Friday, July 8, 2011

Hidden Treasures

So I was cleaning out an old email account, when I came across a cover I'd made for one of my epic fantasy WIPs.  I used to play around with Photoshop a lot (back when I still had it *cries*) and had a blast combining different images and elements to create mock covers for my works.  (Note, I didn't create any of the specific images in this cover, I just combined them with various elements and designs to create the overall piece.  Credit where credit's due, but alas, I can't remember where I found the images, which is why this is just for fun.)



And then it got me thinking about all the random creations I've lost over the years...due to computer crashes or lost spiral notebooks or a box of old printed manuscripts vanishing in a move to a new apartment.  I still have my first broken laptop tucked away in my closet, and on it is all the outlining and writing I did on my original magnum opus I started years ago.  There's still a fun story to be told from those notes, I'm sure, but I for the life of me can not remember how the story was supposed to go without them, and I've yet to find someone able to recover the files from that particular harddrive.  I hold onto it anyways, just in case.

So how about you guys?  Any of you have any vanished masterpieces you've lost and been unable to recover, or that you know are still lurking around somewhere if you can just remember where you put those notes or saved those chapters?  Or have you ever stumbled across something you created years ago and totally forgot about until it popped up again unexpectedly? 

7 comments:

  1. I save EVERYTHING. I am a complete packrat and am terrified my old journals will be somehow lost, and the world will suffer because of it. I think that cover looks cool! I love finding old treasures like that in the attic. I just found one today, actually, and may have to post my discovery on my blog.

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  2. I've misplaced the NaNo novel I started in '08 due to my laptop frying. Alas, it wasn't really going anywhere, but that's the first 25k I wrote seriously so I wouldn't mind knowing I had it somewhere. Plus I could probably salvage bits. And this is why God invented DropBox.

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  3. OMG!! Stop reading my mind and stealing my post ideas!! LOL.

    I have proof, you know. I just emailed Bethany last night with some book cover pics I've made and told her I planned to do a post about them to see what creative venues other authors use to keep their dream alive. Gar!

    I guess you're getting me back for the Wonderland awards I made that time. Right?? Haha. This is so freaky.

    Your book cover ROX! And I do mine the same way -- several pics combined.

    Okay, I'm still doing that post come Wednesday! You can't stop me with your telepathic prowess, super K. ;)

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  4. Anita's telling the truth. I'll go on the stand for her. (Please don't make me do that. I dress casually at work--and therefore have no appropriate clothing for a court appearance. My Macy's bill is high enough, thanks)

    I love this post. Regardless who did it first. I don't have any major masterpieces that have fallen into oblivion, but I've got some bitchin' poems and short stories somewhere out there that I'd love to find again. Maybe Al Gore can help me with that...

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  5. First draft of le vampire novel, totally nuked. S'okay, it needed to be rewritten anyhow--and I did find one hard copy while digging through old shit (I will never open it again).

    As it was draft 13 of it that actually, you know, ended up doing something, I guess that's probably a good thing. It really needed totally rewritten anyhow :D

    I love finding vanished masterpieces, though! Isn't it the best? I totally found some old high school notebooks with my comic about a pot smoking elf detective and his adorable sidekick a few months ago.

    ... nice to know I haven't changed. I guess.

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  6. You made that cover? By yourself? That's really cool! I see a lot of ebooks with really crappy covers, and it's too bad 'cause maybe the story inside is great but since I'm a visual person, I probably would not buy their books just because of the crappy cover.

    Anyway, I wish I had all my old stuff from back in the days--the angsty high school poems, the cheesy essays and short fic I submitted for the school paper, and even my old journals (though they are cringe-worthy and deserve to be buried under shovelfuls of dirt).

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  7. My just finished MS was originally written circa '94. Many moves and much of the hard copy was lost and the floppy discs (yes, floppies) gave up the ghost without putting forth the missing chapters. I recreated as best I could and then created new stuff to update, etc. An agent asked for a FULL the day after I queried him. Yessss!
    P.S. My daughter's brilliant IT guy could try his hand at coaxing out your old laptop stuff.

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