About paper books…
February 12th, 2026 | Ramblings
When I first started writing, it was pretty awful. Not because the stories were bad, but because I was a terrible student of English. I had no native talent for language, and public schools seem to have a goal to make everyone hate literature and reading, or expressing yourself by writing in a standard, understandable way.
Silly boy that I am, I take written language as code for speech. When it came to punctuation, I thought putting a comma where I would pause was logical. Really.
I found editors can’t deal with people as grammatically impaired as I am. I did, however, get a great deal of help from the Grammarly program. Slowly, my writing has improved to the point that when I engage Grammarly, it disagrees with me much less often.
Unfortunately, my few paper editions are frozen at a level of grammar and spelling that is now embarrassing to me. Also, the paper editions have provided only .056% of my income from books. I’ve made less than $500 total from them.
Thus, I decided to unpublish all my paper books. I understand there are now formatting options for print software programs. I’ll look into them as a possible way to bring back paper editions, but it isn’t a priority in my life.
Right now, at 78 years old, and being a caretaker for my wife, just continuing to write is time-consuming and challenging enough. Also, I like writing, and formatting is work.
I hope you readers understand.
Mac’ C
Actually, punctuation in English began as a guide to reading aloud – that is, as code for speech. It’s called “elocutionary punctuation” by scholars. The push to make punctuation purely syntactic, controlled wholly by grammar, was in the 17th and 18th centuries, along with other supposed “rules” such as “you must not split an infinitive”.
Syntactic punctuation does have more justification than some rules foisted on us by 18th century grammarians, because pauses of various lengths often are grammatically significant in spoken English – but not always.
So putting a comma wherever you would pause if you were speaking isn’t poor English; it’s just Elizabethan.
Your books, digital and print bring enjoyment to me. Keep writing as long as you can, and I’ll keep reading as long as I can. I just tend to throw punctuation where I think they look best, and sometimes, I’ll throw them around just to piss people off. at this age I dont give two hoots what anyone thinks.
Isn’t it a sign of the times. I held off on switching to ebooks for years after Kindle came out and they became popular, stubbornly sticking to “real” editions.
Now I can’t imagine the days when I was dropping $5k +/- per year on paper books. I use an iPad with the Kindle, Nook and Apple book apps and carry around thousands of titles every day … including every one of yours.
Hope you’re well and happily writing. Don’t sweat giving sacrifices to the punctuation gods; great storytelling transcends, um, dubious use of commas and, well, like … dashes and – you know.
To Ben – Like you, I couldn’t initially consider not having that solid book in my hand. At one point, I would limit vacations by how many books we could reasonable pack. Now with them all being digital it is very freeing.
To Mac – Completely aligned with dropping. Think of doing it for the planet. 🙂
I tend to put commas where I would pause. But what amazes me about your writing (among other things) is that for someone who is deaf, you just nail conversations and make them real. It’s one of the many reasons I prize your writing and have you on the very short list of those authors whose works I’ll buy sight (or review) unseen. Keep’em coming, and the best to you and your wife 🙂
some rules are meant to be……. broken.
your conversations are flowing and completely understandable. Don’t worry about it. Do your thing.
Can’t wait for the next one.
I did drop over and buy an extra copy of April as my car-book, so I have a copy I can not worry about getting a bit beaten up. Whatever format you want to publish in, I’ll keep reading either way.
I read all your books on Kindle Unlimited but also buy all your kindle books.
I never have had a problem with understanding your books. So I have not a single problem with your writing.
Darn!! I’ve purchased all your works I can find on kindle and audio … just purchased your hardbound April. Sometimes the physical book just appeals more than other forms. I was hoping to challenge other readers to purchase your paper versions for the fun of it. Regardless of the form, I enjoy all your works. Please keep truckin’ on!!
Further to my last: I just received the paperback version of Down to Earth and have the paperback version of Family Law on the way!! I’ll read anything you write Mac, but I do occasionally enjoy having the occasional book in hand.
Challenge to all Mac’s fans: Buy up all of the available Hardbound/Paperback versions of Mac’s books!! That way the books are sold out before Mac stops publishing them!!!
Mac, as I read that above comments I agreed with and seconded each one because that’s something I would have said but they said it sooner. You are one of the few authors which are an automatic “buy” for me. I use kindle unlimited because I read a LOT but your books I treasure and never want to use. I can also say that I freed up a lot of space in my house by no longer having physical books and book cases. I discovered which authors I truly valued and which were just a “buy now so I can read” book.
Keep doing what you enjoy — write. Don’t worry about going back and fixing old stuff. It’s not bothering the rest of us.
Other than my Hard copy of April; was unaware you had published others. No worries.
Continue gratefully appreciating your writing style; no matter the format.
For consideration of alternative methodology “Lynn Bryant” has published numerous short stories that she’s then consolidated into ebooks. That concept might let you write & release in smaller chunks as you have time.
Have you considered filtering them through a large language model like model like chatgpt or one of its ilk. Asking it, very carefully, to flag spelling and grammar issues for your attention. 1.5Trillion USD infrastructure and 750Billion USD annual running costs, at your disposal. Incredibly useful tools if you use them within their competence. Snr de Twool they are not.
No I’ve only used the free versions of AI and wasn’t that impressed. I think my current Kindle versions are pretty clean. It’s not a matter of refining them further, but getting them into printing format. I doubt an AI could follow instructions to edit it into customary print form.
But I’ll go ask one if it could do that!
ChatGPT says:
Here’s a clean diagnostic sweep 🔍
1. Repetition
“model like model like chatgpt”
Error: duplicated phrase
Fix: “model like ChatGPT”
2. Capitalisation
“chatgpt”
Error: should be capitalised
Fix: “ChatGPT”
3. Sentence Fragment
“1.5Trillion USD infrastructure and 750Billion USD annual running costs, at your disposal.”
Issue: This is a fragment, not a complete sentence.
Also: spacing in numbers (see below).
Fix example:
“You have 1.5 trillion USD of infrastructure and 750 billion USD in annual running costs at your disposal.”
4. Number Formatting
“1.5Trillion”
“750Billion”
Issue: Missing space between number and word.
Conventional forms:
“1.5 trillion USD”
“750 billion USD”
Alternatively:
“USD 1.5 trillion”
“USD 750 billion”
Be consistent.
5. Comma Use
“Asking it, very carefully, to flag spelling and grammar issues for your attention.”
This is grammatically acceptable. The commas are stylistic rather than required. No error, just optional emphasis.
6. Final Sentence Structure
“Snr de Twool they are not.”
Grammatically correct as inversion for emphasis. It reads as deliberate stylistic inversion. No correction needed unless you want a more standard structure:
“They are not Snr de Twool.”
Cleaned Version (Grammatically Corrected Only)
“Have you considered filtering them through a large language model like ChatGPT or one of its ilk? Asking it, very carefully, to flag spelling and grammar issues for your attention. You have 1.5 trillion USD of infrastructure and 750 billion USD in annual running costs at your disposal. Incredibly useful tools if you use them within their competence. Snr de Twool they are not.”
If you’d like, I can also suggest a more rhetorically polished version while preserving your tone.
Mackey,
I have meaning to drop a line here for some time. I just want to say that your April / Family Law series is one of my all time favorites. I also like “Neither Here nor There,” which I have read several times.
Your depiction of government tyranny is amazingly prescient.
I have been reading science fiction since I was in the 5th grade, and stumbled over Asimov’s Foundation series in the 7th grade.
I find your work to be incredibly good, and the content better than most self-published works.
I use Grok for my talks and presentations, but I imagine it would help greatly with fiction. I mostly use Grok as a research tool and editing and proofreading. Sometimes I use it to rewrite a paragraph or two if I just struggle with it too long.
Grok is also surprisingly good at brainstorm that help to kickstart your own thought processes if you get stuck. Helps with writer’s’ block as well.
Below is Grok telling how it can help.
But I mainly just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your work.
From Grok:
I can help with several stages of fiction manuscript editing, though the depth and flavor vary depending on the type. Here’s a realistic breakdown of what I can (and can’t) realistically do well in 2026 as a large language model:
1. Developmental / Structural / Big-Picture Editing
This is one of my strongest areas for fiction.I can:Read large sections (or the whole manuscript if you feed it in reasonably sized chunks) and give quite detailed feedback on:Overall story structure & pacing
Character arcs (motivations, consistency, depth, likability, growth)
Plot logic, stakes, tension, cause-effect chains
World-building coherence (especially important in SFF, historical, etc.)
Theme execution and subtext
Point-of-view handling & consistency
Beginning hook / inciting incident / midpoint / climax / ending payoff
Genre expectations & market fit
Suggest structural rearrangements (move this chapter, combine these two, cut this subplot, etc.)
Identify sagging middle, rushed endings, or sections readers are likely to skim
Compare your work (if you want) to common successful books in your genre
Many writers find this level of analysis surprisingly insightful — sometimes comparable to a thoughtful human beta reader or early-stage developmental editor.Limitation: I won’t have perfect taste alignment with your unique artistic vision, and I can occasionally suggest more “commercial” fixes than an experimental literary writer might want.
2. Line Editing (stylistic polishing)I can do quite a lot here — this is another strong area.I can:Suggest smoother / more evocative / more characteristic rephrasings sentence-by-sentence
Improve flow, rhythm, sentence variety
Tighten prose (cut redundancy, strengthen verbs, remove filtering)
Enhance description, sensory detail, emotional resonance
Fix awkward dialogue tags, on-the-nose dialogue, or dialogue that doesn’t match character voice
Sharpen voice & tone consistency
Help with showing vs. telling where it matters
You can paste a scene or chapter and say “line edit this aiming for a lyrical literary tone” or “make this feel more like gritty noir” — I can usually deliver usable suggestions.
3. Copy Editing (mechanical & consistency level)Very solid capability.I can:Catch grammar, punctuation, spelling issues
Flag inconsistent tense, capitalization, numbers, hyphenation
Point out repeated words/phrases in close proximity
Check basic continuity (eye color changed, character name spelled differently, timeline glitches)
Format dialogue punctuation properly
Suggest consistent style choices (em-dashes vs. parentheses, single vs. double quotes if you’re doing US/UK)
Not quite as exhaustive as a human who reads every single page with a style sheet in front of them, but still catches a very high percentage of mechanical issues.
4. Proofreading (final typo/formatting pass)I can do this, but it’s probably the area where a careful human still has an edge — especially after the manuscript has been formatted/typeset.I catch most remaining typos, missing words, doubled words, etc., but once the text is very clean I occasionally miss super-subtle things a fresh human pair of eyes would spot.Realistic Workflow with Me (2025–2026 style)Most effective combinations writers use right now:Big-picture pass → send me Act 1, then Act 2, etc. + specific questions (“Does the protagonist’s motivation feel earned?”)
Chapter-by-chapter line/copy edit → paste 2,000–5,000 words + “line edit and copy edit this section”
Problem-spotting → “Find every place I head-hop in this chapter” or “List every filter word and weak verb”
Dialogue polish → “Make this conversation sound more natural and period-appropriate (1920s)”
Final sanity check → “Proofread this last chapter for anything I missed”
I can’t open .docx files directly or do tracked-changes markup like Word — you get back suggestions as commented text, rewritten passages, or bullet-point lists of issues + fixes.If you’d like to try any of these, just paste a section (any length up to roughly chapter-sized) and tell me exactly what kind of edit you’re after — developmental read, line edit, copy issues, dialogue only, pacing problems, character voice, etc.
Thanks. I tried type.ai with moderate success. Still looking for one that will accept the entire book and work with it. I’m too busy to make it a priority right now so my search may take some time. The services may grow while I am looking.
There’s an entertaining little book about punctuation called “Eats Shoots and Leaves” which delves hilariously into all the punctuational peculiarities of English. That said, I’ve never noticed anything odd in your punctuation in any of your books, Mac, and I’ve read them all, mostly more than once. I used to be a holdout for physical books, but then I got a Christmas gift from our local bookstore chain and discovered it was a reward for my huge book buying habit. That – and the fact that I was running out of room for more books – spurred me to buy a Kindle, and I have never looked back. Now I have my books with me wherever I go. I am looking forward to the next Family Law book, too: any ETA yet?
It’s 2/3 done, Harry. Life interferes. I’m contemplating a knee replacement now. It’s not functioning even after a steroid injection.