#IWSG for July - Disappointment

Another month has passed and it's time for a new IWSG post. Once again so much has happened that it's all a blur, most of it personal stuff, not much writing related at all.

I have been very productive personally but not professionally so the theme for this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group is DISSAPOINTMENT.

I really had planned to write a lot of the first draft of the next book in my Klondike Mystery series, "Almost a Touch", while hubby was in the US for the birth of his newest grandbaby. (Isn't she sweet?)

That didn't happen - for several reasons. First, we ordered new MacBook Pro's for him to bring back. That meant a concerted effort to clean up my current PC. I found client files from the mid 90's. Why? Because I never deleted any client information. Then it was on to duplicate files, especially photos. Thank goodness for the freeware, Duplicate Cleaner Free. It did a wonderful job but with over 40k duplicated files (many justified), it took several runs through to clean things up.

Then I spent time trying to locate adequate replacement software for the programs I use daily. While we've been told the native Mac apps are good, I knew there were some things I would need get replaced. For anyone interested, here is my list:

• Epim ---> Thunderbird  [NOTE: Made the transition to Tbird on the PC first]
• Kingsoft Office ---> Apache Open Office or LibreOffice 
• Jarte ---> ApiMac Notepad $20, MacVim, GEdit or Clean Writer Pro $3 
• Scrivener ---> Scrivener (small fee for transfer)
• Irfanview ---> XNViewMP or Image Bucket Pro $5 
• ClipCache ---> Clipboard Center $5,  SmartNotes $10 (each?)  (iPad, iPhone & Mac) or $30 ClipBuddy if those don't work out
• CoreFTP --->   File Zilla
• FrontPage ---> Rapid Weaver $80, Sandvox $80 or BlueGriffon free
• Araneae --->   Tincta Free  or Taco Edit $25 
• Evernote ---> Evernote
• Lastpass ---> Lastpass
• Dropbox  ---> Dropbox
• Google Mail/Calendars/Contacts ---> Google Mail/Calendars/Contacts
• Word Counter ---> Word Counter $3 

I think I have everything covered other than my old Image Composer software. It's been my go to program for all things graphic that Irfanview couldn't do. I will play with the native Mac apps to see if I need to look further.

Phew! Wiping my brow.... The other major impediment was the decision to look for a new apartment. We lucked into finding this one before our move to Ecuador and we rented it sight unseen other than having a couple of friends visit and take photos. The price was right, the location very safe and across from a beautiful river with a walking trail and very roomy at 2000sf.

The downside that has really started to bother us is the lack of any views (Cuenca is surrounded by the Andes Mountains) as well as no outdoor seating space. We were taking more and more walks along the river and when we'd get back we'd both lament the fact we couldn't sit outside and continue enjoying the weather. Since we were renting month to month, we started looking for an alternative.

Well, we found it. A bit over budget but offers amazing views, in a great location, easy walking distance to the other major river in town and a full rooftop terrace. You can see some photos in my recent blog post about moving.

So yes, I was productive, just not writing-wise. Oh, but I did get my first monthly newsletter out to 165 subscribers (of course only 77 opened it...LOL). And I have managed to write a flash fiction story every Saturday in the last month.

So it's my readers who are waiting for book three who are the most disappointed. Do you ever feel like you are disappointing your readers?