Culture

What Happens When a Romance Writer Gets Locked Out of Google Docs

In March, an aspiring author got a troubling message: All of her works in progress were no longer accessible. What happened next is every writer’s worst fear.
Collage with two hands from a painting holding a quill writing on an empty paper. Multiple locks seen in the background.
PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: ANJALI NAIR; GETTY IMAGES

On the evening of March 24, 2024, writer K. Renee was doing what she often does: curling up on the couch and watching hockey with her husband. It was the Dallas Stars versus the Arizona Coyotes. Renee has followed the Stars her whole life. She was born the season they won the Stanley Cup. As she watched, she got a strange message: a friend texted to say the shared Google folders where Renee kept her works in progress were no longer accessible. Her friend had planned to read and make notes on one of Renee’s stories and was surprised to be locked out.

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