A Cry of Hounds (Ackley-McPhail, ed)

A Cry of Hounds
by Danielle Ackley-McPhail (2024)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

A Cry of Hounds was a Kickstarter book, published by eSpec Books and edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, who also edited my book, In A Flash 2020 and the upcoming A Bucket Full of Moonlight.

A quick check of the Internet says that the paperback hasn't been released yet. However, this book was created in conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, which took place a couple of months ago.

The stories in this volume are steampunk or have a steampunk feel to them. And while they are not Sherlock Holmes stories, they are meant to evoke Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And, of course, they needed to have a dog in them. That dog could be Cerberus, a giant puppy, a construct, or any mythological creature. And the fact that they don't repeat is a testament to the editor. (Note: I mean it -- I'm not kissing up.)

A couple of the stories feel like they are the "continuing adventures" of the characters contained within, but Keith R. A. DeCandido fooled me by using other Doyle characters and setting this adventure immediately after the events of one that Doyle published a century ago. (And I only know this because I was at a reading at the eSpec Book Launch party at Heliosphere, in Piscataway, NJ.)

The stories include "The Curse of the Baskervilles" by Arthur Conan Doyle (an excerpt from the novel "The Hound of the Baskervilles"), "The Night of the Howling Wind", by Ef Deal, "The Adventure of the Exploding Airship" by John L. French, "A Grecian Pawse" by Doc Coleman, "The Vampire of Rannoch Moor", by David Lee Summers, "Amber Waves of Bane" by Dana Fraedrich, "Weighed and Measured" by Bill Bodden, "Progenitor" by Keith R.A. DeCandido, "Ember Eyes" by Jessica Lucci, "The Houndstooth Affair" by Aaron Rosenberg, "A Glimpse of Death" by James Chambers, "They Who Have Lost Their Way" by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, and "Sherlock Holmes and the Stonyhurst Terror" by Christopher D. Abbott.

This is one of those times when I wish I'd been on the ball about recording my reading. I finished this book back in May, but with the end of school and real life events, this blog (and my others) took a back seat.

To highlight a few of them: Ef Deal sets the stage with "The Night of the Howling Wind" which takes place in Ireland during a historic windstorm (really, it happened) and involves werewolves and murder. "The Exploding Airship" is a "Hope and Gracie mystery" dealing with an automated plane that exploded over the banks of the Thames (bonus points for naming the airships Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace.) "The Houndstooth Affair" takes place in New York City, specifically involving the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a clockwork songbird built by Cartier. And "Sherlock Holmes and the Stonyhurst Terror" unravels the mystery of a Yeth Hound, which given that this story employed Holmes and Watson, you knew that it would have a rational explanation but you still had to wonder what it was.

An enjoyable read. Recommended. Again, for anyone who stumbled upon this blog -- it isn't private, but I don't actively publicize it -- I've written for eSpec Books and I've participated in many of their Kickstarter campaigns, so I own a lot of their books (and bonus stories), and they are a large part of my digital TBR pile.

The Fox's Fire (McPhail)

The Fox's Fire:
And Other Fantastic Tales
Danielle Ackley-McPhail (2021)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This is another eSpec Books book, of which I have many, thanks to a number of Kickstarters and lots of bonuses and freebies.

Note: Danielle Ackley-McPhail was the editor of my collection, In A Flash 2020, and one of the editors of Devilish & Divine, which contains three of my stories. And, finally, my name appears in the back of the book along with the names of other kickstarter contributors who helped make this book happen.

I read this a couple of books ago, so forgive me if some thoughts have already fled.

There are eight stories contained within: The Fox's Fire, The Promise of Death, The Devil in the Details, A Moment Out of Time, Forever and a Day, Crossroads and Curses, Mis En Place, and Mama Bear. They cover a wide expanse of fantasy.

Favorites include the title story, which finds a Japanese kitsune encountering Native Americans; Mis En Place, about a restaurant where everything is in its place; and Mama Bear, which is a tale of the Wild Hunt.

An enjoyable book, which I wish I hadn't waited so long to write up. Unfortunately, the real world intrudes and blogs take a backseat.

The Literary Handyman: More Tips from the Handyman (Ackley-McPhail)

The Literary Handyman: More Tips from the Handyman by Danielle Ackley-McPhail (2021)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Why would a published author need more tips on writing? Honestly, I don't remember if I got this one free in a Kickstarter campaign, or if I bought it extra. But the advice is worth the price.

Disclaimer: Danielle Ackley-McPhail is the editor of my book In A Flash 2020 and is the publisher of eSpec Books, which published my book.

Amsuing anecdote: This past weekend, I was at Philcon in Cherry Hill, NJ (across the river from Philadelphia). I did show her that I was reading her book. It had been in my kindle app for a while. While I was there, I mentioned a story of mine that a mutual acquaitance had read as the assistant editor of a magazine. She sent me an email saying she liked it and was passing it to the editor for review. In the end, unfortunately, the editor didn't agree, and I didn't make the cut. But I when I discovered that she (the one who liked it) was at a con, I introduced myself and thanked her for the kind words. She actually seemed to remember the story from a comment she'd made. (That had been six months earlier, at least.) Anyway, Danielle told me to send her the story. They (that is, eSpec) is planning their next anthology, whatever it may be. When I got home from the weekend trip, I did just that.

The next day, I'm reading about shooting yourself in the foot by not doing everything you can to help yourself and your manuscript, and to not give the editor an excuse to reject your manuscript without reading it. (They get a lot, and sometimes they're overwhelmed.) One of her pet peeves were when authors leave out the personal information on the top of the first page. Sometimes authors she's friends with and has worked with before are guilty of this, too, not just newbies.

When I got home from work, I updated the file to include that information, and resent it. I later realized that I don't know if I included page numbers or not. I usually don't. I think I turned them off when one editor mentioned it in their guideines, and I don't think I ever put them back on again. It's something that was obvious when I was typing manuscripts, as opposed to using a word processor.

Anyway, rookie mistakes like this are good reasons to reason "how to" books occasionally, just to make sure you're still doing what you should be doing.

Ackley-McPhail includes numerous examples of what she's talking about, both from her own works and new entries created for this text.

A great guide. I reccomend both editions.

She also has one for book publishing, but I'm not "there" yet. And I would really only be interested in electronic publishing, not print copies, first because print would take even more of an investment, and I would more likely be aiming for the Kindle Unlimited audience if I went that way.

A Bushel of eSpec stories

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I've particpated in a bunch of Kickstarters over the past few years. As a result, I wind up with not only a bunch of books to read, but bonus stories and gaming pdfs as nice little extras. These get sorted into folders on my hard drive. So I decided to knock off a few of them while I'm between books.

Since my last foray in reading short stories was a "peck" of eSpec, I'll call this one a "bushel", but don't expect four times as many stories, or even four times the length. It'll be until whenever I stop and post it. The batch should all be from eSpec Books bonuses and stretch goals, unless something else sneaks in.

In order that I read them:

Feeding the Mouth that Bites Us by L. Jagi Lamplighter was originally published in Dreams of Decadnece (date?). No spoiler, that mouth belongs to a vampire. The story is told from the perspective of Hannah, the lovestruck victim who despite giving up only a cup of blood every other week to her lover Ambrose, has lost all of her energy of the past year. While out walking by Central Park, she encounters a group of nuns handing out flyers. She reads it later to discover that they have a clinic that specializes in the very collection of symptons which Hannah suffers from and which no doctor has been able to diagnose. This leads her to the Order of St. George's Clinic, where she's finally able to breathe freely, and where she learns more about the nature of vampires. A fun read.

The Wedding Night: a Death and the Crone vignette by Megan Mackie. It's porn. Maybe the kind you'd find on HBO or Netflix, as opposed to other outlets, but that's what I found myself reading. It's literally the wedding night of the subtitular couple, and you're a witness to all the action. There's no plot, or as my editor might point out, no conflict. I assume these two characters, and perhaps this scene itself, were plucked from other works. I haven't read any Mackie that I recall (and this I would recall). Both characters are old and have been married before, but both have a youthfulness about them.

Seeing Red by Danielle Ackley-McPhail was originally published in In All Their Glory (2010). Samantha is a faerie who freezes when you sees the color red, particularly red caps. "Redcaps" are a type of malevolent, murderous goblin found in Border folklore, and they want to murder her. To overcome her hesitation, she organizes a game of capture the flag, using red banners, but soon she has to confront her fears head on.

The Fiber of Being by Jodie Lynn Nye was originally published in Heaven and Hell (2002). Jasper is dead, and Michael and Gabriel given him lessons on being an angel. Raphael shows up at one point, too. The Fiber of being is that piece of humanity that Jasper retains that angels do not have. It's what will allow people to rise higher than angels, who are as they were created. It takes Jasper a while to get the hang of it. (Nye cowrote The Death of Sleep with Anne McCaffrey, which I read quite a while ago.)

Alien Invasion of Earth by Keith R. A. DcCandido, Special eSpec Books Kickstarter Reward Edition (date?). Dr. Phillips P. Phillips, PhD meets with General Blunt at the Pentagon to discuss an unnatural object in space heading toward Earth. What follows is 7 pages of farce or satire, except those are usually funny. (Note: humor is subjective.) It isn't until the middle of the story that we learn that the story takes place during the Eisenhower Administration, which "explains" the use of the word "Negro" earlier. It also become alternate history very soon after this point. Phillips might seem progressive by having a black (Negro) and a female graduate student working for him, who he insists be brought along with him to assist him, but he berates them and treats them poorly to the point of being annoyed that they involved the gerneral about the UFO without telling him (even though they got him to sign the letter they sent). The general later mistakes the two of them (Lamont Johnson and Maria Chen) for an errand boy and a secretary, because, you know, it's the 50s. The one thing that is universal about the story is the higher-ups getting credit (and rewarded) for work of their underlings. I had an Assistant Principal who was quite smugly proud of himself at the bonus he got from his department doing more work.

On Rocky Ground by L. Jagi Lamplighter was originally published in Bad-Ass Faeries (2006). It starts This story is dedicated to the Freeman Children. It features the Prospero brothers, Erasmus and Mephisto, as they scale Monte Musine in the Italian Alps, along with Mab Boreas, who is an Aerie One. (I don't know what the Prospero brothers are, but they've lived a long time.) They are lugging ground giant bones and salamander poo as a payment to the Oreads, who are feminine rock-type creatures. They run into problems with a grumpy gnome. Hilarity ensues.

Reflections of Amontillado by Ty Drago was a special eSpec Kickstarter Rewards edition (????). It starts With respectful apologies to the master. The narrator is Antonio Santino Argestelli Fortunato, a merchant and a student of no art but business, who happens to love wine. He is married to the Lady Fortunato, who doesn't appear in the story. The tale takes place in northern Italy, where he is approached at a carnival by Monstresor, whom in the opening of the story was refer to as a friend and a foul murderer. Monstresor is the last of a family of wine makers as swamp has overtaken his lands and spoiled his vintage, forcing him to sell off land and let go of his servants. He lures Fortunato there with the promise of an Amontillado (which I had no idea what that was, other than a wine of no particular note). From there it plays out like Poe, in a tale I was first exposed to in a Bradbury story, similarly in a House of Ghosts comic (or another series of that ilk), and even in an episode of Dark Shadows. However, this tale doesn't end there.

A Brief Battle for the Throne by Jeffrey Lyman was originally published in Bad-Ass Faeries: In All Their Glory (2011). The story starts in London, 1850, when Lord Broggon of the Hobgoblin Tribe tries to go through the Door to Fairie but something is blocking it. The building the Door had been attached to has been demolished and the Door should just attach itself to the new structure. Unfortunately, the new building is the King's Cross station for the new iron rails being laid along the ley lines in England. They are blocked off from King Oberon. What to do? A Council meeting of hobgobins, elves, ogres, pixies and others try to come up with a solution. Instead, the tribes end up taking sides and a ninety-year war commences.

Undine the Boardwalk by Keith R.A. DeCandido was originally published in It's Elemental (2013). I don't get the pun of the title, if it's supposed to a play on "Under the Boardwalk". The story is set in Key West, mostly at Mayor Fred's Saloon, where a band named 1812 plays. The main character is named Cassie, who we find about about a quarter of the way through the story that she is a "Disir", a fate goddess, and sometimes referred to as a "Dis". She learned this from the king of the Norse gods, and previously had to stop Loki. So this is a series story. Only a couple of people know about Cassie's background. One is Bobbi, a member of 1812, and Rance, an FBI special agent. Jana, a friend of Bobbi's since childhood, and a friend of Cassie's since she moved there, doesn't know. Jana is also in the band. Jana has a new love in her life named Russ and everyone seems to love this guy, except Cassie, Bobbi and the old curmudgeonly Larry. Cassie doesn't know know why she doesn't like him, but she doesn't, and that's good enough for Bobbi. (There's also a crack about Russ having two middle initials -- so "pretentious".) By day, Cassie is a diver at Seaclipse.

Rance runs a background check and finds that Russ lives on a boat with his mother, so Rance, Cassie and Bobbi take a trip. The boat has "rusalka" etched on the prow. Looking that up, I found that a "rusalka" is a Slavic water elemental, usually malicious. Cassie can see its ugly true form through its glamour while the other two see an older woman who can still pull off a bikini look. Russ, however, looks human, so they figure that his father (who wasn't listed on his birth certificate) is also human. The mother, who goes by the hman name Anne, is horrified that her son is going to marry a human because it will only end in tragedy for both of them, and she speaks from experience. So they have to break up the couple, and get Jana out from under Russ's spell before it's too late. And then we find out more about Russ's parentage.

Tag Team Match with Hell by Patrick Thomas, C. J. Henderson, and John L. French. Kickstarter Rewards edition (????). It is listed as A DMA Casefile, which stands for Department of Mystic Affairs. The copyrights and trademarks list Murphy's Lore and "Bullfinche's Pub" gets a shout-out in the first paragraph. Bianca Jones is listed as a trademark of John L. French; she appeared in the story "Cold Iron", which I read recently. I don't recall reading any story including Lai Won, by C. J. Henderson. This is more of a CW crossover (not of "Crisis" propotions) than the Avengers getting together. Lai Won is a "psychometrist", which is mentioned often, but I wasn't exactly sure what that meant. (I was on the train, so I didn't have a dictionary available. It turns out that it's a real thing, someone who administers psychological tests. Yeah, that's not what she does.)

The story leaves NYC quickly (no Bullfinche) and heads down to Baltimore, which is Jones's home turf. Jones had worked with Agent Karver once before but not his partner Maddi Cobb, or Lai Wan. Wan has called in a marker because of something horrible that she experienced when she accidentally touched a DVD. From there is gets disturbing in subject matter as it involves a demon granting a bunch of people eternal youth 50 years ago, and they end up as children. They make money by making black-maret pornography. It's enough to make everyone sick, including the reader, which is, I guess, the point. On the cosmic reading balance scale, this tips the story so heavily that no amount of light-hearted banter is going to lift it back up again. (And the banter between Karver and Cobb seemed a bit forced, but it was also tossed out there for the benefit of the two other occupants in the car.)

I was only familiar with Bianca Jones before this story, and she had the least to do with it, even though it took place in Baltimore. Maybe that's why they decided to set it in Baltimore.

Vein Glory by Christopher L. Bennet, Kickstarter Reward edition (????). Not surprisingly, it's a vampire story. Vincent Shahan wakes up after a couple centuries in cryo-suspension, having been misplaced during the upheavals in the past. This is understandble. His doctor, Dr. Corazon Lee, is a vampire, and is most of the population. That's a little less understandable. Advancements have led vampires to suffer fewer ill effects and not require fresh human blood. The only cure for disease is vampirism and medical research has come to a halt. But there's more than meets the eye with Shahan

The Inner Light by John L. French, Kickstarter Reward edition (????). John L. French is the editor of an upcoming angels & devils anthology that I will be included in. This story takes place in Bethlehem on the night of the birth of Jesus from the perspective of the angel, Nika, who was sent to watch over Maryam during childbirth. Nika faces off against five of the Fallen. Any doubts are met with a voice reminding her to "TRUST YOUR INNER LIGHT."

The Literary Handyman: Tips on Writing From Someone Who's Been There (Ackley-McPhail)

The Literary Handyman: Tips on Writing From Someone Who's Been There by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, with introduction by Ty Drago (2011)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Why would a published author need tips on writing? Like sharpening the tools in your toolbox, honing one skills is an ongoing process.

The Literary Handyman (besides being a woman) provides bite-sized tips for the craft of writing, as well as the business end. And while no book is going to guarantee sales, I did review the sections on good dialogue right before I submitted a piece that was accepted for publication.

The middle of the book is filled with writing prompts, with plenty of space to jot down your thougths and ideas... unless you're like me and can't write in a book even if it was made for that purpose. But I can use a journal or a blog because I love my writing prompts.

Soft-cover book, first in a series. I have a digital copy of one of the later books. I picked this up at a Book Release event (for a different book) at HeliosphereNY a couple years ago, purchased directly from the author.

Full-disclosure: Danielle Ackley-McPhail is not only a writer, but an edior and a publisher. Moreover, she is my editor and publisher for In A Flash 2020, and In A Flash 2016 before that.

If We Had Known (McPhail, ed)

If We Had Known, Mike McPhail, ed (2017)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

First book of the year. (Okay, so I started it last year.) And look at the cool cover!

If We Had Known is a collection of cautionary tales of the future: what we might find out there, and what may happen to us right here. My fear going in was that it would be a collection of depressing stories, like those episodes of The Twilight Zone where that final twist just kills you. Thankfully, that isn't the case. They aren't all cheery, either, to be sure, but humanity doesn't get wiped out over and over from mistakes made because we didn't know.

The book starts off with an essay on having a necessary enemy, which turns into a fictional account before it's over, that goes through the space race and the Cold War, and pondering should we lie about an alien invasion coming, if only to get us off the planet? The greatest threat to humanity may be never leaving our planet's surface.

It's the next two stories that really get the book rolling: "The Steady Drone of Silence" by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, and "The Last Man on Earth" by Jody Lynn Nye. The former is a military sci-fi rescue/recovery mission to uncover what went wrong, where we learn that science and the military may have different end goals for any discovery or new technology. If the latter, the cumulative effect of genetic manipulation over generations may eventually reach an evolutionary dead end. (Those shouldn't be spoilers -- they're really starting points.)

Note: Danielle Ackley-McPhail is the Publisher of eSpec Books, which published this anthology, and also the spouse of the editor. Neither of those facts were the reason her story is included. Jody Lynn Nye is listed elsewhere in this blog for co-writing The Death of Sleep.

Most of the stories deal with encounters with alien races or cultures when either we go out there, or they come to us (or our colonies).

The final entry, "The Third Heaven" by Robert Greenberger, was more of a character piece than a story, but I enjoyed it, and thought it ended the book well. It was mostly a conversation between the ship's AI and a religious scientist. During the long boring months in space transit, the main character starts questioning her religious beliefs and looks to the AI for guidance. It doesn't speak down or mock in any way, which I appreciated.

There is a follow-up book, with a similar looking cover, that I have to purchase before the month is out.

The Society for the Preservation of CJ Henderson (Ackley-McPhail & Schauer, ed)

The Society for the Preservation of CJ Henderson Danielle Ackley-McPhail & Greg Schauer, ed (2014)

Disclosure: I've met CJ Henderson. I would have to say I knew of him, more than that I knew him. He was a fixture at a science fiction convention I'd gone to almost every year for over two decades. I can't say how much I'd actually talked to him in that time, but he was a person you could talk to, whether in the Dealers Room during the day or the Con Suite in the evening.

I can also add that in 2014, I was in his house with many other people, but he was only there in spirit. When CJ died in 2014, family and friends held an "Afterlife Launch Party" in his honor. The family had hoped for a large turnout, but many that he knew from the convention circuit lived anywhere in the tristate area as well as up and down the Eastern seaboard (and elsewhere, too, but those were the ones likeliest to make it). I also learned that he lived about a 15 minute walk from my house. So I made the trip, and met a lot of familiar faces, and a few not-so-familiar. I discovered a couple days after that I'd met a favorite artist of mine without knowing it was him. But I digress.

This anthology was put together when CJ was ill. He had even seen most (if not all) of it but didn't get to see it published. Shame on me for waiting three years to finish it, but I have a habit of putting down anthologies in the middle (because I can), reading something else that came along, and then getting back to the first book. (In my defense, Danielle, if you're reading this, some of those books were other eSpecbooks!)

The anthology includes stories by John L. French, Jean Rabe, Patrick Thomas, David Boop, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jeff Young, Leona Wisoker Robert M. Price, Leona Wisoker, and James Chambers, and CJ's presence is felt in all of them. Stories are inspired by his works or his mythos and feature either a character based on one of his or a character based him CJ himself. (He appears in one story as himself, in another as a bard who is the son of Hender, etc.). All of pleasant to read -- with one exception. The foreword for one story included a warning that Henderson himself would've found the story disturbing, and warns the reader might wish to skip that one. I prefer to avoid disturbing things -- I have enough trouble sleeping -- so I skipped over that one.

Hard to pick a favorite, but I might possibly pick the lead-off story just for setting the tone for the rest of the book. But a later story hits home the theme of perseverance, particularly if you want to be a writer. If I didn't want to be a writer, I might not be writing these reviews. I'm not always sure whom I'm writing this reviews for: myself or the wandering web surfer? Never count out the flying monkeys.

Enjoyable anthology, possibly disturbing.

The Side of Good (Ackley-McPhail, ed)

The Side of Good, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, ed., 2015

First off, this is a bit of a cheat for me, because this is only half of a book. The printed edition of The Side of Good is actually a flip book: if you flip it, you will find The Side of Evil. If you order the ebook, you will get two downloads, each with its own cover (as seen above).

As the names might suggest, this pair of books are anthologies filled with stories of Super Heroes and Super Villains. I get the Heroes precedence and read their tales first.

Editor Danielle Ackley-McPhail has assembled seven stories by Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin, Bryan J. L. Glass, John L. French, Walt Ciechanowski, Kathleen O'Shea David, Robert Greenberger, and James Chambers.

The stories range from the non-powered to the super-powered to the oddly-powered (is it really a superpower?). They not only deal with their heroics but how their actions impact their own lives and the ones around them. And when does it get to be too much?

If I had to pick a favorite, I might go with "Making a Difference", by Robert Greenberger, which reads like an old indie-comic low-powered hero on a motorcycle story, emphasis on old. "Ghost Wolf" by Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin, would come a close second. For fans of Kathleen David, if you're expecting puppets to play a role in her story, you won't be disappointed.

You won't be disappointed with The Side of Good unless you're, say, Lex Luthor. In that case, flip the book over.

* * *

Current reads:

• ebooks: mostly short story anthologies, flipping back and forth, The Side of Evil or The Weird Wild West
• hardcover (for commuting w/o an ereader): Once Upon a Time (she said)
• manga: started getting One-Piece books from the library. Number 11 has been "in transit" for over a week now.
• in the pool: old paperbacks and sci-fi mags that I don't mind if they get a little wet and won't cry over if they fall in. Right now, an old issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction from 1987

Reminder: for anyone stumbling across this site. These entries aren't really meant to be reviews. I mostly write them for myself because I have a tendency to forget about some of the books I've read -- either about the characters or plot of a book, or sometimes even the book itself. But writing summaries is boring, especially for anthologies, and some of my friends actually like reading this blog, so I'm trying to make it more enjoyable to read, which is all I can ask in a book.