Wednesday, August 09, 2017

Forsaken Empire Origins

Recently, I was searching for copies of my original files for The Genesis Trilogy (see previous posts) when I came across copies of my first book, my apprenticeship book, laboriously stored on 3.5-inch "floppy" disks. Who remembers those compact floppies and the original floppies? Ancient history, right?

Deservedly so.
Forsaken Empire Origins

Four 3.5 compact disks held my single precious manuscript in backup, just in case our PC crashed and offered only the heart-stopping blue screen of writing death. Actually, I might be guilty of using as many as 12 disks to back up my massive tome. Excessive? Perhaps. However, because my research involved reading more than 300 books I'd either purchased or borrowed from the regional library when the fledgling worldwideweb couldn't provide answers to my authorly questions concerning all things medieval, the prospect of losing my work induced nightmares.

Nowadays, my nightmares involve storing info in The Cloud (aren't thunderstorms possible?) as well as emails and random thumb drives--all more convenient than my vintage 3.5 compact disks. Even so, these 3.5 inch babies make me smile. After all, they hold the framework for my current Forsaken Empire series. Thankfully, I've managed to protect my PC's files for more than two decades, because .... I no longer have a computer capable of reading these shiny little disks.

Does anyone still use these?