DarianBlack
Experienced
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2011
- Posts
- 71
Hi.
I'm Darian. And I'm one of those authors who wrote 2 chapters of a (planned) 25 chapter story, then seemingly completely abandoned the project.
I'm here today to tell you all the tale of how my story: Annika's Islands Chapter 03, took 3,094 days (8 years, 5 months, 3 weeks) to upload on Literotica.
It's... pretty much all my fault. Just not in the way you might think.
Back in 2010 - I started writing this story. And it's... not perfect, but I'm proud of the content I put out there. I'm happy with all the comments and messages I received of readers whom reached out and expressed how much they enjoyed the story. I've never felt anything like that before or since, and it was important to me that I finish the story.
Well, the cliche of "Shit happens" happened. I found my living situation untenable (an asshole jerkface person was involved) and in order to extricate myself from it, I needed to sorta go "off grid" for a while (didn't have money for food, much less internet) I'll not get into details, but it meant my plans for the story had to be put on hold. And that was fine, really. So I focused on what I needed to - Writing an erotic fiction story wouldn't put food on the table, or a roof over my head. So I put in the work I needed to to get my life back on track.
Welp. Then I got into a car accident. T-Boned driving through a green light in the middle of an intersection, broke so many bones in my body I don't have an accurate count. My heart stopped for several minutes - there was fear I would be brain damaged. I was in a medically induced coma for days, and in the hospital for weeks after that.
I was forced into moving back in to that "untenable" situation by necessity, but somehow... Once again, dug myself out of it. I did my physical therapy for over a year, got healthy, went back to work, moved out, found a partner, got married, started a family... all in the span of a couple years.
And then one day I remembered "Oh hey. I have that story! I should really get back to that!" That was about 2013 I believe.
However, the third chapter (along with the unedited/handwritten chapters 4 and 5) were long gone at this point. The third chapter was on a computer I no longer owned, and the notebook I kept chapters 4 and 5 in were destroyed. By an asshole who destroyed everything else I owned, by the way.
Needless to say, I was disheartened with the prospect of having to write all 40-50 thousand words all over again. I don't write quickly. And I had little free time with which to do so. But more than that...
I was REALLY proud of chapter 3. Of the 3 completed chapters that I'd had at the time - It was my favorite. I didn't want to re-write it. I wanted what I'd worked hard on. I wanted the chapter 3 I'd finished in 2011. Really, really bad. And what's more - I wanted my readers to have that chapter, as I'd originally written it. Felt it would be fake if I tried to just "make another one up"
So I tracked down that computer, maybe a year or so later. The asshole who destroyed all my shit and made my life miserable a few years before had sold it, to his buddy. His buddy didn't even use the damn thing, couldn't get it to work.
Yeah no shit. The only person that can make my computer work is me. You'd have to replace the motherboard AND hard drive to get it to work without the passwords.
and...
I COULDN'T REMEMBER THE DAMNED PASSWORD TO THE ENCRYPTED DRIVE.
Now, maybe it was the accident - but I had a mental block on it. Couldn't remember the algorithm I used to create the password for the drive. Couldn't remember the password. Tried EVERYTHING.
...So. I brute-forced it. Knowing full well that in order to crack my password, it'd take a long... Long time.
In 2015, we lost power to the house for a long enough period of time that my backup battery didn't hold out. I lost months of progress towards cracking the password.
I bought a better UPS and tried again. In 2016, for one reason or another that I cannot even now determine - the process failed again.
And then? My marriage ended. I got divorced, spiraled into depression and wasted a year of my life being emo.
Oh yeah. And that drive I was trying to crack? Broke.
Now I was faced with the issue... Do I really invest money into trying to recover a single text file? Could they even do that if the drive was encrypted? Did anyone still have tools that worked on a computer that started its life in 2006? WAS THIS REALLY WORTH $300?
Short answer? Nah. They couldn't fix it. And yeah, they still charged me. Don't worry - only $150. -_-'
Left with no alternative, I desperately did the only thing I could think of - tried to get a hold of 1 of the 3 people that might have a copy of the rough draft. My old friend, his (now ex) girlfriend, and a random stranger off the internet from a site I'd not visited in years.
Friend didn't have it. Neither did his ex. My only shot, was to find that guy I met all those years on Gaia Online of all fucking places, and hope he still had access to his email account. Yes that's right. Email.
"Why not just go to YOUR email account and retrieve the sent message?" I can hear you say.
No no. This is not the way things work in my life. That would be too easy. My sent file had somehow CORRUPTED. Would not open. No matter what. (that'd been the first thing I tried btw, before even attempting to retrieve the computer)
Wow this is more long winded then I thought it was gunna be. And I left out so much... The drug dealers, the stolen car, the homelessness, the mugging... I guess I'll just cut to the chase.
Tiberius. His name is Tiberius. And Tiberius is the one who saved the day.
As of yesterday - Tiberius got back to me. Logged into gaia online for the first time in years, saw my message, searched through his email account, retrieved the file, and forwarded it to me. A rough draft, pre-final edit, but a copy. The original. The HOLY FUCKING GRAIL as far I was concerned.
I read chapters 1, 2, and 3 for the first time in 8 years, 5 months, and 3 weeks. And it's... Good. The story. It's not perfect. There are errors, the plot's a little thin, it can definitely be improved. But I cried real tears over it. Could feel the tension between the characters again... Could feel the emotions roiling inside both there heads as if it were my own.
I loved it! I've always loved this story, these characters! I've always wanted to know what happened to 'Nik and Dare. I wanted to know what would happen next, what would happen when they got to the next island? What would happen when they got home? I wanted it as much as every reader who added my story to their favorites. Maybe even more.
And yknow what? I just finished editing chapter 3. I don't have any beta readers anymore. I don't have an editor anymore. But chapter 3 is uploading as I type this. And I'll be damned if anything or anyone will ever stop me from finishing this story ever again.
Anywho, just wanted to get that off my chest. This is just some stupid romance novel I started 9 years ago... but it means far more than that to me. I just hope the wait will be worth it for some of you all as well.
Thanks for listening folks.
TLDR; BACK UP YOUR DATA
I'm Darian. And I'm one of those authors who wrote 2 chapters of a (planned) 25 chapter story, then seemingly completely abandoned the project.
I'm here today to tell you all the tale of how my story: Annika's Islands Chapter 03, took 3,094 days (8 years, 5 months, 3 weeks) to upload on Literotica.
It's... pretty much all my fault. Just not in the way you might think.
Back in 2010 - I started writing this story. And it's... not perfect, but I'm proud of the content I put out there. I'm happy with all the comments and messages I received of readers whom reached out and expressed how much they enjoyed the story. I've never felt anything like that before or since, and it was important to me that I finish the story.
Well, the cliche of "Shit happens" happened. I found my living situation untenable (an asshole jerkface person was involved) and in order to extricate myself from it, I needed to sorta go "off grid" for a while (didn't have money for food, much less internet) I'll not get into details, but it meant my plans for the story had to be put on hold. And that was fine, really. So I focused on what I needed to - Writing an erotic fiction story wouldn't put food on the table, or a roof over my head. So I put in the work I needed to to get my life back on track.
Welp. Then I got into a car accident. T-Boned driving through a green light in the middle of an intersection, broke so many bones in my body I don't have an accurate count. My heart stopped for several minutes - there was fear I would be brain damaged. I was in a medically induced coma for days, and in the hospital for weeks after that.
I was forced into moving back in to that "untenable" situation by necessity, but somehow... Once again, dug myself out of it. I did my physical therapy for over a year, got healthy, went back to work, moved out, found a partner, got married, started a family... all in the span of a couple years.
And then one day I remembered "Oh hey. I have that story! I should really get back to that!" That was about 2013 I believe.
However, the third chapter (along with the unedited/handwritten chapters 4 and 5) were long gone at this point. The third chapter was on a computer I no longer owned, and the notebook I kept chapters 4 and 5 in were destroyed. By an asshole who destroyed everything else I owned, by the way.
Needless to say, I was disheartened with the prospect of having to write all 40-50 thousand words all over again. I don't write quickly. And I had little free time with which to do so. But more than that...
I was REALLY proud of chapter 3. Of the 3 completed chapters that I'd had at the time - It was my favorite. I didn't want to re-write it. I wanted what I'd worked hard on. I wanted the chapter 3 I'd finished in 2011. Really, really bad. And what's more - I wanted my readers to have that chapter, as I'd originally written it. Felt it would be fake if I tried to just "make another one up"
So I tracked down that computer, maybe a year or so later. The asshole who destroyed all my shit and made my life miserable a few years before had sold it, to his buddy. His buddy didn't even use the damn thing, couldn't get it to work.
Yeah no shit. The only person that can make my computer work is me. You'd have to replace the motherboard AND hard drive to get it to work without the passwords.
and...
I COULDN'T REMEMBER THE DAMNED PASSWORD TO THE ENCRYPTED DRIVE.
Now, maybe it was the accident - but I had a mental block on it. Couldn't remember the algorithm I used to create the password for the drive. Couldn't remember the password. Tried EVERYTHING.
...So. I brute-forced it. Knowing full well that in order to crack my password, it'd take a long... Long time.
In 2015, we lost power to the house for a long enough period of time that my backup battery didn't hold out. I lost months of progress towards cracking the password.
I bought a better UPS and tried again. In 2016, for one reason or another that I cannot even now determine - the process failed again.
And then? My marriage ended. I got divorced, spiraled into depression and wasted a year of my life being emo.
Oh yeah. And that drive I was trying to crack? Broke.
Now I was faced with the issue... Do I really invest money into trying to recover a single text file? Could they even do that if the drive was encrypted? Did anyone still have tools that worked on a computer that started its life in 2006? WAS THIS REALLY WORTH $300?
Short answer? Nah. They couldn't fix it. And yeah, they still charged me. Don't worry - only $150. -_-'
Left with no alternative, I desperately did the only thing I could think of - tried to get a hold of 1 of the 3 people that might have a copy of the rough draft. My old friend, his (now ex) girlfriend, and a random stranger off the internet from a site I'd not visited in years.
Friend didn't have it. Neither did his ex. My only shot, was to find that guy I met all those years on Gaia Online of all fucking places, and hope he still had access to his email account. Yes that's right. Email.
"Why not just go to YOUR email account and retrieve the sent message?" I can hear you say.
No no. This is not the way things work in my life. That would be too easy. My sent file had somehow CORRUPTED. Would not open. No matter what. (that'd been the first thing I tried btw, before even attempting to retrieve the computer)
Wow this is more long winded then I thought it was gunna be. And I left out so much... The drug dealers, the stolen car, the homelessness, the mugging... I guess I'll just cut to the chase.
Tiberius. His name is Tiberius. And Tiberius is the one who saved the day.
As of yesterday - Tiberius got back to me. Logged into gaia online for the first time in years, saw my message, searched through his email account, retrieved the file, and forwarded it to me. A rough draft, pre-final edit, but a copy. The original. The HOLY FUCKING GRAIL as far I was concerned.
I read chapters 1, 2, and 3 for the first time in 8 years, 5 months, and 3 weeks. And it's... Good. The story. It's not perfect. There are errors, the plot's a little thin, it can definitely be improved. But I cried real tears over it. Could feel the tension between the characters again... Could feel the emotions roiling inside both there heads as if it were my own.
I loved it! I've always loved this story, these characters! I've always wanted to know what happened to 'Nik and Dare. I wanted to know what would happen next, what would happen when they got to the next island? What would happen when they got home? I wanted it as much as every reader who added my story to their favorites. Maybe even more.
And yknow what? I just finished editing chapter 3. I don't have any beta readers anymore. I don't have an editor anymore. But chapter 3 is uploading as I type this. And I'll be damned if anything or anyone will ever stop me from finishing this story ever again.
Anywho, just wanted to get that off my chest. This is just some stupid romance novel I started 9 years ago... but it means far more than that to me. I just hope the wait will be worth it for some of you all as well.
Thanks for listening folks.
TLDR; BACK UP YOUR DATA
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