Best laid plans of not only mice and men but women and writers are destined to go astray.
Yet more challenges are in the mix this month, the sun is shining at last and my motivation is high. Today's work was planned, outlined and sitting by the computer ready for an early Monday start.
Project One meant following Tiffany Dow's Kindle Challenge. Straightforward and straight talking, Tiffany is an ace motivator and generous with advice and help. Easy to follow outlines and writing a page a day--what could go wrong?
Well Kindle for a start. I have a Kindle for PC application which has annoyed me for various reasons in the past by swallowing all the Kindle books in my computer into its capacious maw. But I have so many books only in this format that it has become vital to my reading.
So when it was antsy last night, l forgave it, switched off and expected all problems resolved after it had had a good night's sleep.
Nope it wasn't playing this morning either. But I was well ahead of the game thanks to my outlining for the day. So quick fix and then back to business.
I wrote my one page for Tiff's Challenge and then back to battle with Kindle. l backed up my Kindle content since many of my books had not come through an Amazon purchase, then went for the step by step drastic uninstal, grappling with hidden files and content files.
When the new app reloaded, horror of horrors, there I was the proud possessor of Aesop's Fables, Treasure Island and Pride and Prejudice. I'm not complaining about that. But l had almost one hundred books on the system.
Not only am l left adding my past library one by one manually, but Amazon has decided l don't have a Kindle app at all. So it won't let me re-download past purchases.
Obviously this is not a problem unique to me but it is particularly annoying to realize how dependent one can unwittingly become on a piece of free software.
I would write a Kindle report on how to revive a sickly Kindle for PC app but it wouldn't be any use if you couldn't read it on your Kindle now, would it?
Contests
The deadline for the Writer's Digest Short Story competition (4000 words and with categories in all genres) is now September 14 which gives you time to polish or write from scratch. Prizes are good, starting with a grand prize of $2500 and six Category First Prizes of $500.
It's a $20 entry fee and you can enter online.
If you want longer to write less the 13th annual short short story competition , 1500 words, deadlines on November 15 . It's the same entry fee but with prizes for the first 25 places.
Lastly there is Write It Your Way. Another short short story competition, this is deadlining earlier on August 15 and asks for 1200 words or fewer on the theme of New Beginnings. This one is part of a series of monthly competitions with a $5 entry fee.
The rewards for the winner are free entry into next month's contest, story promoted on the WD website and $25 to spend at the WD shop.
However the reward could also be in self-motivation and having a story or article you can use for promotion elsewhere.
Read and follow the submission guidelines and have fun. Maybe I'll have my Kindle app fixed in time to read the winning stories ,,,
update
Four hours so far and counting...
This will be ongoing--loaded 29 books to date and still totally baffled by the files on my back up drive which seem to be replicating themselves as fast as I try to move them...
Any other Kindle problems out there? Anyone joining me on Tiff's Challenge? Who else likes/hates competitions? I'd love for you to let me know in the comments below.
