secure

It’s no wonder you don’t feel secure, Charles. I can tell by what you’ve told me that you’re hanging on by just a slender thread. And believe me, given that your editor ruthlessly called your new novel’s first draft banal and trite, that’s understandable. But you don’t need to be fanatical about the discipline you impose upon yourself to get this next book cookin’.

Yes, your first book received rave reviews and critical acclaim. It was a best seller and that’s got to be a tough act to follow. But let me remind you that, when you wrote your first book, you were a federal prisoner locked behind bars in a fortress for a crime you didn’t commit. It was a compelling story. But, Charles, it’s not necessary for you to now kill your editor so that you can be arrested and locked up again. You don’t need a jail cell as your writing room in order to replicate the writing process you used.

As your therapist, I suggest that you take a break, clear your head, and then come back with a fresh new attitude. Remember, Charles, it’s not where you write, it’s what you write.

Written for Greg’s Five Word Weekly Challenge, where the words are banal, fanatical, fortress, secure, and slender. Image credit: vocal.media.

“We need a better data security strategy to protect the flow of our customers’ data,” Carl, the founder of the small financial consulting company, told his IT guy. “The survival of our company depends upon it.”

“No worries, boss,” Ivan said. “I’ll need about three weeks to lock this place down tighter than a drum. Our clients’ data will be secure.”

****Three Weeks Later****

Carl called Ivan into the conference room to make a presentation to his senior staff. “Can you give us an update on your data security project?” Carl asked.

Ivan turned down the conference room lights, turned on the projector, and opened up a PowerPoint presentation that he projected onto a screen at one end of the room. “Behold!” Ivan said as the image appeared on the screen. BA885AAF-2D3E-47B0-A245-348173B49CBE ”What is that?” one of the attendees asked.

“That, my friends,” Ivan said, “is a depiction of how the new firewall I just finished installing will secure our servers. As you can see, it will protect our clients’ data from even the most malevolent fire-breathing dragon of a hacker who would dare to try to get to our servers.”

Suddenly the image on the screen disappeared and was replaced by this image. 0C0E3FA5-F18E-43D9-891E-99FD24A621D1 “Oops,” Ivan said.

Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (strategy), Ragtag Daily Prompt (flow), Your Daily Word Prompt (behold), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (firewall), and Word of the Day Challenge (dragon).