Froggy Went A'Courtin…

So I was finally getting into the swing of things with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which means I was destined to get a head cold. Needless to say, things have been coming out somewhat garbled (garbled typing out as warbled, for instance). At least my voice came back a little bit today, so I was able to get some work done. I did wind up having to correct a few things… Okay, a lot of things, but it was worth it. However, thanks to this head cold and my need to speak a lot, I think I may peeing pure ginger ale now.

Ew.

Next week I'll be at the Lori Foster Reader Author Get-Together in Cincinnati, Ohio. For everyone who's registered to be there, I look forward to seeing you. Hopefully by then I'll sound a little less like someone who's looking for to the fruit fly bar and more like a human being.

Ribbit.

Dragon Speaking, Naturally

So it's been almost a month since I last posted, mostly due to an arthritis flare up that kept me from doing any writing, let alone a blog post, for more than two months. On Dusty's advice (and constant nagging— hey, he wants the stories is much as you guys do), I finally broke down and bit the bullet.

I bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

It's an interesting learning curve, trying to work out loud instead of just in my head.I can play my music on my headphones and it doesn't seem to interfere, which is good as I can't work without my music. But it's still weird to hear myself talking and watching it typed out on the screen. And it doesn't always get it right. For instance, every time I say the word shit it changes it to ship or shipped. And the F word winds up flocked and flopped.

I think I got the Disney version by accident.

And to write but the kids are home has been an exercise in patience. The little one keeps walking up to my microphone and yelling "HELLOOOO!" He keeps watching the screen hoping it will type that, and then I wind up yelling at him. What I'm yelling winds up typed out on the screen.

I never realized before how much I sound like my mother. Thank you for showing me that, Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

The good news is, I've had it for about a week and it seems to be catching on to how I talk,South Philly accent and all. Now all I have to do is figure out where I can write love scenes over the summer were my kids won't hear me. That should be a brand-new adventure.

Hopefully I won't be quite so quiet now that I've picked this up. After all, Italians love to talk. (I wonder if it can interpret hand gestures?)