A Computer is a Writer’s Best Friend

This past week, what many writers fear happened to me—my four year-old XPS laptop died. Long time readers of the blog will remember last Janaury when I waxed nostalgic after my keyboard died. I should have known then that the end was near, but I think I was in denial.

By the time the display finally decided to give up the ghost, I was living on borrowed time. The second battery was barely functioning, the webcam had died, I was on both the second motherboard and keyboard, and to say that my 300GB drive was overflowing would be an understatment.

I bought my XPS when Ann and I had been writing together for only a year and were still just writing for fun. At the time, the idea of writing professionally hadn’t even entered our heads. But just over a year later, we’d set our sights on Go big or go home, and were focusing on a new manuscript and starting the querying process when it was complete.

And here we are, three years later, with the first book out next May, our editor asking for the second book by the end of this year, a new proposal finished, and we’re already thinking about the next project and future possibilities. And, to do that, I need my main work tool—a new (working!) laptop.

Above is a picture of my new best friend as I’m neck deep in edits for A Flame in the Wind of Death, the sequel to Dead, Without a Stone to Tell It. My old, trusty laptop served us well as we wrote over a million words while we learned our craft. Now I’m looking forward to the next million words with this one!