Thursday. 10.00pm - Finish draft - the very first time in 18 months
that I get to the end of my character's story without scratching my
head and thinking "I know what they are doing but not why the freak
they would!"
I stare into the darkness of the park with a sort of exhausted wonder.
Friday. 7.30am. Overslept. Understandable. Shower, pack, get to
work, planning to clean up the formatting at lunch time, and email the
copy to my first line editor before she heads off for the weekend (she
asked for a copy for her long and dull train journey on Saturday.)
Friday. 12.00pm. Team lunch. I let slip that I have finished the
draft, and several glasses of prosecco get ordered. Nice. Very nice.
And earned. But the clean up doesn't happen, naturally enough.
Friday. 4.00pm. Start cleaning up. Rush job comes in - we need to
create a sales brochure by midday Monday, and I have a train to catch
at 7.00pm. I get stuck into to Adobe InDesign to create the
template. this is what I am paid for, this is what allows me to take
the long lunch breaks on quiet days and get the writing done.
Friday. 5.00pm. The office wifi is down. This makes it impossible
to email the draft over before I leave for the station. I call my
editor. She disappointed but sweet.
Friday. 6.00pm. I leave the office and head to Paddington.
Friday. 7.00pm. No train.
Friday. 7.30pm. Still no train.
Friday. 7.31pm! Train, yay - only 16 minutes late, and they can't
leave me stranded in South Wales if we miss the connection. Can they?
Friday. 9.15pm. Oh yes they can....
Friday 9.30pm. Never mind. There's another train in an hour which
will get me *almost* all the way home. And I have done all the
formatting on the draft!
Friday 10.30pm And here it is! And I still have a hour's juice on
the laptop.
Friday 10.45pm. BANG.
My laptop is DEAD. TERMINAL. NO MORE. GONE WEST. TIT'S UP.
DECEASED.
And all my lovely data with it.....
To be continued....
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