Book excerpt: The second volume in Series III of the popular “Little Book” Series! Return with us now to those thrilling, pre-Internet days when an aspiring writer could “earn while you learn.” Mort Castle’s apprenticeship was spent writing for men’s magazines, like Dude, Gent, Mr. and Nugget, confessions magazines, True Secrets, Intimate Story, Modern Romances, and little literary magazines, including Samisdat, Abbey, and The Gar. A Little Cobalt Book of Old Blue Stories ... and Stuff presents works which might otherwise be found only on the disintegrating pages of 1970s publications. Castle says these works taught him, “to write the well-made story: beginning, middle, end. They taught me I could be funny in print. And they gave me the confidence that comes from knowing people would pay for my work.” Stories included in this collection: An Apprenticeship Angels and Apes The Woman Who Made Me a Man Again What's Your Bq? Unfinished Business, Unsettled Debts Saturday in the Park Mulbray Twenty-One Times To Jerry Williamson in Springtime