When computers fail ...

For the second time this year my laptop died last night. Of course the last back-up was two weeks ago (and the first time I let more frequent backing-up slip since the last disaster in April). The timing was lousy. I'd spent the weekend making edits to the new novel and I was in the middle of drafting an email to my agent to send the final version to him when the blue screen of death appeared. I also lost work on a new story and academic papers. The manufacturer has told me it's a known fault on the model I have, but that they won't replace the machine. They'll just keep replacing the faulty part, which typically fails after 4 to 6 months. In other words, buy a new machine or be prepared to lose it for a couple of days, twice a year, to repair. Thankfully, I've (read my technician) managed to recover all the data on the harddrive this afternoon. The new novel has now gone to the agent. The machine is backed up in three places. My cautionary words of advice - back-up your machine. Like now!