SCRIPT TEASE
SCRIPT TEASE
A WORDSMITH’S WAXINGS ON LIFE AND WRITING
ERIC NICOL
Illustrations by Dave More
DUNDURN PRESS
TORONTO
Copyright © Eric Nicol, 2010
Illustrations copyright © Dave More, 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
Project Editor: Michael Carroll
Copy Editor: Nicole Chaplin
Design: Courtney Horner
Printer: Webcom
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Nicol, Eric, 1919-
Script tease : a wordsmith’s waxings on life
and writing / by Eric Nicol.
ISBN 978-1-55488-707-1
1. Nicol, Eric, 1919- --Humour.
2. Writing--Humour. I. Title.
PS8527.I35S37 2010 C818’.5402 C2009-907467-2
1 2 3 4 5 14 13 12 11 10
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions. J. Kirk Howard, President
Printed and bound in Canada.
Printed on recycled paper.
| Dundurn Press3 Church Street, Suite 500 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM5E 1M2 | Gazelle Book Services LimitedWhite Cross MillsHigh Town, Lancaster, England LA1 4XS | Dundurn Press2250 Military RoadTonawanda, NYU.S.A. 14150 |
To my wife, Mary Razzell, my compassionate editor
CONTENTS
THE WRITE STUFF:AN AUTHOR’S HANDBOOK
Writers’ Unions
Care and Feeding of Librarians
Book Promotion
Remuneration
New Relationships
The Fun Factor
A WORDSMITH’S WAXINGS
A Class Act
A Clear-Cut Case
A Moment of Majesty
A Nocturnal Emission
A Pickle at the Pump
A Sampler of Evil Spirits
A Sticky Wicket
About Your Sox Life
Analysis of Knee Transposition
Anatomy of the Medical Clinic
Andy Is Handy
Antique