I know my latest serial is not as popular as my earlier ones, but there are about 500 readers per chapter. Today I drove an hour each way to the nearest Apple store to learn that the hard drive has died. I lost all my stories, but the only real loss was the next chapter, half written and two future stories.
I should have bought a replacement Mac at the Apple store while I was there, but as a pensioner I can’t call immediately to spend 2500 $C on the drop of the hat. So I have to decide if i want to spend another 2 hours driving tomorrow or buy online and wait for delivery. Either way there won’t be a chapter this week.
Dawn
Comments
Stone is well worth reading
And, by all means, I suggest you stick to the less expensive solution. When money is tight (and I'm way too familiar with that these days) you have to be very careful with where you spend it.
Having 500 regular readers sounds pretty good to me. I doubt there are more than a dozen authors here that normally do better than that. (But what do I know. I'm just a reader that is so SO glad there are so many good authors willing to share their work here.)
There are less expensive alternatives
While I am not an Apple user, this is mainly because I refuse to pay the cost of one and I also work in the IT dept where windows has been our main operating system for years. There are many less expensive choices, including buying a windows machine and creating what is commonly called a "Hackintosh" (Windows computer with Apple operating system.
Although there is one other alternative that is a fraction of the cost of even a cheap Windows system and greater back up capabilities if you truly wish to save money, Chromebooks. I constantly call those a "one trick pony" but I have to admit they are pretty good at their 'one trick'. Google docs have come along way since their creation and for common office/word document creation has many features that blow away all the office suites, which of course one of the main features is that it is stored in the cloud and always accessible from any computer and shared with your editors, proofreaders, beta readers etc.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
500 readers
Dawn,
I am one of those 500 readers who look forward to your postings of the next chapters. I am a fan of your stories and I like the serialisation of them i.e: more than one chapter. I love the writer's ability to develop the story characters and the plot lines in longer stories.
There are other writers here, who do post lengthy stories but they can be, at times, difficult to read due to grammatical challenges. I enjoy your writing because I get what you say the first time I read it. I don't have to re-read and try to interpret a phrase or sentence.
Please continue your writing. It is worth it. It is enjoyable in a positive way as you identify societal issues and deal with them in a gentle but very effective way. Sometimes Pate must be allowed to sing as it is the right thing to do.
I could imagine a prequel to this story. How did Stone, Rayla, Pate and Doug and Arthur get to be where they are? I'm not saying you should write this, but I do wonder about the circumstances that brought the main protagonists into this story.
Keep up the good work...
Robyn B
Sydney
Got it
Got the Mac today, nearly $3000 with tax. Just got it working. Now I have to get Microsoft Word. I am retired from a college, so if I can remember my old passwords, that will only cost $10 for office. If not, $169 for just Word. I know there are other writing packages out there, but I like the grammar checking in MS word.
Word online
https://products.office.com/en-gb/free-office-online-for-the...
Thanks
Actually I remembered my old college login and was able to get the full free version. Installed it this morning and will start writing this evening. Look for a new chapter Monday.
Dawn
Stone, and serials
I've found Stone to absolutely be worth reading. Not that I'd mind seeing a return to the worlds of either Times or A Second Chance (in fact, I'd seriously love to see one or both happen), but I know that I won't get everything I want in life.
As far as the Mac, just figure out what makes more sense for you.
Good point
She has written so many awesome serials that it's hard to pick out a favorite.