The bad news...

Yep, it's really bad news. I've been hard at work on Into Light for the last six months and I was literally two chapters away from finishing the first draft when I had a massive computer crash. Four different computer techs later, I received the news that the computer was irreparably dead and only a very few files were able to be recovered. And of course, my files for Into Light were

not among the recovered files.

I'm devastated, you guys. So much hard work... and it's just gone. So much self-recrimination for not having enough back-ups! I did have the file backed up multiple times, but all the backups were on the same computer. I was protecting against a file corruption, not against a full system crash.

It's actually been about two months now since the big crash, and I'm still so upset over it. All along I've been targeting August for releasing Into Light and now... well now that just seems impossible. Right after it happened I thought, Well I've already written it once. I just have to get it written down again. I can do that pretty quickly, right? I can still make August.

It turns out, I can't. That paying job of mine has been keeping me really busy. And then there's my after-hours contract work, which has really picked up. Both of those pay the bills, where my books don't, so I really do have to focus on them first. And my kids are out of school for summer break... for some reason they are convinced that they should be fed at least three times a day and otherwise looked after. I kind of have to put them ahead of writing, too.

And let's throw in a week in Utah for a funeral, two weeks in Texas for a family vacation, and then another week in Utah and Wyoming for a family reunion/family vacation. I took my (new) computer on every trip because I was convinced I would get a lot of writing done while we did all that driving. Instead, every time I got in the car I fell asleep pretty much immediately. Sure, I can't sleep at night in the comfort of my own bed, but put me in a car with my head uncomfortably propped against the headrest and it's lights out!

So all that to say... I'm on Chapter 7. I know, I know! I wanted to be so much further along by now!

But now, let's talk silver linings.

1. I had some fun vacation time. I know that's not really a benefit to you and it doesn't relate to the book, but I enjoyed it so I'm counting it as a plus anyway.

2. I got a new computer. It's nicer and faster than the old one. And because I REALLY learned my lesson about off-site backups I now have a Carbonite account that automatically backs everything up every night on a nice secure server.

3. I'm only on chapter 7, yes. But those seven chapters are a lot better than they were in the first draft of the book. I made a lot of improvements the second time around and the story is better for it.

So there you go. Into Light won't be coming out in August. I'm not sure when it will come out, but I still really want to finish up before the end of the year. I'll keep you posted on the release date. And my summer traveling is almost over (my daughter is still visiting her Aunt and Uncle and at some point I really need to go bring her home), so I will have more time to focus on writing again!