Category: Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston

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Computer Issues

September 6, 2013 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , ,

For anyone who’s my Facebook friend or reads my Killer Hobbies blog, you know I’ve had some computer issues over the past couple of weeks. The upshot is that first my Internet access, and then a couple of my computers, crashed. Why? Malware!

I had to take my main desktop computer and one of my laptops to technicians to diagnose and fix. Turned out that we had to replace the hard drive on my desktop, and although the technician couldn’t figure out how the malware had affected my laptop, his working to diagnose it apparently solved the problem.

Some of you have undoubtedly experienced this. I have, too, on a much more limited basis. But a writer, these days, without access to a computer? What misery! And it lasted for several days.

Yes, I back things up. And even beyond that, although the technicians didn’t reinstall all the programs on my desktop, they somehow were able to save all the data–although I have to hunt for it. And I’m so untechie that it’s a real hunt.

So… my wish for all of you is that you never, ever, experience anything like this.

Oh, except for those out there who create viruses and malware and the like to harm people’s computers and think it’s fun and funny. Instead, I wish the absolute worst of such stuff, an incurable virus or whatever, on every computer you ever attempt to use.

How about you–has your computer ever gotten ill with a virus or worse?

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August Already

August 6, 2013 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , ,
Is it really August already? Every year goes fast, but this one seems to be particularly quick!

I want to thank our delightful prez, Louisa Bacio, AKA Marie Loggia-Kee, for putting my picture up on her blog post this month on A Slice of Orange. Yes, I was at RWA National in Atlanta and had a wonderful time. I came back inspired, with a whole lot to do, and I’ve dug into it with gusto!

I’m really excited about this month’s meeting, too. If it wasn’t enough to see some of the outstanding Harlequin editors at the national conference, we get to see two of them right here, at OCC, next Saturday. They’ll be discussing Publishing Strategy and Digital Publishing for You–both topics in which I’ve got a lot of interest, and I’m sure many of you do, too.

So… think about how you’re going to spend the rest of this year, and I hope to see you on Saturday!

Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/

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Back to OCC

June 6, 2013 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , ,

I’m back! Or, rather, I’ll be back at OCC this Saturday after a two-month absence. Both of those were the result of family, or at least partially so. I had a visit from family in April, and then was in the east in May both for some writing events and to visit family.

 I will be running the PAW meeting on Saturday, delighted to do so although it will also feel bittersweet. Despite being listed on the OCC website as a co-liaison at PAW, I’m more of an assistant this year. But I previously served as a co-liaison with Charlotte Lobb. As you probably know by now, Charlotte has passed away. She was always funny and charming while running PAW meetings, as she was even when not running a meeting, and I know she will be missed by all of us at PAW as well as everywhere else. Charlotte was excellent at all she did, including promotion, and that’s a segue into our PAW topic this month: promotion tips. I’ll be eager to hear everyone’s ideas, since I’m always looking for more to try.

I’ll also be looking for published author volunteers to help out by hearing pitches and staffing tables at our July meeting to discuss writing issues. See you on Saturday!

Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/

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Juggling Act

May 6, 2013 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , ,

I love to write–but I love to have written even more!
 
Over the past week, I’ve been juggling between a few stories I’m working on.  For one, I have to complete a proposal for a Harlequin Nocturne romance that I’d suggested some time ago.  I had fun getting back into that story and into Alpha Force mode.  Alpha Force is my Nocturne miniseries about shapeshifters.  Love them!   I wrote a rough first draft and I’m now editing it.
 
Plus, I’ve come up with some ideas for a couple of new mystery series.  I’m also working on proposals for them.  And, yes, I’ve done rough first drafts, for one of them, at least.
 
I must have a lot of characters occupying my brain, since I do have to call on them, usually one at a time, and have them speak up even when I’ve been working in a different genre.  They always come through for me and tell me what comes next on the page.  It’s a good thing I’ve been at this for a while.
 
How about you–do you have more than one character or type of story in your mind at a time?  If so, how do you handle them?



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Missing a Meeting

April 6, 2013 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , ,

I unfortunately won’t be at the upcoming OCC meeting. It sounds wonderful, but I’ll have family in town. And family comes first! Especially since the visitors will include my little grandson, who’s ten months old. He, and my son and d-i-l, live in Chicago.

I saw them just over a week ago, too, on a Florida trip that I blogged about in my weekly Killer Hobbies blog. Great trip, one on which I’d intended to do a lot of writing. But despite the best of intentions, I spent more time with family than writing. Since then, I’ve pretty much caught up on what I’d hoped to accomplish, which makes me even happier that I did what felt best at the time.

Will I get much writing done next week? Maybe not. But I’ve fortunately met the most compelling of my deadlines, so I can afford to have fun and spend time with family.

So how about you–does family come first, or your writing, or your day job, or other obligations? Or are you able to juggle them all so nothing is ignored?

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