Hope Fulfilled

So a while ago I bought the Dragon Naturally Speaking program. I must say that I am rather happy with it. In fact I am using it right now to write this post. It has made transferring my handwriting into the computer much quicker.

It does seem to have problems with proper names. Also it messes up when you mean to say "two" instead it comes out "to." But all those problems are not insurmountable. Working with the Naturally Speaking program and a keyboard I am able to write several paragraphs in a matter of minutes.

Where before it would take me hours to get a single page of a handwritten story on to the computer it now only takes me an hour to get three pages. So all in all was a good buy for me.

Better than Socks!

So it has been a little while since my last post. I have a good reason for this. Literally every free moment that I have had has been devoted to writing a story for my sister’s birthday. I was giving up sleep to get it done. I am pleased to report that the story was finished in time. It wasn’t quite publishing quality but it was presentable. I used my mad Macgyver skills and whipped up a rather nice looking book if I do say so my self. It consisted of a three ring binder, pager protectors, stolen art from the internet, my printed text, and a hand drawn cover illustration. Throw in a paper clip and a pocket knife and it will not only ninja kick smugglers but also do your taxes.

All in all this is what the finished product looked like.


Pretty snazzy if you ask me. The nifty blue thing in the back was the wrapping paper. It was in truth a faux leather document case. It came with the coolest lock I've ever seen. So cool I can't describe it. At the bottom was a hand made treasure map which would lead her to the first clue in a set of hidden clues. That's right I wrote a story about Space Pirates (titled originally enough as Space Pirates) and gave it to my sister as a gift, but before she could find it she had to go on a treasure hunt. Get it? Pirates and treasure. I'm sure you got it. Your smart people. I write this over explanatory explanation simply to rub my genius in your face. (Now please note that I am just being silly here. I'm not a genius, I was just trying to joke around. But there I go over explaining again.)

And... in case you wanted a better look at my stellar artwork here it is

Now before you start flooding me with requests for drawings of your own, I feel I should point out that most of what you see above was traced. The only things I drew myself were the octopus, the ball of light, and the big rock dude. But much of the other figures I had to ad lib their poses , and that took no small effort and I don't mind telling you. I also did all the coloring myself. The very astute may notice that I directly ripped off Wobbuffet from Pokemon. I have no apologies and no regrets for this. Now to be honest I had something different in mind when I set out to make a cover. But I don't think that this is that shabby either.

What I am pleased with the most about this whole endeavor was my sister's reaction. I was hoping for her to either cry tears of joy or jump up and down screaming with excitement. She did both. That right there is part of the reason why I write.

I learned a lot of things from all this. There are many things I need to work on. Getting this story done helped me realize what they are. But lessons learned are the subject of another post on another day. For now I wish to simply bask in the warm glow of accomplishment.

Keep Writing.