Lazlo Zalezac: Blog

As many of you may know, my house was hit by lightning. The damage to my electronics was extensive. All of my computers with the exception of a laptop were destroyed.

After months of trying to recover my lost files, I managed to get enough of one of my networked RAID 1 backup disk drives recovered to restore some of my files. There was some corruption and lost data, but not too much. There are some files that couldn't be recovered at all.

You may have noticed that I posted Quatyl Chapter 21. It had some lost data, but I've cleaned it up and posted it. I've got a lot of work to do to get the rest of the files in shape, but I'll see what I can do.

I haven't gotten to the WRC files or the Mike Radford story yet. It may take a few weeks to get all of the files in shape enough to post. I'll get stuff up as soon as I can.

I've just started posting a new story -- Fat Farm. This is a different kind of story from what most people have come to expect from me. Then again, it might be exactly what people expect -- a story about a less than perfect main character trying to get by in life.

For some people, the pathway to salvation requires a detour through hell. There are elements of degradation and emotional abuse in this story, but they serve a purpose. Helping someone often requires harsh actions rather than kind words.

With respect to the other stories that have been left hanging, the loss of that work was devastating. I tried to recreate the stories, but it wasn't working. No matter how hard I tried, the text just didn't work. I've managed to salvage a couple of files from my destroyed equipment. I'm working to get the rest of them. Perhaps I'll salvage enough to finish them or maybe I'll be inspired over the summer to rewrite the missing chapters.

For now, I hope you enjoy Fat Farm.

I love technology. It is so great that at times I wondered what my life would be without it. Yes, I used to sit in front of the keyboard wondering what life would be without all of my technological gadgets.

Let's see, I wouldn't have lost more than thirty chapters of my stories. Eight chapters of WRC, ten chapters of Quatyl, three chapters of Mike Radford, and twelve chapters of The Victorian. That would be nice. I wouldn't have lost three weeks and hundreds of dollars trying to recover the data from my disk drives only to find that the data was gone gone gone. Both hard drives were roasted. Originals and backups.

You see, lightning hit the house with a murderous crash. Milliseconds later, silicon chips turned into little black threads and floated through the air. I had lots of things with silicon chips in them. I have them no longer.

Rest In Peace Computers. Rest in Peace Printer. Rest in Peace KVM, Router, and Hubs. Rest in Peace HDTV. Rest in Peace Stereo. I shall miss you more than the microwave.

The sole survivor was a little laptop that had been nestled in its carrying case waiting patiently for the day when I remembered that I owned it. Neglected, it waited knowing that I hated typing on the crimped keyboard. I hated the little touch pad mouse wanna-be. At least I can read a few stories on SOL.

For Lazlo, it is going to be a couple of weeks or more before he gets any of his lost work back. For his fans, it is hoped that they will understand.

I have just finished posting The Millionaire Next Door. Some might feel that it came to a rather abrupt end. Perhaps, but perhaps not. I could have continued by introducing other problems and describing how he solved them. I could have told about how he cleaned up the school system. I could have told about Kim's life. I could have... Well, you get the idea. There were lots of little things I could have written about, but it wouldn't have been about Dan's effort to achieve happiness.

With his marriage to the three women he loved, Dan Parker achieved his happiness. There wasn't more to be told about his pursuit of it. Everything after this point would have been about maintaining happiness.

I am still considering writing the articles. The e-mail is running about three to one for writing them. The main problem is that it is a very different kind of writing endeavor. Many people feel that the story itself presents the articles in just the proper fashion to be useful. Others have suggested that no matter how well they are written, that they won't be good enough. I tend to agree.

I have thought about creating an on-line magazine in which people can submit their versions of the three articles. Readers have submitted a lot of variants of the facts of life to me. Maybe I agree with them and then again maybe I don't, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that it is a beginning. Right now, I don't have the time to pursue this. Perhaps some interested reader might take the idea and run with it.

As the New Year approaches, I find myself reminiscing about the past twelve months. If I may say so myself, despite the rather hectic end of year schedule at work, this was a productive year. I have completed stories:

General Sid
Hunter
Oscar Meyers

Admittedly, Hunter was rather controversial, but I'm rather proud of all three of them. In addition to the stories I finished, I have three other stories in progress:

The Quatyl
William Redman Carter
The Millionaire Next Door

Due to work related issues, I was not able to complete posting of The Millionaire Next Door although I had finished the first draft of it well before the end of the year. I expect to finish posting it within a week of the New Year. Admittedly some of the errors in that story remain because of a rush to post it by the end of the year.

I have not forgotten the other stories and will be posting additional chapters in the near future. There will be a galactic war in the Quatyl and William will direct the world towards a better future.

My work schedule has slowed down, but I am still very busy. Odds are good that my life won't slow down until the beginning of summer. I doubt that 2008 will be as productive. I do have a story in progress -- the Victorian. It is an odd little piece about a young man who inherits a spooky old house from an old friend of the family. I'll probably start posting it at the end of spring.