What Writers Take for Granted

We've been having trouble with our phone. When I answered a call, I heard either buzzing bees or crashing waves on the ocean. Not really. But you get the idea. I'd have to yell to be heard, which irritated me and whoever the unlucky recipient was.

This morning they came to fix the problem. Something in the lines. He had to unhook our phone line which meant, yes, you know what's coming, no Internet either. I suddenly realized all the things I couldn't do without the Internet. E-mails, checking websites I'd recently posted on, and looking up a fact for the novel I'm working on, all gone by the wayside. So were paying bills, keeping up with a couple of chat rooms I'm a part of, and did I mention e-mail?! I see that I did, but good grief, I never realized how much I used it until it was gone. E-mail and the Internet encompass such a wide range of what we as writers do. Sending a query? Internet. Waiting for a response to your latest novel submission? Internet. Wondering if someone from your writers' group can answer your newbie marketing question? Internet.

It makes me appreciate all the more what writers went through before there was an online presence for anyone who wanted one.

Ah....But as you now can see, I'm back. Even this simple post is made possible by our wonderful, often taken for granted friend, the Internet.

And for the phone guy who made this possible? I don't know your name, but thanks!