Writing Business | Cathy C. Hall Writes

Here’s a Tuesday double tooting! (Um, that didn’t sound very ladylike, did it? Let’s keep moving…)

I just received my children’s book Opinion from Elizabeth Guy over at Reading Writers. Remember that opinion I won way back when for writing that splendiferous sentence? (The Verb, the ezine affiliated with Reading Writers, sponsored a contest called The Sentence Soiree.)

So, first, I have to shout, “Whee! She liked it! She really, really liked it!” The parts that I thought were funny, she thought were funny, too! I love my main character; she loved that little guy, too! The story that I’ve labored over for months and months and months, she liked and enjoyed.

It wasn’t all a love fest, of course. There were aspects of the story that needed work. And Elizabeth gave some great suggestions. Bottom line, that was absolutely the best prize I’ve ever won. Yay for me!

And yay for Reading Writers! I’d never considered an editing service before, but I can definitely see the value therein. And if I ever finish my second story, I know just where I’ll send it for an opinion.

But for now, I need to work on my children’s book. And you need to check out Reading Writers. You can sign up for the newsletter and get The Verb ezine sent to your inbox, free. Oh, and check out the latest contest. You could be tooting, too. (Um, I really need to come up with something else for Tuesday).

You know that creepy little hairless guy in the Lord of the Rings? The guy who, in an eerie obessive whisper, referred to the ring as “my precious”?

I’m that guy. Except instead of a golden ring, it’s my dusty, old computer. And, I still have my hair. But if I don’t get my precious back today, I may start pulling my hair out and jumping around on all fours. I’m that crazy without my computer.

The beneficent Mr. Hall has allowed me to check email and such, using his business computer. This morning, he had an errand, so I have a few minutes for Finding Something Friday. Here’s what I found out about this nasty little virus that attacked my precious.

The helpful computer guy said that he had 20 computers in his shop with the same virus. That no anti-virus software could prevent or get rid of this virus. That if I ever see that black screen come up again, hit ALT and F4 IMMEDIATELY. He may have said lots of other technical and/or interesting things, but I think I went into some kind of shock. The whole episode’s a little hazy.

The only thing I’m really sure about is my precious is still in the shop. And I’ve organized every single thing in my house. Twice.