By Malia Mallory
Yes,
it's true. I have found a new love. Believe it or not, it's voice recognition
software. Years ago, I purchased voice recognition software and I attempted to
use it. It didn't seem to do that great a job and I was disappointed. I'm a
fast typist and the software made so many errors that it just wasn't worth my
while.
Recently
on one of the writing forums I follow, several writers were raving about voice
recognition software. I read the information and wondered if the software had
improved but I didn't really take any action or investigate.
Six
weeks ago, I was blessed with the birth of a new child. When that happened,
writing came to an absolute standstill. Despite Herculean efforts, I could not
get any work done.
One
night about 3:00 AM as I was feeding my daughter, that thread on voice
recognition crossed my mind. I was desperate. I went back and reread that
everyone had said. I was determined to try it.
I
dug out a combination headphone/microphone set and decided to start with the
Windows built-in voice recognition. I had absolutely no luck. The operating
system did not recognize my microphone in the standard microphone jack. A few
days went by and it occurred to me maybe I needed a USB microphone. I didn't
think I had one and I didn't want to buy one. Unbeknownst to me, I'd did have
one. I had the microphone from Guitar Hero; it is a USB microphone. I dug it
out and plugged it in. Guess what? It works. In fact, I'm using it right now.
I
went to the tutorial and was pleasantly surprised at the level of control you
could exercise with voice recognition. It went way beyond dictation. Believe me,
you cannot help but feel productive if you can feed an infant or fold diapers
while simultaneously dictating a blog post, scanning a web page and responding
to e-mail.
A
few things that I want to do have not worked out. Nevertheless, I am so
confident in my newfound skill that I ordered some software and a new USB headset.
Am
I getting more writing done? Yes and
no. I do find I need concentrated times
to do real writing, that is to say, fiction. However, I can get a lot of business
and personal work done while doing other things. In the last few days, I have
finally gotten letters out that have needed to be written for weeks (if not
longer). I have managed to catch up on some e-mail correspondence. These are
things that were becoming increasingly urgent and when I had to do them, it
took away from writing time. My hope is over the long term, dedicated writing
time can be used for fiction writing and that my promotion and personal things
can be knocked out while I'm doing things around the house.
I
think this will be a huge boon to my productivity. What has been successful for
you when trying to increase your productivity?
Malia Mallory is the author of The ABCs of Erotica
series, which includes so far A is for Anal, B is for Beach, C
is for C*ck Ring D is for Domination, and now, R is for Revenge.
The ABCs of Erotica covers the erotic spectrum from BDSM to ménage and
everything in between. More releases in the series are on the way. She has also
released Mia's Cop Craving and Santa's Backdoor Baby. She has hit
the bestselling erotica lists at both Amazon and iTunes. Her books are
available in electronic format at major retailers like Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, iTunes and AllRomance Books.
For a free copy of B is for Beach from The ABCs of
Erotica, head to her website and sign up for the newsletter at http://www.maliamallory.com/Join_My_Mailing_List.php.
Connect with Malia Mallory
*****
Buy Links
Amazon Author Page - http://amzn.to/xpbkfg
Barnes & Noble - http://bit.ly/xPUUJe
iTunes - http://bit.ly/Avk7oK
Smashwords - http://bit.ly/AsvNJN
All Romance - http://bit.ly/ACe7k2
Sony - http://bit.ly/zTYnsL
Kobo - http://bit.ly/yKpgWY
Diesel - http://bit.ly/xF6r3g
***
Excerpt from Mia's
Cop Craving
He brushed her
lips with his. "Mmmm, you'd better point me to a flat surface."
Her hand fluttered
in the direction of the hallway and she gasped as he swept his arm under her
knees and picked her up. His legs covered the distance quickly, and it barely
seemed a blink before they were in her bedroom.
Lights from the
street bathed the room in a slight glow and Rogan laid her on the coverlet. He
smoothed her hair back from her face and climbed onto the mattress beside her.
"Mia,"
he whispered, “tell me what happens in your fantasy."
3 comments:
Thank you so much for hosting me!
Hi Malia,
I've tried the voice software on Windows but was frustrated because it didn't do well with my New Zealand accent.
I find I'm more productive if I leave the house and go to a cafe. Probably not an option with a baby in tow!
Hi Malia. Thanks for being my guest and congratulations on the new addition to the family!
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