Here’s a fun story for you. I’ve mentioned before that I use dictation to help write my books. It saves the wear and tear on my wrists, and I quite enjoy having a variety of ways to work on creating stories. I dictate, then read through on my ereader and make notes. I do adjusts and polish in Word, and I have all sorts of tricks that I use at different times and places to keep things rolling smoothly.
And they all work…until they don’t.
For example, when a spelling attempt fails, and not even Word can figure out what I mean, I hop onto Google and try typing it there. Google seems to understand my typo-laden attempts the best of any spelling helper.
Dictating helps solve some of those problems. In A SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS WISH, you’ll meet a new friend to the community, Yvette. <==it’s a simple enough name, but I type it wrong at least 50% of the time. Dictating? Her name is perfect right from the start. I love that.
Yes, my Dragon Dictate program, who I affectionately call Duckie, is a huge help.
But not even Duckie can help when I simply stall out and can’t think of the right word.
I’ve never been one who fights to pick complicated words over simple ones. I feel as if descriptions can be very vivid without being excessively florid. But when I was writing the cookie baking scene in Hanna’s kitchen, where Brooke and the little girls Crissy and Talia are getting ready to make sweet treats—I came to an absolute stall.
I couldn’t remember what the things were called that you hang around your neck, tie around your waist, and use to protect your clothing. I was in mid-sentence and simply could not go on. Short of actually saying “the thing you hang around your neck and etc. etc.,” which I didn’t want to do, my mind was blank.
So, I improvised. I didn’t want to stop the story from developing, so I did the next best thing and used another description. I figured I’d fix it later.
Which is how the phrase “cooking vest” ended up in the first draft of the book. Three times in one paragraph.
It’s not there anymore, but now every time I see the word “apron”, I laugh a little.
I hope you enjoy Brooke and Mack’s trip to forever, full of cooking vests, hotwired classic-snowplows, and slippers.
Pre-Order your copy today!
US Booksellers:
