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.

An old Year-end Review for 2004

While cleaning up my hard drive, I found files where I kept track of the books I read for a given year. Someone had given me the idea (back in the 90s, I believe) to open a text file, and add the name of the book I'd read. What follows below looks like an "end of the year" post made to a bulletin board somewhere. It's past my time on Usenet. Many of these may have appeared elsewhere in this blog, if not the entire post itself. I'll post these files one per month.

It looks like 2004 was a banner year for me, but given that many were Lemony Snicket books, it's a little less impressive.

2004: The Year in Review

2004 -- It was a year of catching up on a number of series books. And it was probably the most books I've read in a long time (even if 12 of them were Lemony Snicket)

The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien
The Broken Blade, Ann Marston
The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket
The Reptile Room, Lemony Snicket
The Wide Window, Lemony Snicket
The Miserable Mill, Lemony Snicket
The Austere Academy, Lemony Snicket
Cloudbearer's Shadow, Ann Marston
Rogue Pirate, John Gregory Betancourt
The King of Shadows, Ann Marston
The Ersatz Elevator, Lemony Snicket
The Vile Village, Lemony Snicket
The Hostile Hospital, Lemony Snicket
The Carniverous Carnerval, Lemony Snicket
Let Freedom Ring, Sean Hannity
Maybe (Maybe Not), Robert Fulgrum
The Slippery Slope, Lemony Snicket
The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket
Eats, Shoots, & Leaves, Lynne Truss
Tom Clancy's Net Force: Night Moves
Tom Clancy's Net Force: Breaking Point
The Kingdom of Infinite Numbers: A Field Guide, Bryan Bunch
X-Files: Whirlwind, (does it matter who it's by?)
Tom Clancy's Net Force: Point of Impact
The Grim Grotto, Lemony Snicket
Tom Clancy's Net Force: Cybernation (in this one, the title actually had something to do with the story)
Vulcan!, Kathleen Sky
Stars & Stripes Forever, Harry Harrison
Stars & Stripes In Peril, Harry Harrison
Stars & Stripes Triumphant, Harry Harrison


Also
Graphic Novels: (I don't normally get to read these, but I found a stack at the local library and went through them!)
Batman: Terror (good)
Tales of the Slayers (very good, it was worth picking rather than the Buffy books)
Batman: Child of Dreams (pretty good, but pretty long)
Spiderman: The Death of Gwen Stacey (excellent -- even for reprints)
Spyboy/Young Justice (ick)
Batman: The Arrow, the Ring & the Bat (good story, but the splash pages were annoying) The family had our own little book club, with the Snicket series (so far) divided up amongst family members to be passed around. The Net Force books were a series that I received as a gift, except that the first book in the series wasn't there. Oh well. I picked up one of Harrison books at a book sale, and a friend told me he had the other two.

Rediscover the Saints (Kelly)

Rediscover the Saints: Twenty-Five Questions That Will Change Your Life, Matthew Kelly (2019)

A gift I received one Sunday morning as I walked out of Church after Mass. I thought it to be a book about the lives of some of the saints. It is not.

It is a collection of inspirational missives from the author, reflecting on life, and invoking different saints. Each essay is a few pages long and ends with a short prayer/invocation.

I didn't even realize it at first because each entry because with the name of a saint (and because I didn't give the subtitle a second glance). But underneath there is a guiding question about the nature of our daily lives and our relationships with each other, our selves, and God.

Not my typical read, but I had no reason to discard it once I began. You can't go wrong reading a book like this once in a year, or even just once per year or so.

The Highly Sensitive Person (Aron)

The Highly Sensitive Person, Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. (1996)

Subtitled How to Thrive When the World OverWhelms You
Additional material added in 2016.

I was given a copy of this book to read, not because I was the target audience, but so I could have a better understanding of them and to help me interact with them in a more beneficial manner.

Along the way, I saw soe traits that could apply to me, when many others did not. Am I a sensitive person? I think so. Have people told me on occasional that I'm overly sensitive? Yes, but they're wrong! Okay, maybe not, but not as much as they think. (And I think this book would lend credence to my argument.)

But I definitely wouldn't categorize myself as a "highly sensitive" individual.

Nothing else really to say about the book, except that it's interesting reading. Also, if you think that you are HSP, you should pick up a copy of the book. Keep a pencil handy for highlighting and writing in margins.

The Joy of Cookies: Cookie Monster's Guide to Life (C. Monster)

The Joy of Cookies: Cookie Monster's Guide to Life, Cookie Monster, Julie Kraut (Ghostwriter) (2018)

Of course, a monster would have a ghost writer!

You probably already know what you're getting when you pick up a book written by a Sesame Street Muppet. If not, the teeth marks and the missing bite in the corner should clue you in.

The book is similar to other inspirational books, with a quote or passage on each page or two. In this case, familiar adages, proverbs, nursery rhymes and even song lyrics appear, except rewritten in Monster-speak -- e.g., using "Me" instead of "I" -- and centering the quote around Cookies. But that is generally just the beginning. If Cookie Monster were to say "Ask not for who Cookie tolls, it tolls for me", it would be followed by whatever actions or thoughts might occur to a monster after saying something like that. And there might be an illustration.

There are Word of Wisdom, like Keep Calm and Eat a Cookie, and three recipes, complete with monster-speak directions. The first recipe is simple enough for young hands to try. The last is several pages long.

I'd glad I held onto this book. This was a "rescue book" -- one that was in a pile to be donated, where quite a few of them became books to be recycled. (The garage leaked a little.) I knew I would enjoy it, and I did.

It also reminded me to follow Cookie Monster on Twitter.

How to Break Up With Your Phone (Price)

How to Break Up With Your Phone , Catherine Price (2019)

This was among a bunch of books slated to be removed from my house. The title intrigued me, so I took it out of the recycle pile. As a result, I only read this in school, not at home, because someone might've been upset that I'm rescuing what is supposed to be trashed. But I digress...

My phone is the least of my problems. Until a few years ago, I still had a cheap flip phone because it was costing me about $7 per month, and because I still have a legacy house phone that isn't going away any time soon.

However, it could be said that I have a problem with my iPad and any working PC with Internet at work (or at home). I'll sit down to do one thing, and I'll find myself checking out the same handful of sites over and over again, and not getting done the things I'd planned on doing. That sure kills writing projects (and sometimes comics), and is one of the reasons I no longer post weekly TV/movie/whatever reviews on another blog I maintain.

Oddly, I've gotten better about the number of sites I visit because typing on the ipad is a pain, and I use the ipad more than the pc.

Anyway, I thought the book's focus might be transferable, and in some ways it was. If nothing else, it's stuff to watch out for as I upgrade to my next phone and start using my features and functions.

The downside is that the book is really a Read-a-Day book where you are supposed to reevaluate your relationship with your device over the course of 30 days. I did not do this. I have no need to. So I just read through.

If you are addicted to your phone, there are likely good tips in here. If you are annoyed when people are on their phones when you're hanging out, you may want to give them a copy of this. If they are annoyed with you for the same reason, you should read it.

Humble & Kind (McGraw)

Humble & Kind , Tim McGraw (2016)

Not a book between books, but a book in the middle of reading another book ...

Tim McGraw has a new book out, Songs of America, which I put on reserve at the library after seeing his show at the Beacon Theater. While searching the library catalog, this book appeared, and I recognized it as the title of one of his songs. There wasn't much to it. An introduction to the song, and an epilogue by the song writer, the bulk of the book is the lyrics and pictures. Basically, it's a gift book (like the first version I encountered of Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten), of the inspirational variety.

Pleasant to read, but has as much meat as a magazine article might. On the other hand, I'm ready for the other book and there's just a few people ahead of me. Which also means I have to finish the other library book I have checked out.

Life's Little Instruction Book, Vol III (Browne)

Life's Little Instruction Book, Vol III H. Jackson Browne, Jr. (1995)

I probably picked up this little gift-book edition sometime in the late 1990s and it's been sitting on a shelf or in a box ever since. You could classify it as self-help or inspirational or something like that, but it's a list of 500+ things that you could or should do to make your life, or the lives of those around you, better.

This is the kind of thing you could probably find on a list on the Web somewhere. Even in 1995, this could probably be found on a "listserv" or a place like "cathouse.org". (I have no idea if that site still exists, and I'm not checking.)

Most of these instructions are short, pithy one-liners, reminders of advice that your parents or grandparents might've told you. There are things that they told you that you should do, but you didn't know why, so maybe you don't. But then you realize, what if you did? Would things be better?

Suggestions are both general and specific, and sometimes brief and rapid-fire. The specific ones aren't too bad, but they could be problematic. For example, if it says to hike a particular piece or watch a specific movie, you run the risk of filling the book with these. It doesn't need to be (and it isn't) a travel brochure.

Spoiler Alert: here's a page from near the end of the book

"Teach by example Commit yourself to a might purpose Live simply Think quickly Work diligently Fight fairly Laugh loudly Love deeply Plant more flowers than you pick Remember that all important truths are simple Rescue your dreams Include your parents in your prayers"

A quick read, but don't read it too quickly. Read a few pages, and think about them. If it's a book that you're likely to keep, circle or highlight some of the items. Maybe color-code them.

Me? I've had it long enough without reading it. I'm leaving it on the bookshelf of the Teacher Center at my current school before the end of my assignment here.

Note: This was one of the last two books I read in December, finally getting a write-up.

The Happiness Handbook (Sonne)

The Happiness Handbook, Lisa T.E. Sonne, 2015

Not my usualy read. This is basically a collection of 1-2 page long affirmations, to be read daily or all at once. Listed with no apparent order or theme. No chapters to speak of, nor any appendix or list of references at the end.

This book was a gift I received at an after-the-holidays birthday gathering. I didn't want to put it off because, if asked, I'd like to say, yes, I read it. I figured that I could probably get through it in a couple of mornings on the train. Instead, I found myself playing games on my iPad a little more often rather than reading.

There wasn't anything too deep within the pages beyond the expected "you can be happy"/"you should be happy" vibes. Despite some interesting quotes from people, I would be hard-pressed to tell you any specific idea presented within the pages.

Fluff. Worse: it turns out I never finished it. I found my bookmark just before I started writing this. (I read the book in February.) I quickly tried to skim the last 20 or so pages and ... stopped.

Moved on to the next book.

Statistics: hardcover, approx 220 pages, non-fiction, inspirational, self-help

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking (Cain)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain, 2012

This is a book that was given to me by my wife. She told me, "Read this." As that is not something that happens often -- if ever -- I took it and put it on the side to read "next". (I believe the idiom "-ish" might be appropriate here.) She might hand me something that she thinks I might be interested in, but never tells me to read anything in particular.

A couple days after I started it, she let me know it was a library book and asked if I'd finished yet. Whoops. Hadn't occurred to me. However, by that point, I was hooked enough that I reserved electronic copies at both the Brooklyn and New York Public Libraries. I appreciate the NYPL's opinion of my reading ability, but it turned out that this volume was still in their 3-day loan category. Seriously?

So this book has the distinction of my reading it in both paperback form and electronically, on loan from two separate libraries. Yes, I found it that important to finish it.

About the book itself:

Cain talks about "introversion" and "extraversion" (iirc, it's been a while since I read it). She states that the terms she uses aren't the most accurate, but they are the most commonly used (or most popular among the masses, as it were) that she uses them.

I read it with interest because there were plenty of times I identified myself, on both sides of the equation. There have been times in the past that I have referred to myself as an "extroverted introvert". Sure, you can't shut me up once you get to know me -- ah! but getting to know me. Likewise, I have difficulty breaking into a conversation among a group of people. I find myself hanging on the periphery, waiting to be invited in, fearful to invite myself. I don't know how you would categorize this, but I've missed out on contributing to many conversations (and a few parties) because of it. And in many cases, I'd likely have been welcome if I'd either barged or stumbled right in.

On the other hand, her basic definition of introverts, or the basic characteristics of introverts, didn't really describe me all that much. Somewhat, sure, but maybe I'm not as introverted as I thought. Or maybe I am whatever, and I just don't know the word for whatever.

In any case, the book was worth tracking down, and I would recommend it if not to understand yourself a little better than to understand those around you and the challenges that they faced being an introvert in an overly extroverted world.

Some people can function together out in the open, but if they really want to get their work done, they need their Quiet places.

BAM! How to Write an Ebook and Upload to Kindle (Hill)

BAM! How to Write an Ebook and Upload to Kindle, by Jamie Hill, 2014

This ebook was basically a book to read between books. Something quick and possibly interesting before I decide where I want to go next.

If where you want to go in making ebooks on Kindle, then this might be the book for you. On the one hand, Jamie Hill has five titles available, so something is going right. On the other hand, I downloaded it for free, so maybe so, maybe not. On the gripping hand, I'm talking about it, so there is that.

The book is more than just instructions for uploading. It's about picking a topic, one that others might be looking for, creating an outline, sticking to a schedule and doing your research. Instruction on how to format your Word file so it translates into kindle's format are there, too. Covers are tricky -- so don't make your own. There are websites to go to where you can get one done cheaply enough.

Overall, some good information, much of which can crossover to other types of projects, and I couldn't be the price (although I think it's $.99 now).

Quick read, worth your time if you're thinking about getting into e-publishing.

365 Things I Learned the Hard Way (So You Don't Have To) (The Digital Writer, Jonathan Wondrusch)

365 Things I Learned the Hard Way (So You Don't Have To), by The Digital Writer (Jonathan Wondrusch), 2012

A free ebook on the writing business by a writer. Quick! What's he trying to sell me? Actually, he isn't selling me one thing -- he's selling me on a lifestyle, a workstyle, a way to make it all click, if that's what I want. And that should be what I want.

The Digital Writer puts together and presents information in a usable way, heavy on the discipline, easy on the hard sell. He recommends ways to establish your presence, your brand, online in social media, and the ways to monetize it. Because if you aren't monetizing, then what are you doing? He also tells you when to pay for others to do the work for you -- specifically, hiring an editor and paying for good cover design.

A good chunk of the book is dedicated to writing copy, which is a promising field to get into that pays well when jobs are available, as well as making ebooks starting with information that's readily available by consolidated so that the reader doesn't have to research it, and search engine optimization, because you want users to find you when you know that they aren't going to look at that second page on Google.

Ebooks, by the way, are a great source of steady income once you build a following. There's a good discussion on pricing, which has recently changed as Amazon has changed its terms.

The final part of the book is a Q & A from letters he received on his Digital Writer blog. They get a little repetitive with the rest of the book and with other questions, but it's definitely worth skimming. One thing that impressed me was that he recommends two great books to learn how to write copy -- and they aren't his. They're the ones that he learned from and he recommends them. You have to admire that. If nothing else, it definitely improves his brand.

Maybe (Maybe Not), (Fulghum)

Maybe (Maybe Not), Robert Fulghum, 1993

In the mid-90s, I had a 50-mile, one-way commute to work to Parsippany, NJ. I got a library card for the Morristown library (which was easier to get to than the Parsippany branch) and started checking out books on tape, mostly abridged.

This was the book that I had checked out in 1996 just before a blizzard, which dropped two feet of snow in New York City and more in New Jersey. I listened to this book on my Walkman over the course of a two-and-a-half-hour commute by subway and railroad. I bring this up so that you can get a complete picture of how early I got up, how long I traveled and how much snow was piled on the ground outside that Morris Plains station where I waited for a bus that went near my office complex. Imagine that you were in a car driving down that street just as I was listening to Fulghum explain the events surrounding the time he conducted the Minneapolis Chamber Symphony as it played the last movement of Beethoven's Ninth.

You would have asked yourself, why is that guy in a suit, carrying a briefcase and standing in a three-foot drift with the frozen wind blowing snowflakes in his face laughing hysterically??

When I saw a copy of this book years later, I had to read it unabridged. It was as good as it was eight years earlier although I didn't have Fulghum's voice reading it to me. Even if you don't read self-help or inspirational or religious books, this is one to read.