!  I can't offer any advice, just a hug and know that I feel terrible for you.


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## Nathan Elliott (May 29, 2012)

We all realize that you already have your laptop back and have buried the thief in your backyard.  And that this thread was started just to deflect suspicion from yourself in the investigation into thief's disappearance.  But we're happy to play along because we like you.


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## George Applegate (Jan 23, 2013)

Very sorry to hear that. I hate paying for the same ground twice. I lost a few days of work many years ago and have been uber cautious since, with a ridiculous number of automated backups.

This may be off the wall, but if the perp turns on the laptop, connects to the internet, opens your browser, and it opens to, say, kboards.com, the perp's IP may automatically be recorded here under your account. Websites don't necessarily track this info the way Amazon does, but easily can. Perhaps services like Office 365 trap it. If any of them cooperates, you may be able to locate the IP of the thief and with police connections, track him/her down.


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## Amy Morrel (May 11, 2013)

As others have said, you might consider posting a reward for the laptop. If you do, post it in those areas that you think are the most likely that the thief would try to sell it. For example, you mentioned checking Craigslist, perhaps posting a reward offer for it there might bear fruit.

Other possible places could be on a bulletin board in the Walmart that you were in at the time, at the local pawnshops they might try to sell it at, at any local stores that deal with electronics (in case they bring it in for some reason), etc... Use your imagination to figure out where it might be headed and post the reward offer in those places.

Now, having tried to be helpful in the recovery, I'll add my own condolences. I'd be furious beyond measure should that happen to me and would not be able to deal with it as calmly as you appear to be doing.

Amy Morrel


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## Nathan Elliott (May 29, 2012)

George Applegate said:


> This may be off the wall, but if the perp turns on the laptop, connects to the internet, opens your browser, and it opens to, say, kboards.com, the perp's IP may automatically be recorded here under your account. Websites don't necessarily track this info the way Amazon does, but easily can. Perhaps services like Office 365 trap it. If any of them cooperates, you may be able to locate the IP of the thief and with police connections, track him/her down.


This sounds worth a shot. If you had a KB window open when you closed your laptop, maybe it would contact KB's server when re-opened. Worth asking Harvey.


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## Elliott Garber (Apr 8, 2013)

I'm so sorry, Joe. As someone who has never written more than 15,000 words on one project, I can't even begin to imagine the devastation I would feel if I lost so much more.


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## Hopeful Writer (Jul 24, 2012)

Joe, I'm so sorry to hear about this. I hope you can recover the laptop or at least the files. Sending thoughts your way! Fingers crossed that its recovered!


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## Susan Alison (Jul 1, 2011)

Wow. That is utter shite! I'm so sorry to read of it. I have nothing useful to say - I'm just empathising.

Positive vibes coming your way. Not so positive vibes heading for thief.


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

I work directly out of my Dropbox folder as someone else mentioned, but because I am paranoid I also have an autobackup program that saves my dropbox contents to a seperate comp AND an external hard drive.

That said, Dropbox has never failed me and it does have a great feature I am not sure many know about. If you ever make a change to a file that you later regret, you can log in to your Dropbox account and retrieve an older version of the file.


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## SunHi Mistwalker (Feb 28, 2012)

Joe, I'm sending you a big hug. I'm so sorry this happened. I feel your pain.


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## EricaManfred (Mar 16, 2012)

I suggest you go to the local TV station--especially if there is one that helps consumers.  This is a good story for the press.  Offer $1,000 for information leading to the recovery of the computer or the files (maybe you can do a fund-raiser among local writers) and no prosecution.  People do this for pets, why not computers.  

  I really, really feel for you.  Since I started using Dropbox I can sleep at night.  I'm too lazy to remember to backup myself but Dropbox does it all for you.


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## ecw (Jul 21, 2013)

Let me get this straight.   You do all your work on a laptop that you carry around in a truck where it’s visible, in Houston where the temperature in the shade is 100 and in the truck might reach 120. That’s death on laptop electronics and begging for HD failure.

And then you ignore the daily barrage of articles, advertisements, and warnings about the necessity to backup, backup, backup. There are numerous free services from Dropbox, Box, Skydrive, Mozy, iDrive, and other cloud services, etc. that make backup pathetically simple. I use cloud services all the time. They work well and mean my files are always accessible no matter where I am with access to the Internet (every McDonalds, Starbucks, public library, not to mention neighbor.) Zoho even supplies an excellent word processor in the cloud (much better than Google’s.)

And then you complain because the inevitable happens?  

That being said, I have a feeling ifyou did use Office 365 regularly and had set it up with the defaults, that your files are retrievable and sitting out in the cloud somewhere. Contact Microsoft from the Office.Microsoft.com site.


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## jnfr (Mar 26, 2011)

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this, Joe.

I've lost work through hard drive failures and I know how demoralizing it is. Like you, it drove me to rethink entirely my backup program, and now I do all the things people in this thread have been recommending.

Hope your motivation bounces back!


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

ecw said:


> Let me get this straight. You do all your work on a laptop that you carry around in a truck where it's visible, in Houston where the temperature in the shade is 100 and in the truck might reach 120. That's death on laptop electronics and begging for HD failure.
> 
> And then you ignore the daily barrage of articles, advertisements, and warnings about the necessity to backup, backup, backup. There are numerous free services from Dropbox, Box, Skydrive, Mozy, iDrive, and other cloud services, etc. that make backup pathetically simple. I use cloud services all the time. They work well and mean my files are always accessible no matter where I am with access to the Internet (every McDonalds, Starbucks, public library, not to mention neighbor.) Zoho even supplies an excellent word processor in the cloud (much better than Google's.)
> 
> ...


Ummm... I'll be nice since this is your first post. Welcome.


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## fallswriter (Sep 11, 2012)

ecw said:


> Let me get this straight. You do all your work on a laptop that you carry around in a truck where it's visible, in Houston where the temperature in the shade is 100 and in the truck might reach 120. That's death on laptop electronics and begging for HD failure.
> 
> And then you ignore the daily barrage of articles, advertisements, and warnings about the necessity to backup, backup, backup. There are numerous free services from Dropbox, Box, Skydrive, Mozy, iDrive, and other cloud services, etc. that make backup pathetically simple. I use cloud services all the time. They work well and mean my files are always accessible no matter where I am with access to the Internet (every McDonalds, Starbucks, public library, not to mention neighbor.) Zoho even supplies an excellent word processor in the cloud (much better than Google's.)
> 
> And then you complain because the inevitable happens?...


Hi ecw and welcome. One of the writers on kboards just went through hell. When someone posts a thread of distress, they know the negative side of things. What they can use is either support or silence. We've all been caught by not backing up before. I know I can't throw a stone in the backing up glass house.

Joe, usually you're one of the biggest supporters with a wealth of information here. I'm sorry that the bird of misfortune pooped on your head. I'm hoping that you can get your feet under you soon!


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## ecw (Jul 21, 2013)

All true, but you'll also note that my last sentence contains a likely solution, assuming he is correct about using Office 365.


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## Lanie Jordan (Feb 23, 2011)

ecw said:


> All true, but you'll also note that my last sentence contains a likely solution, assuming he is correct about suing Office 365.


He called them, as he said in his first post.

ETA. Welcome to KB.


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## Shane Ward (Jan 25, 2013)

ecw said:


> Let me get this straight. You do all your work on a laptop that you carry around in a truck where it's visible, in Houston where the temperature in the shade is 100 and in the truck might reach 120. That's death on laptop electronics and begging for HD failure.
> 
> And then you ignore the daily barrage of articles, advertisements, and warnings about the necessity to backup, backup, backup. There are numerous free services from Dropbox, Box, Skydrive, Mozy, iDrive, and other cloud services, etc. that make backup pathetically simple. I use cloud services all the time. They work well and mean my files are always accessible no matter where I am with access to the Internet (every McDonalds, Starbucks, public library, not to mention neighbor.) Zoho even supplies an excellent word processor in the cloud (much better than Google's.)
> 
> ...


You'll be surprised how many people DON'T back up their stuff. I visit the Hard Drive forums and read all the comments about people begging to get there data back, when a simple copy to another device would do, Even that is difficult at times, even I have to create a script to run every Friday that will backup important files onto my network server and other devices...

As for the Office programs, I had a little look on Office 365 and if its a online program and sure it must keep a copy somewhere...

Also, remember if you might copied the manuscript in the past, perhaps to show a friend or send to someone for checking. do you have a desktop computer you might have edited your story on? Did you print any of it out?

One more thing, perhaps the police could track your laptop the next time it is turned on. Was there anything on the laptop that could pinpoint its location, or track an IP address for the police to get an address... (Just a thought.)

Loosing a whole story manuscript is killer and writing it even worse, I second someones comment about taking notes of the story and leaving it awhile before rewriting it. Perhaps a new reqrite will make it even better, starting something new might keep you going.

Wish you all the luck.


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## Isabelking (Jan 16, 2012)

About six months ago, my hard drive crashed and I lost several weeks worth of work on my WIP. After that, I started using drop box to back up everything that I am working on - and I usually update it several times per day when I'm working on a new project.

Then a few weeks ago I got really bad malware on my computer which hijacked my browsers - and it took FOUR days for Best Buy to get that junk off my computer.  I used my backup laptop, and accessed my WIP on dropbox.

There's also sugarsync and countless other places to back your stuff up online. I HIGHLY recommend backing up in more than one place - and checking to make sure that your stuff is being backed up the way it should  

Sorry you had such a sucky day! May a plague of boils descend upon the person who broke into your truck.


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## George Hamilton (Dec 14, 2010)

Have any of you tried the open source software Prey. Apparently, you put in on your laptop, and if it is stolen, you can switch on the laptop's camera from another computer and watch and track the thief as they use your machine. Can you imagine what you might catch them up to!!!! A guy in London was able to tell the police who had his laptop and where to find them by using it. I've had it on my laptop for a while but not switched it on, in case they might be watching me...   But now I've read Joe's story, I think it may be time to switch it on.


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## Diane Patterson (Jun 17, 2012)

If you have a Mac, there's Find My Mac (built into the system software).


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## Sarah M (Apr 6, 2013)

Office 365 is really buggy. I couldn't handle all it's nonsense and use Open Office now, it doesn't surprise me the back up to the cloud syncing failed.


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## Quinn Richardson (Apr 20, 2012)

Adding to the condolences, Joe.  Sharing it here is a noteworthy public service.  I bet we all just doublechecked our WIP's.

The silver lining, if it hasn't already been said, is that re-writing something you've lost takes a fraction of the time, and will turn out better.

My method of backup is simple and effective.  I email myself a copy from one address and service provider to another address and service provider.  It's always there in an Inbox and an Outbox, backed up by servers continents apart.  Do it every couple of days or weeks, whatever your preference.

But I don't imagine this will happen to you again.


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## Rick Gualtieri (Oct 31, 2011)

SBright said:


> Office 365 is really buggy. I couldn't handle all it's nonsense and use Open Office now, it doesn't surprise me the back up to the cloud syncing failed.


I haven't found it to be buggy, but I'd sooner try remembering everything in my head than trusting it. I've already seen some screwiness via Sky Drive so my solution is to just not use it. Happy with Dropbox for my cloud backups.


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## Silly Writer (Jul 15, 2013)

ecw said:


> Let me get this straight. You do all your work on a laptop that you carry around in a truck where it's visible, in Houston where the temperature in the shade is 100 and in the truck might reach 120. That's death on laptop electronics and begging for HD failure.
> 
> And then you ignore the daily barrage of articles, advertisements, and warnings about the necessity to backup, backup, backup. There are numerous free services from Dropbox, Box, Skydrive, Mozy, iDrive, and other cloud services, etc. that make backup pathetically simple. I use cloud services all the time. They work well and mean my files are always accessible no matter where I am with access to the Internet (every McDonalds, Starbucks, public library, not to mention neighbor.) Zoho even supplies an excellent word processor in the cloud (much better than Google's.)
> 
> ...


Really?  Way to make an entrance... Not. Welcome to the board anyway. I'm so shocked at this blatant disregard for a fellow writer's misfortune, that you've piqued my interest in the genre you write in. I've got to go take a peek...


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## DCBourone (Sep 10, 2012)

Some deep suck, Joe.

Very sorry to hear.

Comments .re re-writing: very difficult to 'remember' precisely a pre-existing text,
but the temptation will be to do precisely that.

Maybe block out your structure and write it fresh.

Can be extremely difficult and tortuous to try and re-create exact lost/missing text.

Also kind of a tune-up, dude.

Dupes are nice in all domains, right?

Carry on.


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## Rex Jameson (Mar 8, 2011)

Ouch. Not cool. As others have said, the loss of the manuscripts is the worst part, but there may be a silver lining here.

I've found that rewriting a story adds new emotions and character development that weren't there before. You may be able to harness all that bad energy into a creative force that will make the rewritten manuscript or the next one so much more crisp and connecting for readers. At least, that's my hope for you. I wish you all the best in finding that laptop and your manuscripts. From my experience working at campuses where theft of laptops is common, I think you have to temper your expectations though. The best thing you can do is learn from the experience and move forward.

All the best, man. Good luck.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

DCBourone said:


> Some deep suck, Joe.
> 
> Very sorry to hear.
> 
> ...


Thank you for taking the time to post this my friend. As usual, you advice is sage and appreciated. Tortuous is a worthy description, but then you're pretty good at picking the right word (at least every now and then... ). I feel like I'm retaking ground I've already paid for once. Oh well, like I advise everyone else on this board - I've got to square my shoulders, suck in the gut and stiffen the spine. There's work to be done.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

I know it doesn't help, but still thinking about you and feeling your pain.   I know you will bounce back nicely, but ouch.


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## Hudson Owen (May 18, 2012)

You could look at it this way, though you probably won't.  Didn't read entire thread and don't know if anyone mentioned this.  Ernest Hemingway lost the ms. for a novel.  He left it in the Paris train station and it was never recovered.  It was a severe loss for a young writer.  I don't think he ever tried to rewrite the story, but he did move on.  You've got a better 'loss' story than old Hem.  Don't bust a gut sucking up--enjoy your misery for a while.  Give it a name, set it in a chair and talk to it awhile.  The day will come when you will tire of your misery, and that's when, emotionally, you will move on.  Two cents late at night.


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## KellyHarper (Jul 29, 2012)

Diane Patterson said:


> If you have a Mac, there's Find My Mac (built into the system software).


Unfortunately, this works about as well as a bandaid on a gaping hole in someone's chest.

Not that it's Apple's fault. It would be difficult to impossible to implement without having a literally-permanent internet connection.

That said -- I still think Joe should go Mac. Amazing stuff for writers out there -- and much more hassle free than a Windows system. (In mine own opinion).

(Joe -- would be happy to educate you over that cup of coffee if you're ever in the market for one!)


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## Vera Nazarian (Jul 1, 2011)

ecw said:


> Let me get this straight. You do all your work on a laptop that you carry around in a truck where it's visible, in Houston where the temperature in the shade is 100 and in the truck might reach 120. That's death on laptop electronics and begging for HD failure.
> 
> And then you ignore the daily barrage of articles, advertisements, and warnings about the necessity to backup, backup, backup. There are numerous free services from Dropbox, Box, Skydrive, Mozy, iDrive, and other cloud services, etc. that make backup pathetically simple. I use cloud services all the time. They work well and mean my files are always accessible no matter where I am with access to the Internet (every McDonalds, Starbucks, public library, not to mention neighbor.) Zoho even supplies an excellent word processor in the cloud (much better than Google's.)
> 
> ...


This is really a harsh and unfair thing to say to a person who just went through a hellish loss.

*sigh*


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## George Hamilton (Dec 14, 2010)

Rick Gualtieri said:


> I've already seen some screwiness via Sky Drive so my solution is to just not use it.


Same here with Sky Drive - duplicating files and changing names etc. It's made me wary of backing up in the cloud. But Joe's experience means I need to find a solution, soon.


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## Nicholas Andrews (Sep 8, 2011)

That really sucks. Not just one book, but three? I can't imagine how that must feel.

This is the ultimate cautionary tale for all writers. Back up your work. I keep mine on my desktop, a portable hard drive and on the writing workshop site I belong to. A month back, my desktop hard drive failed. Luckily, I saw it coming because the computer had been making a grinding noise whenever it loaded processes and other automatic stuff. Then I started getting warning messages that it was failing, so I was able to transfer all the most recent versions of my work and all my other folders and programs to the portable drive before I took the computer in to get the desktop HD replaced.



> All of this over someone's need to take a laptop worth maybe $150 bucks at a pawn shop. If the good lord could give me any 15 minutes back for a re-do, I would wish that I left the Walmart a bit sooner and caught whoever was vandalizing my truck. It would not have been a good day to be a thief.


Could be serendipity. What if he/she/they had a gun? Ironically, they'll probably never realize they could have made much more money in the long run uploading that finished WIP to Amazon.


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## Malcolm Henry (Jul 19, 2013)

I really feel for you Joe. I've had some disasters in the past with lost CAD drawings but never anything as bad as 100,000 word novel.
Over the years I've used floppy disks, ZIP drives, USB drives, external hard drives, and I've had problems with all of them.
For the last two years I've been using Google Drive, set up on two laptops. This means that whenever I save something on either laptop it gets saved in Google's cloud and on the other laptop. If a lap top gets stolen or broken, I have the other one. If both get trashed, I have the stuff in the cloud.
I like this system because of the three copies of everything and I don't have to remember to back anything up - it happens automatically (as long as the other laptop left booted-up).


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## portlandrocks (Jul 18, 2013)

Dang... 

I would lose my marbles if that happened to me. 

Good on you for being level headed about the whole bit. 

I suppose having the entire draft get stolen is one approach to doing a re-write?


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## Jan Thompson (May 25, 2013)

Not to belabor the loss of things, but Joe, turns out you're in good company. TE Lawrence, Shakespeare, Robert Ludlum, Hemingway, etc. have all lost at least one manuscript in their lifetime. Here are some articles on them. Mostly pre-computer days, and for various reasons.

"50 Lost Manuscripts"
https://zolabooks.com/list/the-lost-manuscripts

"Lost for words: The misery of a deleted manuscript"
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/lost-for-words-the-misery-of-a-deleted-manuscript-791163.html

And someone else has mentioned Hemingway. You lost a laptop, he lost a suitcase with the originals and carbon copy.

"Hemingway's Lost Suitcase"
http://lostmanuscripts.com/2010/07/31/hemingways-lost-suitcase/


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## eastwest97 (Jul 26, 2012)

Joe, so sorry to hear about your loss and all of the anguish you have been going through with the window and truck.  Hang in there.  You will rewrite the manuscript and it will be better than the first.  I know it doesn't make it any better but I do believe that this will all turn out for the best.  You've been a source of encouragement to others so I know Karma is looking at you with nothing but positive returns.


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## LovelynBettison (Aug 12, 2012)

That really sucks, Joe. I'm so sorry. I know that I would be so depressed if that had happened to me, but maybe some good can come from the situation. I know that's easy for me to say because it didn't happen to me, but I like to try to look on the bright side ... whenever I'm not focusing all my energy on the dark pit of despair called life that is.


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## John Twipnook (Jan 10, 2011)

I don't mean to blow sunshine, but. I once irretrievably lost (I thought) an MS. I cursed a while then re-wrote it, cursing some more. After I was done--I discovered the old MS was retrievable. I compared the two drafts. The second effort was tighter, stronger, all-around better. Way better. I never want to go through that again, but anyway here's hoping your V 2.0 product is great.


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## Gwood (Apr 3, 2010)

ecw said:


> Let me get this straight. You do all your work on a laptop that you carry around in a truck where it's visible, in Houston where the temperature in the shade is 100 and in the truck might reach 120. That's death on laptop electronics and begging for HD failure.
> 
> And then you ignore the daily barrage of articles, advertisements, and warnings about the necessity to backup, backup, backup. There are numerous free services from Dropbox, Box, Skydrive, Mozy, iDrive, and other cloud services, etc. that make backup pathetically simple. I use cloud services all the time. They work well and mean my files are always accessible no matter where I am with access to the Internet (every McDonalds, Starbucks, public library, not to mention neighbor.) Zoho even supplies an excellent word processor in the cloud (much better than Google's.)
> 
> ...


Great post! Next, you should visit a cancer ward and taunt the patients for ignoring the Surgeon General's warnings!


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## Nathalie Hamidi (Jul 9, 2011)

tkkenyon said:


> Hey Joe,
> 
> So, I was telling a friend of mine what happened to your laptop, that you had 3 nearly completed conspiracy theory/survivalist/prepper-type novels on your laptop, and then your laptop was mysteriously stolen in the few minutes that you left it unattended in a locked car.
> 
> ...


This is pure gold!


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## S. Shine (Jan 14, 2013)

tkkenyon said:


> Not to mention that Office 365 suddenly had a "bug" where all his novels were conveniently _not backed up! _
> 
> Coincidence? I think _not! _
> 
> ...


The tension keeps building! Maybe Joe should go underground altogether? Just to play it safe.


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## George Applegate (Jan 23, 2013)

tkkenyon said:


> Not to mention that Office 365 suddenly had a "bug" where all his novels were conveniently _not backed up! _
> 
> Coincidence? I think _not! _


So Joe can just hack into NSA to get his manuscripts back. Child's play.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Okay, okay, okay... this is weirding me out.

The primary WIP that was lost... it's plot included drones and other electronic surveillance being used by the FBI and NSA. The technology runs throughout the work. I'm not kidding: 

Unedited, panic-retyped extract from the WIP (forgive the horrible grammar):

The six large delivery vans were painted with the logos and color schemes of a nationally recognized parcel delivery company. Piggybacked on trailers and pulled by over-the-road semis, the fleet was rushed to Houston after the Department of Justice was granted a FISA court warrant. 
The truck’s exteriors were identical in every detail to the thousands of such vehicles that delivered packages all over America. It was the perfect camouflage to hide in plain sight. The only noteworthy features on the outside of the units was an extra array of antennas mounted along the top, and the heavy-duty locking systems installed on both the rear and side doors. Even the driver’s uniforms were a perfect counterfeit of their civilian counterparts.

The interior of the cargo area was a different story. Rows of sophisticated equipment lined one side of the space, the electronics mounted in shiny aluminum racks complete with shock absorbing rubber feet and extra cooling fans. Flat panel computer monitors, fixed keyboards, tracker balls and a host of switches, LED indicators and meters adorned the consoles. The mobile mounting system had been copied from a Trident nuclear submarine.

Along the center aisle, two comfortable-looking executive chairs were affixed to the floor via stout-looking pedestals. The plush seating, designed for controllers to spend long shifts at the consoles, wouldn’t have been out of place in any well-appointed corporate office. 
The opposite wall contained a large battery bank used to supply power to the array of micro-processor controlled systems, as well as climate control for the operators and equipment.

Next to the batteries was a purpose-built storage rack that contained over 500 glass tubes. Similar in diameter to common laboratory test-tubes, each container was almost two feet long and sealed with special rubber caps on the ends. Inside of these clear rods were the drones.
Slightly larger than a healthy Texas mosquito, each glass tube held a stack of the miniature surveillance drones, the insect-like devices stacked one atop the other like bullets in a belt of ammunition. Each container held 20 units, allowing the six trucks to launch a swarm of over 60,000 of the plastic-winged camera platforms.

The torso of each tiny robot consisted primarily of a power cell, a battery slightly smaller than the lithium-ion units used in wrist watches. Small plastic wings, slightly larger than those that propelled nature’s blood-sucking pests, extruded from each side of the body. These aero-dynamic wonders served both to obtain flight and as small solar panels that could recharge the unit’s battery.

Instead of a skin-piercing, blood-extracting beak, a camera was mounted to the “head.” A marvel of miniature optical electronics, each drone could snap low resolution photographs in both normal and infrared spectrums of light.

The robo-insect’s head was the control center. A small amount of computer memory, basic processor, GPS system and transmitter were all contained within an area one quarter the size of a pencil eraser. 

Each of the six legs was an antenna, two of the carbon fiber appendages used to communicate with the nest, or home van. The remaining four were utilized as a GPS receiver, proximity and inter-hive communications, parabolic microphone, and finally, a Radio Frequency Identification (RFI) reciever.

Each micro-drone could be controlled individually or programed to cooperate as a group. The standard operating procedure involved one of the vans slowly traveling the city streets, circling an area where observation was desired. At pre-programmed stops, normally intersections or traffic lights, a small sunroof was opened and a tube of 20 “bugs” was released to fly away and begin their coordinated search patterns.
The range of the tiny flyers was restrictive, especially if the wind was anything but calm. Limited to 400 meters of travel distance without stopping and recharging their batteries, the delivery van had to be relatively close to the target. Deployment in rain or winds higher than 10 mph was forbidden. 

The latest iteration of the micro-drone software allowed for multiple vans to work together in order to provide coverage for larger, more complex environments. The six units heading for the Medical Center area were an unprecedented test of this new scalability.
The electronic brain inside of each van was purely to control the swarm. Facial recognition, photographic reconnaissance and sound interpretation was performed hundreds of miles away in Bluffdale, Utah. 

Any intelligence gathered by the swarm was transmitted back to the hive-van where it was bundled into long streams of binary data. Micro-burst satellite transmissions carried terabytes of compressed images, readings and sound, bouncing the signals off of a low-earth orbit, military communications bird. Those signals were received by the NSA.

The National Security Agency, or NSA, had once been the most secretive of any US intelligence gathering entities. Unlike the CIA, or other field-active government organizations, the NSA was created purely to preform electronic eavesdropping of telephone, radio and later internet activity.
Plagued by scandals, whistleblowers and congressional inquiries during 2013, average Americans were shocked to learn that the all-powerful spy-technologies possessed by the agency were being used to monitor domestic activity within the country’s borders.

Email accounts, cell phone records and internet activities were being stored, sorted and analyzed on a scale that seemed like science fiction to most people. Politicians scrambled to publicly decry the agencies domestic spying as a violation of privacy, while at the same time, in private, supporting the expansion of the NSA’s capabilities with secretive funding and lackluster congressional hearings.

Once such investment was the construction of the world’s largest data center in Utah. While specific capabilities were kept ultra-secret, some information did leak out for public scrutiny. Despite the warnings of independent experts, the size, scale and scope of the new installation received very little press coverage in the mainstream media.

People who built large networks of computer systems were astounded by the size of the NSA’s new facility. One Silicon Valley expert was quoted as saying that the agency could now store every detail, phone conversation, internet browsing session and email for the entire population of the planet – times 10. In reality, his prediction was short by several fold.

As the giant, skyward pointing dishes received the hive’s streams of data, massive banks of super-computers began processing the drone’s output. RFI signals embedded in credit cards, driver’s licenses, toll-road pass-cards and security-system key cards could be cross-checked and verified against numerous databases. Newer model automobiles with satellite radios and location tracking systems could be scanned, identified and have their movements tracked.

Every conversation and phone call could be monitored, the NSA’s supercomputers correlating the signals provided by the cell phone carriers with the microphone built into the drone’s tiny leg. Voice imprints could be stored, analyzed and compared with existing records collected over dozens of years. As one intelligence analyst had described the capabilities, “It is practically impossible to hide anything but thought from the drones, and we’re working on that.”


Where's my tin foil?


----------



## Victoria Champion (Jun 6, 2012)

Joe_Nobody said:


> Okay, okay, okay... this is weirding me out.
> 
> The primary WIP that was lost... it's plot included drones and other electronic surveillance being used by the FBI and NSA. The technology runs throughout the work. I'm not kidding:
> 
> ...


That's amusing to consider, but honestly thefts in big box store parking lots are so much more common than you would think. Seriously, people will break your car window to get a roll of toilet paper or sunglasses or anything they can use, if they can see it. Never ever leave any item in view unless you want to risk a broken window. Especially in a large town like Houston (where I grew up). And like I said before, I have knowledge of the amount of crime that goes on at stores like Walmart. Also, I am not actually surprised the camera was in disrepair. Some stores need to get their act together. This was most likely a random crime of opportunity. Occam's Razor. Also, Bayes' Theorem.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Victoria Champion said:


> That's amusing to consider, but honestly thefts in big box store parking lots are so much more common than you would think. Seriously, people will break your car window to get a roll of toilet paper or sunglasses or anything they can use, if they can see it. Never ever leave any item in view unless you want to risk a broken window. Especially in a large town like Houston (where I grew up). And like I said before, I have knowledge of the amount of crime that goes on at stores like Walmart. Also, I am not actually surprised the camera was in disrepair. Some stores need to get their act together. This was most likely a random crime of opportunity. Occam's Razor. Also, Bayes' Theorem.


You are so correct - but it's fun to consider. And I desperately need some fun right now.

As someone stated above, this entire episode could lead to another novel.


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## D.L. Shutter (Jul 9, 2011)

I don't nor have I ever known people who work in intel/drone operations and development programs.

This is all pure speculation and fiction.

Trust me. There is no reason to be concerned.

Any small flying obejcts you see are only weather and traffic observer platforms.

Nothing to see here.

Move along.


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## blakebooks (Mar 10, 2012)

Joe: Yup. Now you're treading into my usual fare. I had one beta reader of Upon A Pale Horse advise me not to publish it for fear of repercussions. 

Ain't it fun living with Big Brother? 1984 is indeed here, replete with War is Peace, Ignorance is Strength, etc.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

blakebooks said:


> Joe: Yup. Now you're treading into my usual fare. I had one beta reader of Upon A Pale Horse advise me not to publish it for fear of repercussions.
> 
> Ain't it fun living with Big Brother? 1984 is indeed here, replete with War is Peace, Ignorance is Strength, etc.


If I hadn't experienced the denial of service attack on our web page - from China - right after I released a book containing a Chinese Cyber attack on America, I'd be laughing a whole lot more. That episode wasn't so funny. We still haven't recovered the webpage.


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## RHill (Jun 9, 2012)

Oh, man. This nearly made me throw up. I'm so so sorry this happened to you. Apparently, by the response, the entire community is feeling for you on this. Whoever stole your laptop is going to have some massive bad vibes coming their way from all of us upset by this.


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## blakebooks (Mar 10, 2012)

Joe: If only it were only the Chinese you have to worry about.

Good luck on the rewrite. I've been there. It blows. The only consolation is that whatever you wind up with will likely be superior to the original due to more thinking time as you revisit the structure, and then the pages. That's how it worked out for me, anyway, but that was only about 15K words. I'm not sure I have the stomach or the attention span to try to recreate an entire novel. Don't envy you a bit.


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## avwrite (Feb 11, 2013)

Everytime I'm done with a writing session, I often email the document to myself as a way to 'back it up'.  I created a separate email just for this purpose LOL


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

Been out of town and just saw this thread. 

What a nightmare. Sympathy and hugs to you, Joe.


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## matthewblake (Nov 24, 2012)

That's just awful.  Fear of something like this is why my writing folder is in my Dropbox folder.  Dropbox is a lifesaver, everything is backed up to the cloud, so unless the grid goes down I'm good.  And if the grid goes down...well then I suppose I'd have worse things to worry about.  

Here's to hoping things look up for you buddy.


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## Jan Thompson (May 25, 2013)

Joe_Nobody said:


> If I hadn't experienced the denial of service attack on our web page - from China - right after I released a book containing a Chinese Cyber attack on America, I'd be laughing a whole lot more. That episode wasn't so funny. We still haven't recovered the webpage.


Well, this hits a nerve. I had been hoping it's just a plain as daylight burglary.

What about those of us who are writing politico techno-thrillers? Should we be worried about publishing at all? I hope not. It'll be a sad day when writers lose our freedom of speech.

One thing though. We had some safety classes at work where the police officers told us that valuables shouldn't be left by windows, purses in plain sight in cars, etc. to prevent burglaries of convenience. Opportunists will always find the easiest way to break in. One time someone left a purse in her car. She had nothing valuable it, but the car was burglarized for the empty purse. I'm sure the thieves were disappointed.

As difficult as this episode was for Joe and everyone who has lost WIPs, I think it's a good lesson for all of us to remember to back up things off-site. Myself included.

And put that tinfoil on. MIT has measurements.

"On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study"
http://web.archive.org/web/20100708230258/http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/


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## George Applegate (Jan 23, 2013)

JanThompson said:


> It'll be a sad day when writers lose our freedom of speech.


I suspect the NSA finds most wild fiction about their skulduggery amusing. It's only when the fiction happens to get it right that they get antsy.


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

George Applegate said:


> I suspect the NSA finds most wild fiction about their skulduggery amusing. It's only when the fiction happens to get it right that they get antsy.


If my WIP is actually correct, we're all in trouble.

Message to the NSA - Sorry about all the porn.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Joe_Nobody said:


> If my WIP is actually correct, we're all in trouble.
> 
> Message to the NSA - Sorry about all the porn.


I have always suspected that they WISH they got all the sex that goes on in the novels.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Don't know how I missed this thread, but just now seeing it. Joe, sending you hugs, man. I can't imagine. You are a lot better adjusted than I am, that's for sure.


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## 60169 (May 18, 2012)

Every time I see a new post to this thread I immediately click on it hoping for a happy ending.

No words, Joe... Just - sorry.


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## Adam Poe (Apr 2, 2012)

Shawn Inmon said:


> Every time I see a new post to this thread I immediately click on it hoping for a happy ending.
> 
> No words, Joe... Just - sorry.


I've not replied but have been doing the same thing, lol.


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## gonedark (May 30, 2013)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## rjspears (Sep 25, 2011)

I write all my works in Google Docs so everything is automatically backed-up online.  

Also, because I'm paranoid, at regular intervals, I download the file on my computer.  Then I save that file to my Box.com account.

Talk about being paranoid!  That's me.

--
R.J. Spears


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## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

rjspears said:


> I write all my works in Google Docs so everything is automatically backed-up online.
> 
> Also, because I'm paranoid, at regular intervals, I download the file on my computer. Then I save that file to my Box.com account.
> 
> ...


You've got company now. I don't like Google Docs, but I'm so secure now the NSA is trying to fund a case study to learn about my system.

(Sorry NSA guys - just kid'n)


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## Jan Thompson (May 25, 2013)

Shawn Inmon said:


> Every time I see a new post to this thread I immediately click on it hoping for a happy ending.
> 
> No words, Joe... Just - sorry.


Me too. Curious to see whether there is a happy ending too.

I wonder if the perpetrators are repeat offenders in the same WM parking lot. Hope the police does something about it.

I consider myself a careful person (uh, when I remember to be LOL), but I'm thinking twice now about leaving my gear lying around. I told someone about Joe's laptop and she told me that she was at lunch one day, and another customer at another table had left her laptop at her seat, and walked out. Nobody took it until she came back to reclaim it. Fortunate for her.


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## JessieVerona (May 10, 2013)

JanThompson said:


> Me too. Curious to see whether there is a happy ending too.


And me.

I'm so very sorry this happened, Joe. And fairly blown away by how well you're handling it.


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## thesmallprint (May 25, 2012)

Joe_Nobody said:


> You've got company now. I don't like Google Docs, but I'm so secure now the NSA is trying to fund a case study to learn about my system.
> 
> (Sorry NSA guys - just kid'n)


Another straight to gdocs writer here. It has an offline mode too. I've found the secret to speed online is to keep the chapters/sections short. Also, I use a chromebook, which boots in 7 seconds, saving much frustration...and it's supposed to be much less likely to become infected with malware than a standard notebook (touch wood).

At the close of day, I download a copy and put it in Dropbox. There will be those who will be horrified at keeping everything in the cloud - each to his/her own; I'd much rather trust the cloud than hardware/software.

A tip for spellchecking in gdocs: you can move through the 'errors' one by one using Ctrl + ;

Good luck, Joe. At least, with everything in the cloud, you can claim your writing is heavenly.

Joe


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## Michael Sanrosia (May 24, 2013)

I'm totally OCD over backing up works in progress. Man, if I lost all my work, I don't know how I would take it. Not writing for a whole year might be an understatement.

Normally, my manuscripts are stored on my laptop, where I usually work. It's immediately backed up on a USB thumb drive at the end of my writing work day, and every week, it's backed up on a separate desktop computer. And all data stored on the desktop computer is also backed up on an external hard drive every month.

Yes, OCD indeed. But I'll take the extra effort at backing up my stuff rather than risk losing any of it.


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## ChadWilliamson (May 31, 2011)

Joe,

So sorry about the lost WIP. Not sure if anyone in the thread posted this, but this is one of my favorite stories:

According to legend, Mickey Spillane wrote his first novel _I, the Jury_ (1947) in nine days, in order to get $1,000 for a piece of land. Once, he told the house painters, he had been taking a manuscript to the publisher and lost it. That must have been awful, said the painters. "No big deal," said Spillane, "I just typed it out again."


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