Siri, my not-so-silent partner

It seems that there are literally thousands of tiny jobs that need to be completed before a novel is standing proud on the shelf or humming on an electron in cyberspace. When I started this journey, I imagined a light stroll through my furtive imagination, a gentle meander through the thoughts and ideas that had been walled up in my brain for so long. But, it seems, that writing down one’s thoughts is just the tip of the iceberg. I could list many that come to mind but that would be tedium itself. What I did discover was how little I knew about the written word, punctuation, structure, design and my total lack of knowledge about how a book, both physical and digital, is assembled. All of these barriers I have had to overcome, not withstanding, my battle with dyslexia. Strangely, I discovered a new partner in this battle: Siri, the digital assistant. There came a day, like many before, when even the spell-checker had given up on my attempt to spell a word. In my fury, I cast around for a solution. While shaking my clenched fist at a cruel world, I had the bright idea to shout at my computer. With a presence of mind that I found quite shocking, I asked Siri how the hell this word was spelt. Low and behold, the dulcet tones of the computer assistant spelt out the word for me - freedom! Well, almost nothing is perfect and I am still reduced to talking in a myriad of accents to try and get Siri to understand certain words. It does, however, make the day considerably more fun than just shouting at the world in general and no-one answering back.