It’s been 19 days (from Jan. 9th) since I last posted on my Summerland Stories project series! On January 11th, I emailed one new chapter to my beta readers, based on recommendations from some of them. While I waited for their responses, I did a variety of “touch ups” on the manuscript. On January 15th, having received useful feedback from my beta readers, I spent 7 hours doing a final self-edit in preparation to send the manuscript to my editor/designer.

On the morning of January 16th, as I was doing final touch-ups, my laptop and my husband’s computer (which are on the same local network) were hacked and then scammed. (According to CyberSapiens.com, “Hacking involves the exploitation of vulnerabilities in systems or networks, often with technical expertise. Scamming, on the other hand, relies on social engineering, persuasion, and deception to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information or performing compromising actions.”) The rest of that day, and the next one, we spent hours dealing with financial issues (we fortunately didn’t lose any funds…) and immediately took our computers to the “computer hospital.”

While, over the next 10 days, the computer techs were able to clean our systems and return our computers to us on the 25th, sadly I lost the one file I was working on at the time–that all-important manuscript file. Fortunately, all the previous versions were intact (backed up and free of viruses, etc.). Therefore, over the past couple of days, I have spent 12 hours reconstructing that final file, from the previous version that the beta readers had read, and from their responses (which I had fortunately printed out) that was ready to send to the designer.

So … I had an enforced break from the Summerland Stories project for 10 days! Of course, I learned some valuable lessons about computer security, about frequently backing up my files at least 3 ways (on the computer, on the cloud, and on a separate hard drive, etc.) as I work on creating files, and so on. Sure, it takes a little extra time, but it is well worth it.

During my break from the computer, I did quite a lot of reading of old-fashioned paper books (phew! they’re safe from cyber issues!), getting advice from tech experts (including dealing with suspect phone calls and emails, as well as scary “warning” messages popping up on your computer screen: hint, for example: if you get one of the “warning” messages on your screen, immediately turn off your computer and take it to tech experts to get it checked), playing games (offline), visiting friends, going to a writers’ group meeting and other community events, and so on. Despite being rather stressed at first, I do think my “break” from the computer has been fairly healthy for my brain! Since I got the laptop back, I’ve been busy changing all the financial information and passwords on all my apps, as well as upgrading my security.

This “adventure” has been a real learning experience for me … and I’m hoping it might be a helpful reminder to you, too, to seriously consider your computer use. There are a lot of nasty hackers, scammers, trolls, etc. out there. They aren’t going to turn into nice people, so it’s up to the rest of us to protect ourselves in every way we can. Here are a couple of useful sites to start to learn more: The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and Sun Life’s list of Anti-Fraud sites and reporting (which includes Canadian, American, and International sites).

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE A NOTIFICATION EMAIL EACH TIME A NEW POST IS MADE? If so, just enter your email address at the top right corner of the page, above the FOLLOW button! Thanks!

AND DON’T FORGET TO COMMENT! I’d love your input!

Here are links to the other posts in my “Summerland Stories Journey” writing project:
Summerland Stories 1: Summerland Stories will be in book form
Summerland Stories 2: Surprise! Self-editing is harder than editing for others
Summerland Stories 3: Making a To-Do List: Help Needed!
Summerland Stories 4: Yes! I’m still doing my Summerland Stories project!
Summerland Stories 5: Beta reads, platform, marketing plans
Summerland Stories 6: Notes from Conal Creedon
Summerland Stories 7: Retirement is Awfully Busy
Summerland Stories 8: Short and Sweet, Sunshine and Joy
Summerland Stories 9: Happy New Year 1959!
Summerland Stories 10: Even Editors Need Editors – and Beta Readers!
Summerland Stories 11: What I Learned From My Beta Readers
Summerland Stories 12: An Unplanned Project Break
Summerland Stories 13: Off to the Editor/Designer!
Summerland Stories 14: Doubt, fears, procrastination – Yikes!
Summerland Stories 15: My Project is Coming Along!
Summerland Stories 16: My Book is At the Printer!
Summerland Stories 17: The Journey Continues
Summerland Stories 18: Are You or Yours in the Book?
Summerland Stories 19: Book Launch May 4th!
Summerland Stories 20: Historical Summerland Lives!
Summerland Stories 21: Countdown! 3 Days until launch!!!
Summerland Stories 22: Successful Launch and Into Orbit!
Summerland Stories 23: Post-launch update and my launch PowerPoint
Summerland Stories 24: Back From Summer Break; Coles Book Signing