My 2013 Christmas List

This year I'm asking for three external hard drives. I know, I know: not sexy, exciting, or sentimental, but practical.

One drive I'll use to to keep my photo library (opening up space to write and store that bestselling series), the second drive will serve as the photo backup, and one more drive so I can run a journaling backup of the laptop's internal drive. With the one drive that I already have to mirror the laptop drive, I'll have a total of four hard drives.

Yes, I'm a little obsessed about backups. But after losing a drive once and all the data on it, I swore to never be in that situation again. I gotta protect my stories, right? One day when I have an income, I'll get that Drobo that I've been pining for.

In the meantime, I'll also ask for a couple more things. Debbie Ohi, an illustrator and writer, does a great job of capturing what else I'd like...

Don't worry. I won't hold my breath that I'll get the time to write or the gripping opening sentence, but a writer has got to dream.

I'm Celebrating.

Finally. A big weight off my shoulders.

I've completed the 1st draft of my NaNoWriMo2010 story, roughly 80k words. And, no I'm not  going to think how many more drafts it will go through, it is very rough in places. Really. I'm stopping this instant. Instead, I'm focusing on the fact that I got it all down in my trusty Scrivener. Like I said, finally.

A celebratory dessert is in order, maybe a hot apple pie, a yummy 7Up bundt cake, or even an untried-by-me recipe to test. Something to feed me and my Muse.

Then, I'll continue celebrating by purchasing new music. I'm thinking maybe How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack, Philharmonics by Agnes Obel, or maybe something completely different. My wishlists in Amazon and iTunes are quite long and diverse. I'm sure the new tracks, whatever they are, will  become part of a writing playlist in the future. More Muse gifts.

And another thing I'm going to do to celebrate? Go back to one of my Late List items and complete my How To Revise Your Novel novel.

Oh, and buy a new external backup drive. My old one crashed just yesterday.

So, time to go celebrate. Guess which one I'm starting with first. Yep, I'm opening the course outline, weekly lesson, and the old manuscript. This weekend will feature the dessert, and the hard drive and music will have to wait until next month's budget.

In the meantime, I'll be thinking of ways to celebrate completing the next milestone. Bribery, it works. Hopefully, the Muse agrees.