New Writing Website

As many of you already know, a few years ago I sold my main writing website domain name to Loren Piel, who, as it turns out was a liar and a completely untrustworthy person even though he claims to be an attorney (who is so successful that he now works taking bookings for an airline company) and he issued me with a false DMCA claim (which is highly illegal) and hounded me for months after I sold him the domain name.

At the time, I could only assume that he was being so petty because I set up a new site and carried on working while he floundered without having a clue of what to do with what he'd bought (for a high price I might add) and ended up shutting the site down.

Anyway, I've now decided to start a new website for writers and it's going to be all about my writing, how I work, what I'm working on and how it can help you to earn money from all your writing too.

I'm also going to change the use of my current writing site, ruthiswriting.com to a site where I write about other things that interest me.

I'll also be keeping my writing blog where I'll post writing opportunities including writing markets and writing competitions.

I'm also planning to write many more books and I'll use my websites to keep you up to date as soon as they're available, plus free ebooks that I plan to write and give away too.

I've been doing so much planning lately and I'm also going to set up a new email list so that you can stay up-to-date with everything I do and get to all the best info before it's posted online, plus amazing offers only available to subscribers.

This is why I recently subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud so that I have all the software available so that I can carry out all my plans.

A couple of years ago I did try and get offline so that I could write more books, but life got in the way (including 3 deaths in the family which was hard to bear at the time) plus I missed doing my online writing.

I don't want to say too much about it now in case big-ears Loren Piel is spying on me, which he always is. That man seems obsessed with stalking me. I don't think he's figured out yet that I know his IP address so I know every time he looks at my websites (the ones that he knows about) and which pages he looks at.

I don't want him to know too much too soon so that he can't send me any more of his petty demands about what he thinks I can and cannot do online, which is something he tried to do for months on end at one time.

And the funny thing is that he is an Elder at his local church and one of the claims that it makes about its congregation is that they are all "committed to loving each other instead of arguing over petty issues."

 Isn't that a hoot?

Loren Piel is one of the pettiest people I've ever known and yet he's an elder in a church that says it's members are NEVER petty. You can see it at their website http://www.canyonspringschristian.com/about

And scarily, he is also currently running for local city council elections where he lives. YIKES!

You can read his campaign promises by clicking on the link below. He's the last listed candidate at the bottom of the page. (I keep finding tidbits about him online when I'm searching for other things. His name keeps showing up in results)

https://www.idahopress.com/news/elections/middleton-city-council-candidate-surveys/article_69d92fe3-8471-57f5-96de-3b359908fae7.html

The further he stays away from me the better I like it. It just goes to show how good he is at making people think he is an honest guy.

But I know differently:
https://www.ruthiswriting.com/lorenpiel.html

He was angry and threatening when I began ruthiswriting.com and I just hope he leaves me alone when I get my next writing website online.

If he does start again, I'll post publicly absolutely everything I receive from him (and everything I received previously) so that you can judge for yourself.

 If nothing else it will provide me with plenty of free website content. :)

In the meantime, I'll keep you posted about my new writing site so that you can subscribe straight away and get a free ebook to help you make even more money from your writing.

Stay tuned.

Cheriton House Publishing Is A Spammer

This morning, I logged into my computer, opened Mac Mail and within seconds, hundreds of failed delivery messages started pouring into my inbox.

It appeared that somehow one of my Cheriton House Publishing email addresses had been hacked and the hacker had set up my account to send out hundreds of spam emails the moment I logged in.

I rang my hosting company, NetRegistry, and I was 24th in the queue. Eventually I got through and the person who answered seemed remarkably unsurprised when I told her what had happened.

She told me to change my email account password, which I did, and I asked her to delete all the hundreds of emails that had been sent out at 8.39 am when I logged on, and she said she would, because although most of them had failed to deliver (I only have a small quota on my account as to how many emails can be sent in a day) they were still set up to be sent later, so I wanted them gone.

I then checked my computer and found nothing suspicious on it, but I still took it to the Apple store to be checked for malware, which is where it still is at the moment. Luckily I still have my writing computer (my Mac Book Air) which I'm using now to write this blog post, and my blog is 100% online so I can access it from any computer.

When I got home from dropping off my computer, my husband Dean and I used his computer to look online at my cheritonhousepublishing.com website files (he has Adobe Dreamweaver on his computer which he uses to update some of my websites for me). And sure enough we found a suspicious folder called .well-known. I've never had a file or folder on any of my websites by that name. In fact I have none that start with a dot. So we deleted that folder and all its contents, whatever that might have been.

Interestingly enough, when I went to the Apple store, the guy there told me that it was unlikely that my computer had been compromised with malware because Mac computers are so safe and it's unusual for anyone to get their computer infected.

He said it was more likely that Netregistry had been compromised which would explain why the person I had spoken to on the phone earlier seemed so unsurprised when I said my account and been hacked and she just walked me through the process of changing my password and updating my email settings. She's probably been going through that same process with the other 23 people ahead of me in the unusually long queue.

I have since looked at NetRegistry's Twitter account and they knew about the email spamming last week and didn't tell me (or anyone else). And it says that because of all the spamming, 12 of their servers, so far, have been blacklisted which means that no one can send or receive email from their website accounts. They also advise customers to subscribe to email updates. HILARIOUS considering customers can't send or receive emails. Some also had commented that their sites are offline too and have been for several days.

This is why Cheriton House Publishing is the last account I have with NetRegistry. This company has been getting worse every year day so I've slowly been moving my websites to different companies. I was going to leave this last one till the end of it's hosting account, which expires in April 2020, but I think I'll move it sooner rather than later.

If you've received a spam email from CHP today, it wasn't me. I've done everything I can to stop these emails from being sent. It's NetRegistry that is failing everyone and letting their servers become so compromised that they've been blacklisted.

Just remember that Cheriton House Publishing is NOT a spammer.

If the site is still up, you can go and look at all the books available to help you write more and earn more.

Plus there are plenty of free ebooks for you to download.

Although... maybe now is not the best time to download anything from a NetRegistry Server.

Only kidding.

My site has a security certificate. :)

https://ruthiswriting.com

Making Money By Osmosis

I've been earning my living from writing for many years now and what always makes me shake my head in despair is the so-called 'high-earning' writers on the internet (you know the ones who have their picture taken sitting outside their mansion that supposedly was paid for with their writing income) who claim that they work only 5 minutes a day and yet earn millions.

I shake my head because so many people fall for that.

Can you earn money from writing in just 5 minutes? Well, yes you can, but it's only from small writing projects like readers' letters in magazines or 'quick tips' type of submissions.

Anyway, the real money comes from bigger projects like writing books.

There are even people who think that reading a book about how to make money from writing will help them, even if they don't do any writing. They seem to think that they can just hold the book and read it once they'll absorb all the knowledge by osmosis and wake up rich.

The truth about being a writer is that it isn't all glitz and glamour.

Au contraire. It's all about sitting on your own for hours at a time and not just writing but planning what you're going to write and how you're going to make money.

That's what my life is like. I go to my desk every day and work for about 3 to 4 hours, sometimes longer. Some days I even go back into my office in the evening and work till late.

I don't socialize much which is fine with me because I find social situations mentally exhausting anyway. And I'd much rather be writing.

To me, working on my own doesn't bother me at all, in fact, I love working this way.

It can be hard sometimes, and it especially was in the beginning when I lacked the self-discipline to sit down and work every day, and there are still odd days when I don't feel like doing anything. But now I'm extremely organized which makes my work easier and faster. And now I wouldn't want to work any other way.

In fact, I consider myself unemployable because it makes me shudder to imagine having to go back to working for someone else for a living, and also because I can't NOT write every day.

And many of the books I've written are all about how you can use my own methods of working so that you too can be living the writer's life, even if it's not glamorous and social.

I can't promise that if you buy my books and follow my advice that you'll be able to earn a living as a writer because I don't know you and I don't know how much effort (if any) you'll put into your writing dream.

But what I can say is that if you do follow my advice, you'll be far ahead of the rest of the would-be writers who think that osmosis is the best way.

Just click the link below and choose where you want to start.


https://www.ruthiswriting.com

New Operating System Woes

Recently, my MacBook Pro computer did a huge system update so that I am now running on Catalina instead of Mojave.

The problem with this is that it was such a big upgrade that not only did it take hours to do, but it also stopped me from using much of my software because it won't run on the new system.

Amongst other things, it's stopped me using Word for Mac and also Adobe Dreamweaver, which is killing me because I use Dreamweaver to create and update my websites.

And this software can't be bought anymore and instead I have to buy a monthly license to use it, which is going to run out quite expensive because I not only need the web designing software, but I also want quite a few other Adobe programs so that I can work with documents and be able to create book covers.

I have someone who designs the front covers, but I need to be able to create paperback covers that have a front, back, and spine, which is work that my husband does for me. He takes care of all the technical things like that and deals with the actual book publishing as well.

So I now find myself in the position of having articles waiting to go on my website but not being able to format and upload them.

And to make matters worse, I've also had to change my home internet because I was still running on ADSL instead of the NBN network, and the change has finally been forced because they are shutting down the ADSL soon. So this has been another annoying and time-consuming thing that I've had to deal with.

So far it's been several months of interruptions.

First of all, I came down with the flu three months ago and I coughed so hard I cracked/broke a rib which was extremely painful and I could hardly move for weeks. Then once that was over I got a head cold and now I've also had to change my internet, update my computer and lost use of much of my software in the process.

And now one of my hosting companies, Netregistry, has once again taken an unauthorized payment from my credit card, which is only one of the underhand things they've done to me recently, so now I'm moving my accounts to another company.

I'm so sick of dealing with one setback after another.

Sometimes it all feels like a personal attack.

But I'm getting through it now, thank goodness.

And I can't help but think that it's all happening at once because better things are on the way.

But if you have noticed the lack of updates and new articles on my writing website at https://ruthiswriting.com, it's all because of my lack of website software and Netregistry causing me more problems. And when I look online at the huge amounts of complaints against this company, it's no surprise that I'm having problems with them too.

However, all is not lost and soon, when I've made up my mind as to which software I'm going to subscribe to, I'll be back at full speed of writing and earning money.

The good news is that I'm currently writing my next book which will help you do more, achieve more and live the life you were meant to, instead of sitting back, letting things happen and wasting your time reacting to it all.

It's aimed at making you more confident, less needy and a thousand times more productive and happy.

Stay tuned...


Grab a Book, Start Writing, And Make More Money Than Ever Before
https://ruthiswriting.com/make-money.html

Have I Ever Read Anything You’ve Written?

People can be really mean, especially those closest to you like friends and family.

I come across a lot of jealousy when I tell people that I’m a writer. They either don’t want to talk about it and quickly change the subject (which is most of the time), or they ask questions like, “What do you write?” To which I usually say, “Oh lots of different things,” and they say, “Like what?"

I usually respond with, “I write words.” I mean, what am I going to say? I earn money from my writing in so many different ways that explaining to them what I do would take time.

Then they ask the really stupid question. “Have I Ever Read Anything You’ve Written?”

Please, people! Come on! How on earth could I know every single thing you’ve ever read in your life?

Often I just tell people to Google me if they want to know more.

I usually stay away from other people as much as I can because they take up too much of my valuable time.

Just as an example of how much I stay away, last week, my husband and I had to walk into town to buy a few things. Instead of walking up and down the main street where we usually run into people we know, we went via a side street, straight into the shop we needed, and came back up an alley and through a field, just to avoid having to speak to anyone.

Does that make me anti-social? Probably.

But if I were a famous writer, I’d avoid people anyway.

And that’s that best way to make it to the top is to act like it’s already happened.

If you want to be a millionaire author, act like you already are one. So instead of wasting time hanging around the proverbial water cooler and gossiping, or wasting time on anti-social media (it’s never social, IMHO), write more books instead. That’s what best-selling authors do.

Remember that people will always treat you the way you allow them to.

So get charisma and poise and don’t let others look down on you.

Stick to your writing mission no matter what.

I did it, even when others thought I was mad and told me I was wasting my time doing writing courses and locking myself indoors writing and submitting articles and short stories to magazines.

But ha-ha to them because it worked. And now they don’t want to discuss it.

I recently read a book that really helped me with all this too and made me realise more than ever that I was right, right, right, to ignore everyone and stick to my mission.



Persuasion Secrets of the World's Most Charismatic & Influential Villains
A short but extremely insightful little book that helps you to do more and to care less.
This little book can be read in less than an hour, but you’ll want to read it again and again.
http://viewbook.at/villains

Be Brief and Move On

The best thing you can do in life is to know exactly what you want and go after it.

A major problem with this is that other people will not want you to do it. They don’t want you to change or to be successful.

People are like crabs in a bucket. As soon as one of them manages to reach the top and try and climb out, the others will pull it back in again. And this is what people do if you try and move away from them (physically or mentally). They’ll try and pull you back down to their level.

It even happens to me all the time. I’ve been a writer now for almost 20 years and it’s how I earn my living. Yet my family won’t even discuss it with me and if I bring it up they’ll change the subject. Not even my own mother knows about my published books and she doesn’t want to.

Being a writer doesn’t give me much to say about what I do every day anyway, because it’s a silent and solitary way to earn a living. I sit alone most of the time.

My kids on the other hand love that I’m a writer and read my books, but no one else in my family does.

So make it your mission to go after what is important in your life. Put it first as much as you can, no matter what anyone else tries to say or how much they try and stop you.

If I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t be the successful writer I am today.


Persuasion Secrets of the World's Most Charismatic & Influential Villains
A short but extremely insightful little book that helps you to do more and to care less.
This little book can be read in less than an hour, but you’ll want to read it again and again.
http://viewbook.at/villains

Getting More Writing Time Than I Wanted...OR...Be Careful What You Wish For

A couple of weeks ago I announced that I'd been not doing much writing lately... well none really, but that I was finally getting back into writing regularly.

And I kept telling myself that I needed to get more time with my backside firmly planted in my writing chair and that until I spent enough time writing, I wasn't going to get much done.

So I kept doing that visualization thing where you picture yourself in your mind doing what you wish you were doing.

And guess what?

It worked. Just not in the way that I wanted it to. Not at all.

You see, last month I was suffering from some kind of flu virus and I ended up with the worst cough I've ever had. It went on for over 2 weeks and I was coughing really hard, day and night. In fact, I was coughing and coughing until I choked.

And it really started to hurt my back and my sides which gave me trouble sleeping too, once my cough subsided so that I could sleep. But eventually the pain went away, except for my left side where it continued to hurt and I started to think I'd pulled a muscle or something.

And then last week we had a spell of really warm weather, so my husband and I decided to open the PVC blinds on our verandah. He clicked the spring on the right that was holding down each blind and I clicked the one of the left and then we lifted them one by one. Until we got to the third one...

I bent down to click in the spring and SNAP! I felt a searing pain in my left side and felt something grinding inside.

It was awful and it rendered me hardly able to move. I spent the rest of the day laid up in bed, taking copious amounts of pain killers. The next day it was no better so I went to the doctor and guess what? I'd cracked a rib.

So now it's been nearly a week and I'm still laid up in bed, but at least the pain isn't as bad as it was. At first it hurt all the time no matter what I did. But now it stops hurting if I sit still. And I've gotten used to the painkillers so they don't knock me out and make me sleep all day anymore, like they did for the first few days that I took them.

So you see what happened? I wished for more time to write and now I've got all day every day. Only it's not what I wanted at all. In fact, I have even more waking hours in every day now because I'm lacking exercise so I'm not tired at night so I'm up late all the time. Well, I say up, but I'm actually in bed the whole time.

So the lesson from this is, be careful what you wish for.

On the upside, it gives me plenty of time to pursue my Laptop Lifestyle.

Why Ruth Is NOT Writing

It seems that it's been well over a month since I last wrote an article or blog post or published anything online. And the irony of this hasn't escaped my notice that my website is called "Ruth Is Writing."

Yet for about 6 weeks now I haven't been writing at all.

I did update and re-publish my latest book, Living the Laptop Lifestyle, but that is about all.

I haven't even done any journalling or writing in my notebooks, which is usually something that I do often.

I could blame my lack of writing on visiting relatives who came to stay or the fact that I've had some kind of flu virus for the past 3 weeks, but that still doesn't explain it, even though both did happen.

And the truth is that I can't explain it at all. I have absolutely no idea why I took an unexpected break from writing.

I feel as though I've been busy and rushed off my feet for the last few weeks, and yet I couldn't even tell you what I've been doing.

I know it has been quite cold here recently (it's still winter in Australia) and I did have family come to stay and I have been quite ill and I have had a short break in the city, and I have done a lot of cooking and canning food and I've caught up with quite a few household chores... but not writing at all is just something that I've never done before.

But now it has to stop. In fact, it has stopped. Last night I was sat making notes in one of my notebooks and came up with lots of ideas for my writing. I also subscribed to Writing Magazine to give me inspiration and to provide writing markets and writing competitions.

I even went to the library and had a read through the Writers and Artists Year Book, but it didn't inspire me. In fact, I was surprised at how few markets that book contains now. It used to be full of writing markets accompanied by articles about writing. Now it seems to be a book of articles about writing accompanied by a few writing markets. My how things have changed.

But I do plan on spending more time in the library. It used to be one of my favourite hangouts, but somehow I've gotten in the habit of not going there anymore at all.

So although I don't know why Ruth is not writing anymore, I do know that she has begun again by writing this blog post, making written writing plans, and subscribing to a writing magazine.

And I have to say that it feels good to be back. I also have an epic and inspirational article planned for my writing website so I'll be working on that next. I also have a couple of free writing competitions that I'll be letting you know about real soon too.

There will be much more than that to come too now that my bum is back in my writing chair and my fingers are once again on my keyboard.

In the meantime, find more ways to make money from your own writing AND download free writing ebooks at https://ruthiswriting.com.

Why You’re Not Doing Enough Writing

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my current lack of writing and what to do about it.

I know that the last couple of years have been emotional for me as well as busy. Emotional with family deaths and busy with house renovations and having people come to stay at our place.

But now things have calmed down and I realise that I haven’t been writing much. In fact, throughout the last couple of years I’ve done very little writing, although I was quite busy for a while changing how I publish my books, which are now all available as paperbacks and digital books and available at all book stores and libraries all over the world, and through several different companies including Amazon and Kobo. It was a long haul of designing book covers, new formatting and updating, but it’s been worth it.

You can see more about it at https://ruthiswriting.com

Anyway, I was thinking about how to change my situation so that I get myself back into the habit of writing every day, because, to be honest, I’ve got so far out of my usual writing routine that it feels like it’s gone for good.

But I realised that it’s not impossible to get back to writing a lot and earning more money, because as well as my lack of writing, it’s also naturally affected my writing income, which is something I REALLY need to do something about because mine is the only income in the family since my husband retired early.

So while I’ve still been calling myself a writer, I haven’t actually been doing that much writing. This means that being a writer is more like my ideal life, rather than my actual life.

But what it all comes down to is that I need to spend more time with my butt firmly planted in my writing chair because this is what produces more writing and more writing income.

And it’s the same for you too. If you’re not writing enough, it’s because you’re not applying enough backside to your writing chair. Or it could be that being a writer is still only your ideal because you haven’t done anything to turn it into your reality.

Either way, it still comes down to getting more writing done.

And the only way to change that is to sit and write.

So if you want to get more writing done, make writing your priority. Make it your mission in life to be a writer and put your mission first.

And if you don’t know what to write once you sit down, read my article on what to write when you don’t know what to write about.

https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2019/what-to-write.html

Or get a journal and when you sit down, pick up your pen and write about whatever is on your mind.

It works for me every time.

Journalling is a great way to start writing fast. And it helps me to come up with so many ideas for my writing.

And to get you started, you can click the link below and buy a wonderful journal AND get a 25% discount just by using my special code.


The Panda Planner Classic - Take 25% Off Today Enter Code LS25

Porno and The "Bitcoin Hacker"

A couple of weeks ago I told you about a few annoying emails I've been receiving, all sent to various email addresses of mine at my different websites, accusing me of watching online porn and saying that if I didn't pay them in Bitcoin, they would send the supposed videos they have of me watching porn to all my family and co-workers.

I thought it rather amusing that they say that they know who my family members are and all my co-workers. That's really funny because like most writers, I work alone. So co-workers???? How stupid.

And as to what I was watching online, well, I don't (or extremely rarely, if ever) watch any online videos at all so chances of having recordings of me watching anything online would be slim to none.

And yesterday, after I finally got my computer back from the repair shop where it's been for almost 2 weeks, I found a dozen more Bitcoin Hacker emails had been sent to me, again, at my different email addresses for my different websites, so it's easy to see these addresses are just being scraped from the internet.

And below is exactly what the email says:

----------------------

This account was hacked! Modify your pswd right away!
You may not know anything about me and you may be definitely wanting to know why you are receiving this electronic message, is it right?
I am ahacker who exploitedyour emailand OSsome time ago.
Do not try to contact me or alternatively try to find me, in fact it's not possible, considering that I directed you a letter from YOUR hacked account.
I installed malware to the adult vids (porn) website and suppose you enjoyed this website to have some fun (you understand what I really mean).
When you have been keeping an eye on video clips, your browser started out to act as a RDP (Remote Control) with a keylogger that gave me permission to access your desktop and webcam.
Afterward, my softwarestoleall information.
You have put passcodes on the sites you visited, I intercepted all of them.
Needless to say, you can modify them, or possibly already changed them.
However it does not matter, my malware updates needed data every time.
What did I do?
I compiled a backup of every your system. Of all the files and contact lists.
I formed a dual-screen videofile. The first part displays the film that you were watching (you've got a good taste, wow...), and the second part displays the video from your webcam.
What actually should you do?
So, in my view, 1000 USD will be a realistic price for our small riddle. You'll make the deposit by bitcoins (if you don't understand this, try to find “how to buy bitcoin” in any search engine).
My bitcoin wallet address:
1Je9xULKJK191a1JV68QuMiPgHJduSpYf6
(It is cAsE sensitive, so just copy and paste it).
Attention:
You have 48 hours in order to make the payment. (I have an unique pixel to this email, and at this point I understand that you've read this email).
To tracethe reading of a letterand the activityinside it, I installeda Facebook pixel. Thanks to them. (The stuff thatis appliedfor the authorities may helpus.)

In the event I fail to get bitcoins, I shall undoubtedly direct your recording to all your contacts, such as relatives, co-workers, and so forth?

--------------------------

And what is really, and I mean REALLY funny (apart from the bad spelling and appalling grammar), is that these emails were sent while my computer was in the Apple repair shop, so if they did find someone watching online porn using my computer, it must have been the tech guys. Ha ha.

And did they find any malware on my computer? Of course not. My computer problem was a major hardware malfunction, not a software issue at all.

Sadly, most of my original computer is gone because they had to replace the screen, the top cover, the keyboard, the trackpad, the logistics board and the battery. So all I really have left is my software and files (that they backed up before they replaced everything) and the bottom cover. Thank goodness I took out an extended warranty because my computer is 2 years and one month old and the original warranty was only for 2 years. So it cost me nothing, except a long wait.

But at least I'm back in the driving seat again with my writing business because I have all my files back.

And during my off-line time, I got plenty of writing and planning done.

Oh, and by the way, now that I have my computer back I can get back to what I was working on. I'm currently in the process of changing all my published PDF ebooks to paperbacks and digital books that will only be available from brick and mortar book stores or online book stores.

So if you want to get them while they're still instantly downloadable PDF ebooks, you better be quick because by the end of March (in one month's time) they'll no longer be available in that format.

But you will be able to buy them, or order them, from any book store or library.

https://ruthiswriting.com

My Computer is Still Being Repaired and Why You Should Care

Last week I posted about my computer suffering the "Black Screen of Death" and that I had to take it in for repair. You can re-read it at https://writeaholic-inspiration.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-black-screen-of-death.html.

Well, sadly, it's still being repaired. It's been seven days since I took it to the Apple store and it's still there.

I rang them this morning and they said that it needs a few spare parts like a new keyboard, trackpad, screen, etc, you know... just a few bits and pieces.

Which means that this past week I've had no access to any of my computer files, no email, and I don't like to use my writing computer to sign into my online accounts so I haven't logged into any of them. I like to keep my writing computer as empty as possible so that it can never be used to access my accounts.

So instead of working online I've been doing quite a bit of off-line writing (except for a couple of posts to my blog) but haven't been able to check my email or check any of my online accounts or upload anything.

But my computer should be back sometime tomorrow so I'll have a lot to catch up on.

But you're probably wondering why you should care.

And it's because what has happened to my computer is a good reminder to keep regular backups of all your work.

I was lucky because I'd backed up my computer the day before it crashed. I usually back it up weekly, or more often if I'm working on a big project like a book, because I've known writers who have lost nearly full manuscripts because they didn't back up their work often enough.

So if you use your computer a lot, make it a habit to back it up regularly. I usually do mine at the end of every week, or every day.

You see, my whole writing and publishing business runs from one computer so I cannot afford to lose it all, or lose even a small part of it.

And that's why computer backups are so, SO important.

I can't afford to lose all my work.

And either can you.

The Black Screen of Death

Last month I wrote a post about how my Mac Book Pro hadn't been working properly and had to go to the Apple store for repairs, so I was offline for a few days while it was done. You can re-read the post at https://writeaholic-inspiration.blogspot.com/2019/01/off-line-and-not-writing.html.

Anyway, my computer hasn't really been the same since, despite the guys at the store telling me that my operating system was corrupted and they had to reinstall it, which they assured me would solve the problem.

But my computer was still acting up intermitently with freezing, not being able to connect to the internet, and then, eventually, yesterday, I got the Black Screen of Death.

What happened was that I was happily using my computer and it was actually behaving well. Then I closed it, had some lunch, opened it again and the keyboard immediately lit up but the screen stayed black.

Nothing to see but a big, black screen.

I Googled the hell out of it (using my iPhone) and followed all the instructions of how to cure it, but nothing happened.

So eventually I had to give in and take it to the computer store where it still lies.

I was also super annoyed because yesterday was an extremely hot and sunny day (36 degrees, or for those not on the metric system, 96.8 degrees) plus it was SO humid that I could feel the sweat trickling down my back as I walked the 15 minute journey and when I got to the shop and took my computer out of my bag, it felt really hot too.

At the moment I'm using my writing computer which is a Mac Book Air. I keep this one separate and it has no automatic logins to my accounts and I don't use email on it either. It's just a plain old computer that I use for typing.

I usually keep it so plain and boring for two reasons. One is so that I'm not distracted by anything on it like emails, and two, because it's the computer I use when I'm away from home, at the park or in the library, and if it ever got stolen, there's nothing personal or private on it. Whenever I write, I save the documents to a flash drive and delete them from this computer.

But sadly, I've had to log in to my blog account to write this post (plus others I'm getting ready to go), but once I've finished, I'll sign out and go back to using it as a glorified Word Processor like I usually do.

And hopefully my main computer will be back again soon.

Thankfully, I'd just done a complete back up of it the day before so at least I know I haven't lost any files.

I back my computer up every few days (or every day if I'm writing a book) and I hope you do too because your hard work can never be replaced once it's lost.

Unlike a computer.

I'm just hoping that my computer's Black Screen of Death isn't as fatal as it sounds.

Email Bitcoin Hacker

Last week I received an email from a supposed hacker who wanted me to send him/her money in Bitcoin... or else!

The "or else" was that if I didn't send them thousands in Bitcoin within 48 hours they would expose my online viewing habits.

They said that they had hacked my online accounts and had recorded me watching hours of online p*rn and if I didn't pay them the money they wanted then they would send the recordings of my online activities to all my contacts and my family.

So I've written about it over at my website and included the whole threatening email in the hopes that it will help anyone else who might receive (or has received) an email like this.

I could tell it was fake straight away because I never watch online p*orn or any other type. That sort of thing does not float my boat at all.

Go over now and read all about it and see the whole sorry email in its entirety.
https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2019/email-hacker.html

Dishonesty Sucks

If there’s one thing that you really need in your writing, it’s honesty.

It’s important to be honest about who you are.

It’s also equally important to be honest about the subject you write about.

I saw a writing course last week about how to write novels quickly. But a fast Google search showed me that the person who wrote the course only had one romance novel (self) published and it didn’t look popular. So she was being dishonest about knowing how to write lots of novels and make lots of money as she was claiming to have done.

It reminded me of an incident that happened a couple of years ago when a driver stopped their car on a blind bend, which caused my daughter to run into the back of them.

The woman whose car she hit was claiming that there was thousands of dollars worth of damage to her car, even though the bump was only a bit of a tow-bar tap and her car looked fine.

She said her rear door was damaged, her bumper bar was split, and that there was interior damage to her car as well, and she went on to provided quotes for all the replacement parts.

We refused to give her any money so she took all three of us to court (my husband and I owned the car our daughter was driving so we got dragged into it too) but because the woman only had quotes for replacement parts and no proof of damage, her case was dismissed. And she was livid. It had cost her a lot of time and hundreds of dollars to bring the case to court. She was so angry that the security guard had to keep her there while we exited the courthouse first and they made sure we were out of sight before she was allowed out.

But her financial loss and humiliation was her own fault for being dishonest.

In life and in business it’s better to be honest because people aren’t stupid, and if they are then you don’t want them as customers.

Just be yourself, be honest in all you so and all you write, and it will help you to write better and earn more money.

http://ruthiswriting.com/books/7day.html

Not Your Mum. Not Your Milk

Last week, after going to the cinema, I was looking around for a good place to eat, and I stumbled across a place called No Moo Burgers.

It was a completely vegan cafe that had a huge range of burgers, so I went in for a healthy meal.

While I was sitting and enjoying my food (which was really delicious) I was looking around the place and noted that they really had a strong brand which was evident in everything around me.

For a start, the place was called No Moo Burgers which immediately told me that their burgers contained nothing from a cow.

The staff were wearing T-shirts which loudly proclaimed, Not Your Mum. Not Your Milk.

And every bit of writing on the menus, the walls and the front of the counter, was all about plant-based food, healthy diets and saving the planet.

They really had a strong brand and knew exactly what they stood for.

And as I ate I thought about how so many writers fail because they don’t know what their brand is.

They ‘wander' aimlessly not knowing what kind of a writer they want to be, so end up not doing much writing.

So what should they do?

The answer is to try a bit of every kind of writing to see what ‘floats their boat.’

If this is you, try it too. Try everything including freelancing, blogging, client work, books, ebooks, fiction, and non-fiction. 

One of them is bound to create a “Hell yeah!” moment.

And once you know what you want to write, just like No Moo Burgers, build your business around your best writing.

https://ruthiswriting.com/links/quickcash.html

Read my latest article about building a strong work ethic at 

https://ruthiswriting.com/articles/2019/freddy-mercury.html

Why I've Been So Slack At Writing

It's now January 2019.

Last year (and the year before that if I'm completely honest) I didn't do much writing at all. At least not compared to how much I usually do.

There were multiple reasons including being continually harassed and threatened with legal action for months on end by Loren Piel, my father being ill for a year and then passing away, the deaths of two other family members, my daughter and her fiance moving and needing our help with setting up their first house, dealing with builders and the huge renovations being done at our house that has been going on for the last 2 years (that only finished less than two weeks ago and we're really not satisfied with their work so they'll have to come back) and my husband taking early retirement two years ago which completely threw my daily/weekly routine into chaos for a while as he settled into his new life at home and as we both tried to deal with builders, electricians, painters, plumbers, architects, engineers and building certifiers.

So, all in all, it's been pretty chaotic around here.

Oh, and another thing, we have a family that has come to rent our apartment/granny-flat downstairs for a couple of months, so we have been preparing that too as it had no furniture or kitchen equipment or anything so we've had to go and buy and organise that at the same time, including making curtains because the windows are odd sizes so we couldn't buy them off-the-shelf.

Anyhoo...as you can imagine, it's all been taking a toll on my time and attention.

Although, through it all, I did manage to publish my latest romance novel, Two Weeks In Corfu, which is now available online and can also be ordered through any bookshop/library because it is sold and distributed by Ingram, which is one of the world's biggest book distribution companies.

But now I feel like I'm finally back in the driver's seat of my time and attention.

And I've been looking at my website stats and it seems that even though I cancelled my email account last year and haven't been sending out any email updates or offers, the number of my website visitors has increased, which is really surprising - and pleasing.

So I've been busy making plans for what I'm going to be working on this year and my plans include several new books that will be available in paperback as well as being ebooks.

Plus I'll be updating my websites regularly and having many more great offers to help you write more and earn more.

I may even restart my email updates to really revamp my writing and publishing efforts.

So watch this space.

And if you don't have plans for this year yet and you don't know how to earn more money from your writing, start with my all-time favourite, Quick Cash Writing, that gets you writing and earning money straight away. I started with this writing course myself.


https://ruthiswriting.com/links/quickcash.html

My Website For Writers is More Popular Than Ever

I've been running a website for writers for well over a decade now.

At first, I had a site that was a bit of a hit and miss with design and content because I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, but it was still popular.

Then I created a better site for writers that was really popular and I received thousands of signups for my newsletter.

Then I sold that website but kept my email list and began a new website for writers which I still have at https://ruthiswriting.com.

But a few months ago I retired my email list to concentrate on my writing more, but as it turned out, I've spent more time working on our house renovations.

It's been a really busy time here with so much to do including buying new furniture and fittings, small renovations jobs we've had to do ourselves, making curtains, and having so many builders here, all with questions when building things don't go according to plan, which it turns out, happens often.

So I've been sucked away with dealing with everything going on here including having a family member in hospital for a few weeks and my husband having shingles.

But through it all I've still been writing (but not as much as I've wanted to), sorting out a new distribution channel for my books, and also keeping an eye on my websites.

And what I found that was surprising is that my RuthIsWriting.com website has become more popular than ever with far more page views than ever before.

I had thought about retiring that website but now I'm having second thoughts.

So what I'm going to do is revive it in the New Year and write regular writing articles and also allow guest articles from other great writers.

I may even start another email list so that everyone can follow what I'm doing and learn even more ways to earn money from writing.

So watch this space.

I'm also going to be revamping and improving all my books and ebooks for writers which means they will be bigger and more expensive than they are now. So if you want to take advantage of their current low prices, you'd better act now.

And if you do, you can use them to help you earn more money from your writing than ever before.


http://ruthiswriting.com/make-money.html

Book Review: Abundance Now: Amplify Your life and Achieve Prosperity Today

I recently read the book "Abundance Now: Amplify Your life and Achieve Prosperity Today" by Lisa Nichols & Janet Switzer

Did I like it?

Not one bit.

Usually, I don't write a negative review of a book. If I don't like it I  just don't say anything.

But this time I thought it was worth giving my opinion of it to warn others because I felt like this book wasn't what it was supposed to be.

I've heard the author, Lisa Nichols, on 'The Secret' (I have the audio version) several years ago so I was intrigued to read a book of hers when I saw it.

Sadly, I wish I hadn't bothered.

This is how my review starts:

"I borrowed this book from my local library and all I can say is, thank goodness I didn't buy it because it would have been a complete waste of money."

You can read the rest at https://ruthiswriting.com/reviews/abundance.html.

I read a lot of books but this one was one of the most disappointing.

I hope you have better luck with whatever book you're currently reading.

I've just started reading Psyco Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. I'm only a few pages into it but already it's got me intrigued and I can't wait to read more.

How I Listen to Ebooks and Articles

Sometimes I come across long articles and ebooks that I want to read but I don't have time.

So I listen to them instead when I'm doing other things like cleaning or weeding (both of which are dull and tedious) or cleaning the car.

If it's an ebook, I open it on my Kindle App on my iPhone. Then I swipe two fingers down the screen from the top and SIRI starts reading it to me. The pages also turn automatically too.

If it's an online article, I open it on my iPhone browser, choose "reader" mode from the URL from the menu (the little horizontal lines that appear in front of the URL when you hover over it) to get rid of all the clutter on the page, like ads and banners, and then I do the two-finger downward swipe from the top of the screen and SIRI's voice kicks in again.

If I'm on my Mac Book Pro computer, I use the speech option from the top menu which is in the drop-down list under "Edit."

I learn a lot from listening to ebooks and articles plus, being engrossed in what I'm listening to always helps me glide through boring chores. Not only that but sometimes I do extra chores just so that I can finish what I'm listening to.

If I like what I hear I often go back and read it later and take notes when I get time.

And it always ends up as a win-win situation because chores get done while I'm entertained and I learn something all at the same time.

---------------

Grammarly. The free writing app.
http://ruthiswriting.com/links/grammarly.html

I'm a Slacker Not a Writer

You may have noticed recently that I've not published anything online.

Nada. Nothing.

Not even social media posts.

Not only have I not published anything in over a week, but I haven't written anything either.

I feel like such a slacker.

But next week will be different.

Next week I'll get my butt back in my chair and do some work.

The reason I've been so slack about writing and publishing lately is that my beautiful friend and constant companion died last Friday.

My beloved 12-year-old greyhound, Banjo, had to be euthanised after the painful injuries from his previous racing days became so great that even his strong medications weren't helping anymore and they were also starting to make him really ill.

So it was a painful decision to put an end to his suffering, but it had to be done.

My husband and I then immediately booked a hotel and took off to the city for a couple of days.

But then we had to return on Monday morning and face our empty house and remove all Banjo's belongings, including his six big dog beds (how did he ever get so many beds?).

Banjo was a 'velcro' dog because he was always by my side and never wanted to be left alone. Wherever I was, Banjo was right there with me, even laying so close to my desk chair that his head touched the wheels so I always had to look down before I moved it even an inch.

I've cried a river and an ocean recently and I'm hoping that time will work its healing on me.

I kept telling myself that if I got lost in some writing, it would make me feel better. But with the absence of a greyhound head on my chair wheels, it feels too lonely.

Today, however, I'm back at my computer, albeit, that I'm sitting at my dining table in the main part of the house and not in my office in the back annexe room (yet).

But progress is progress.

And I've found that writing is somewhat therapeutic after all.

So next week I'll get back in my usual chair and write.

I've already been going over a few things today and I have some really great writing and publishing resources I want to share with you.

So keep an eye out in your inbox because I'm going to tell you about how you earn a substantial income and keep 100% of the profits from selling ebooks and digital training courses.

And how you can have your own ebooks to sell even if you don't feel like writing.

In the meantime, here are some recent photos.

Banjo "cockroaching" in the warm winter sun.

Dean sharing food with Banjo
and our daughter's little dog, Marcy.

The flowers received from the vets, currently
sitting where Banjo used to.
(in a cereal box because I don't have a vase)

And if you want a laugh, here's a photo of our hotel room door with a sign next to it that clearly should have been on the other side of the door. :)