Portable Drive

Today, I made an hour's drive south to pick up this gadget without knowing exactly how it worked or whether it would work.  But I was willing to give it a try.

I had mentioned in an older post about the box of old 3.5 floppy disks I had stored many of my past manuscripts on.  Unfortunately, I failed to make a backup copy or even a paper copy.  I hit old used and second hand shops looking for old computers that still had a 3.5 disk drive but was told those computers were far too old now and were thrown out immediately without ever hitting the store shelves.  So, dejected, I realized I would never be able to open those old disks again.  I continued looking on Kijiji for old computers but wasn't having any luck.  Then I saw this little guy advertised claiming to be able to read those old 3.5 floppy disks with this little machine that hooked up to your PC with the use of a USB port.  And he only wanted $10 for the thing.  I figured if it didn't work out, at least I'd only be out ten bucks (plus the cost of gas).

Long story short, I went and bought it and brought it home.  And guess what?  It works!  Yes.  I was so bloody excited when the information on the disk flickered and then appeared on my computer!  All my years of back work have been saved!  Yay!!!  I have no idea where one of these things can be purchased, as the fellow who sold it me informed me that he bought it at a giant warehouse sale but never used it himself so didn't even know if it worked.

I can't tell you how much this means to me.  True, many of the manuscripts on those disks are very, very old, and if I'm going to be publishing any of them, they need a huge edit job or even rewrite.  But at least they are there, not gone forever as I feared. 

Going Contemporary

So, I have two contemporary romances I have been humming and hawing about for a while now.  I love them both and have already started editing them.  The issue is, should I change genre's.  Or do I stick to one genre for now?  Do I use a different pen name to launch the contemporary books or use my own name?

I had thought about doing a complete makeover and edit to a historical setting, but both books center around very modern things.  One of the books, my hero's love of rebuilding classic sports cars is a part of who he is.

As is the complex world of computers is a huge part of who the other hero is.

Remove either of these elements, and it not only changes who the hero is but the storyline as well.

Besides, I have played with the idea of writing contemporaries.  There is considerable less research involved, obviously, so I could write more stories and faster.  Even the wording is easier in contemporaries.  At least the type of contemporaries I write.  Light, fast and easy reads.  So I'm pretty certain I already know I want to crossover into this genre, the question that remains is, do I change pen names or keep it the same.  I've played with shortening my name to either Peg or Meg and in honour of my late father, use his name as a surname.  So it could either be Peg Roberts or Meg Roberts.  Or combine the names of my daughters.  Courtney Paige.  Or use my mother's maiden name Peggy Payne.  I haven't made up my mind whether I will use a pseudonym or not, but it sure is fun coming up with names.

Pioneer Hearts Event

Ok, finally, I am able to reveal the secret event being held by the authors over at Pioneer Hearts Facebook page. You are going to love this! They are hosting their first ever Pioneer Hearts 99c Western Romance Event!  Yes, that's right, all books listed below are only $.99 each for a limited time! I, along with about 30 other Historical Western Romance writers, have come together to offer this 4-day sale to help promote the genre!

This sale includes dozens of books for your Kindle, and a selection for your Nook or iBooks libraries, as well. And you know what else is fun? You can win some pretty snazzy prizes! More details about these prizes can be found at the bottom of the page.  Sale starts today!



Want to win one of two $10 Amazon gift cards? Share our sale and follow our authors! You could also win signed books, a beautiful turquoise pendant necklace (voted a favorite by the Pioneer Hearts Readers Group!), and more! See Rafflecopter here and win!

See iBooks links here