What can you learn from finishing a book?  You can learn so much. Did it work? Why were parts hard? Why were parts easy? How come it went out on its own despite the author's best intentions?   These are all the questions you ask when you are done with a book. If you don't then maybe you should. Writing is learning. If you are not paying attention, then you will never get the books right.   For one year, David wrote down what he learned from each of his book projects. Some of it is stuff he continues to struggle with (like letting the book dictate how long it will be, and not a predisposed number that will make the book long enough) and some are specific for each writing project (like when he realized that his book introductions are dull and he better fix that)  There is a lot to learn. David writes short books, so he was able to share 23 essays about each of the eBooks he put out.  Take some time and learn how David learns from writing and then go out and do it for yourself. Ask the question, "What did I learn?" You will be a better writer when you do.

What I Learned From Writing This Book

A hodgepodgeA miscellany. A jumble. A mishmash. A patchwork. More stuff about things. This book is a collection of pieces I had hanging around the harddrive with no place to go. They are random flash fiction and experimental work. A few of them are series of works that never accumulated enough to make an entire book out of. So we have inanimate fables. We have tales of a crazed short order cook. There are Greek Myths retold by a barfly. And a bunch of stories. The stories are mostly short. That seems to be the common thread. Short and odd. If you don't like one, don't worry. The next one is coming right around the corner. Enjoy.

Everyone is Covered in Cake

Who doesn't want all your fears and desires to be wrapped up in list form? We have done that for you. Everything to be wary of is included. Really. Every single one. The Long Weekend Review is a monthly e-zine that allows the writer to do whatever they want, as long as it is written in three days.

501 Things to Be Wary Of - The Long Weekend Review, #10

Every superhero has a reason for them being that way.  This book contains several hundred origins of superheroes. They were scientists inventing potions. They got hit by lightning. They were children seeing their parents killed and swearing vengeance.  We have every type of origin. All are recounted in a fun breezy manner. You will see patterns and tropes and have a good time. Comic Book Hinterlands is a monthly zine that explored the strange forgotten landscape of comic book history. Each issue is a stand-alone book.

Many Origins, Quickly Told - Comic Book Hinterlands, #10

Can a fish be everyone's friend in the aquarium? Molly Fish doesn't know if she can be everyone's friend, but she really wants to try. She and her friends learn what it is like to live in a small place. Join Molly, Treasure Box, Scuba, Giant Clam and all the other people who live in the aquarium. It is a nice place to live and swim about in.

Molly Fish Swims Very Fast

Finding a place to live is tough. There isn't a lot of places available, and when they are, they are crazy expensive. A group of punks and drop-outs have discovered the decent enough place to live: in the back of old paperbacks. It is simple living, but there is no rent. And because people ignore old books, they are pretty much left alone. They eat punctuation and hunt animals that are also loose in the old books. These stories are of those who live in these forgotten books. Some are there to hide-out or to work on their art. They are they to write zines and be off the grid. Things change in books though. Things can get weird. Reality can alter when you live in old books. You can turn into something else living in books.

And Then There Are Those Who Live in the Back of Old Books

What can you do with great pulp fiction titles? Well you can take these awesome titles and write your own brief stories. That's what David Macpherson did. He took these sordid assemblages of words and created kooky little tales. The titles are authentic vintage pulp fiction from the 30s and 40s. The stories are brand new silliness. With titles like: "Bride of the Half Men, " "Dead Hands on the Moon" and "Scourge of the Sky Beast" you just have to put them at the top of the page and run with it. The stories here are goofy irreverent fun. Pick it up. It's a good time.

Pulp Fiction Lullabies

About the Book What are the books that make up your history? For every reader, there are the books that linger. There are books that are more than just entertainment. They mean something.  David Macpherson, a reader and a writer, has written about 100 books and how they matter to him. For every year from 1923 to 1922, he has chosen a book.  There are tales to tell. There are things to remember and discover. What are your books that fit on your century bookshelf? What is your autobiography as seen as titles written on spines?

Century Bookshelf: A Memoir in a 100 Books

He is seeing the movie Casablanca in the theater. It is the first movie he sees in a theater since the Covid shut-down. This is a meditation on film and movie going. It is a love letter to Casablanca, as well as other movies. There are angels. There are pickpockets. There are always angels and pickpockets. The Long Weekend Review is a new journal where each issue allows a writer to create whatever they want. The one rule is that it must be completed in 72 hours.

Vultures! Vultures Everywhere! - The Long Weekend Review, #6

If you were given a coloring book, what superhero would you like to color? We hope it is the Hulk, because we are knee deep in a long in depth discussion of The Incredible Hulk Coloring Book: The Dot to Dot Connection published in 1979. We look at every page. We have a used copy so certain pages are colored, but more are left blank. We learn the great story of the Hulk versus the Greenies who try to steal the color green from the Earth. The Greenie King looks just like the Hulk, which is kind of strange, but it's best to just go with it. We also discuss the purpose and history of the coloring book. A coloring book is meant to be defaced. How does the coloring book feel about that? How do you?  This is the eleventh volume of the Comic Book Hinterland, where we get lost in the outskirts of comics history and try to make it back alive. Come, join the journey.

Coloring Within and WIthout the Lines with the Big Green Fella - Comic Book Hinterlands, #11

What is a comic book narrative? How do we tell any kind of story? In the first part of this book, David Macpherson, has attempted a new way to tell a comic book story. He made a pile of 105 random comics and wrote about what was happening in the 27th panel of the comic. He then went to the next comic and wrote down what he saw in that 27th panel. And so on. It tells a broken story that doesn't completely adhere in the way you might want it to. But it can surprise and soar. The second part of the book gives the information of each of the 105 comic books used in this experiment. In addition to the creative teams, the entries go into information and trivia about these comics. This part is akin to a guy showing you his favorite comics and you know he has a story for each of these comics.  Two different ways to look at comics here in the 12th Issue of The Comic Book Hinterlands.

The 27th Panel - Comic Book Hinterlands, #12

So, you want to write a memoir, but are a little pressed for time? Well look no further! This is the memoir and how to book for you. It will show you how to write a memoir in three days. These are not big memoirs, but who wants overwritten stuff anyway. David will show you why you will want to write a three-day memoir and a let you know a little bit about how to do it. The Long Weekend Review is a eZine that allows the issue's writer to create anything they want, as long as it is written in three days.

How to Write a Memoir in Three Days: A Memoir - The Long Weekend Review, #13

I Have a Little List is an occasional e-zine that gives lists. Who doesn't love lists? Lists are so awesome. This one is less list and more a jumble of information. If we wanted to be precise and put numbers before each item and then say it is a list of little known facts. But we are too cool for that. We just want to share useless pieces of information. There is a lot to know. From ostriches to famous last words, there is a lot of thing you didn't know and were fine living in such ignorance.  They are fun and irreverent and it is short, so you wan't have to suffer through it for long. And that's a little known fact.

Little Known Facts - I Have a Little List, #6

The Long Weekend Review is a monthly e-zine that allows the writer to do whatever they want, as long as it is written in three days. This month's edition is from Jeff Campbell.            Jeff writes this of issue seven. "When I started writing 'A Whole Lot of Nothing' I expected it would be a rather head-y series of reflections that mostly focused on my strange relationship with the concept of nothingness and emptiness that I have cultivated over these last couple years. What I found was that nothingness has been a lifelong frenemy. You should read it; it explores the time I had to peel half my face off, what it was like to hang out in the sewers, and how I chickened out of Buddhism in college."            "A Whole Lot of Nothing" is an examination of faith and memory in a finite world.

Livres