So, remember how I speculated that Book 18 might be cursed?

Well, here’s what happened this morning:

I was in the shower, but fortunately Hubby was just down the hall when he heard a loud hissing noise. It took about 20 seconds for him to think “What the…?” and run to living room. By then, my laptop was belching out enough toxic smoke to fill the entire house.

Luckily it didn’t actually catch fire, and Hubby (my hero) grabbed the smoking corpse and chucked it outside. We’ve been airing out the house ever since.

Another stroke of good fortune (which I prefer to call ‘good planning’) is that I back up my files daily, so I didn’t lose anything except peace of mind and a whole bunch of adrenaline.

But since my back is still too cranky for me to work steadily at my desktop computer, this means another delay while I get a new laptop and set it up so I can work in other positions besides seated at my desk.

Poor Book 18. I promise, I haven’t given up!

But overall I’m incredibly grateful. It’s a whole lot easier to replace a fried laptop than a fried house. So, ’scuse me while I take a few deep breaths (outside, where it isn’t stinky) and give thanks for my staggeringly good luck!