That’s what I’ve been telling myself all weekend. I’m sure many of you know what it’s like to lose something, sometimes forever. Something you’ve worked so hard on and then…it’s gone. Being a writer, I know better. After all the revisions we make and rewrites, etc, we should always have a backup of the newest version. I know this. Everyone knows this. But why don’t I have backups of my newest versions? Who knows? I’m lazy? I’m too busy? I honestly couldn’t tell you. On Saturday, something tragic happened. My flash drive broke. I don’t mean it stopped working…I mean it physically broke. Okay…well I broke it. And guess what? I lost a lot of files. I lost every single word I wrote for my NaNo project (which I was eventually going to work on it and turn it into a novel). I lost every revision I made to the sequel of UABM…luckily I found a copy from Dec. 9. But since then, it’s all gone. By some miracle, I found the newest updated version of UABM with some revisions. So I have that going for me. My fiance offered to see if he could fix the flash drive, and even though it may be hopeless, I love him for it. He knows how important it is. I cried. But I can move on because honestly there’s not much I can do about it now. Except pick my dumb self up and rewrite it. I truly believe everything happens for a reason. Or maybe karma was out to get me that day. Either way, I can’t dwell on it. So, I will redo the revision for UABM and still have that ready to publish by next Tuesday. I will go back and try to remember all my revisions for Under the Burning Stars (the sequel). (I really am kicking myself. I even lost the freaking outline to UTBS). Sigh. And as for the story I wrote for NaNo…I’m not sure. Once I stopped working on it, my mind was busy with my Enchanter series, holidays, Pieces of Me….so I will try my best and start over. It was cool though. I had no idea what it was going to be about, but it ended up being rather dystopian. That’s a trend these days. Still. Makes me sad. And I have definitely learned a lesson. Don’t be lazy and back up EVERYTHING. There are several places and objects to save your files with. Google Docs. Dropbox. Your computer. A CD. Just whatever you do, don’t make the same mistake I made. I’m gonna cry once more, and then move on. And try not to curse myself out again…