Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 83

27 April 2020 - Colourised Photos Show The True Horror Of The Holocaust

Colourised Photos Show The True Horror Of The Holocaust G'day folks,  “Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky” – Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor.  This week the world held Holocaust Memorial Day, marking 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviets. And, to mark this anniversary, Tom Marshall has colourised a selection of photos taken throughout the first few months of 1945, as the rest of the world became fully aware of the horrors of the Nazi holocaust.   











Clancy's comment: Having visited four concentration camps in the early 70's, and read many books on the subject, I still ask one question, 'How did this happen?' However, observing the world today, we have sadly leant nothing.
I'm ...



REST IN PEACE


  

26 April 2020 - PORTLAND CEMENT PLANT RUINS in TEXAS

 PORTLAND CEMENT PLANT RUINS in TEXAS
G'day folks,
A tall smoke stack and boarded-up buildings are all that's left of this pioneering plant.   These industrial ruins offer an up-close encounter with a cement plant that spurred the use of a new type of building material out west. Though the plant was short-lived, its legacy has endured thanks to both buildings it left behind and the ones its product help build. 




In 1880, the Portland Cement Plant opened in San Antonio, becoming the first plant of its kind west of the Mississippi River. It was built to dig and process blue argillaceous limestone, which was believed to be a natural cement rock. The business grew throughout the 1880s until it became the Alamo Cement Company.






The cement processed on this spot helped build the Texas State Capitol building in Austin, as well as many other prominent structures around the state. By 1908, however, the resources at the site had already been depleted. The company changed places, abandoning the plant as it moved on to more lucrative grounds.

The giant smoke stack, which was built in 1889, still remains, even though its days of sending smoke and steam billowing into the air are long gone. Several of the smaller buildings are boarded up and have plants growing out of their roofs, proof that nature is trying to reclaim the site. Wandering around the ruins reveals graffiti like names and love notes carved into the bricks. A peek through the windows of the buildings offers a glimpse of some original cement processing equipment.




The cement plant left more in its wake than just these ruins. The company also abandoned its enormous quarry, which was later transformed into the Japanese Tea Garden.


Clancy's comment: I often wonder why these old places have never been transformed into some other enterprise. The buildings alone look marvellous.
I'm ...






 

25 April 2020 - STUNNING KELIMUTU VOLCANO IN INDONESIA

STUNNING KELIMUTU VOLCANO IN INDONESIA
G'day folks,
Welcome to a beautiful part of the world where three wildly colorful calderas exist. 
Lakes, volcanoes, and colors are all on impressive display at the Kelimutu Volcano, an otherworldly series of geologic cauldrons that hold lakes of startling brilliance.



50 miles from the town of Moni on the Indonesian Island of Flores is Kelimutu Volcano and its three summit craters containing their three lakes. The westernmost of the lakes, Tiwu Ata Mbupu (Lake of Old People), is blue, while Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) is green, and Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched or Enchanged Lake) is red, the latter two separated only by a crater wall.
Historically, the lakes have been the source of minor phreatic eruptions from the 1639 meter high Kelimutu volcano. In addition to being three different colors, the lakes’ color varies on a periodic basis, likely due to chemical reactions from the minerals in the lake triggered by volcanic gas activity, but no thorough studies have as yet been performed. That the three lakes are of the same volcano and are at the same crest, yet have different colors, is incredibly rare and of extreme interest to geologists.




The Kelimutu Volcano is one of nature’s most stunning displays of color and chemistry and has attracted a number of photographers and tourists over the years. So long as it never erupts, this candy-colored mountain is just a gentle giant. 


Clancy's comment: I would certainly suggest you visit this area. Indonesia is one of my favourite countries for obvious reasons. I've visited two other former volcanoes like these and they were simply stunning. I'm ...

24 April 2020 - INSPIRING QUOTES WORTH READING

 INSPIRING QUOTES WORTH READING
G'day folks,
Welcome to some quotes worth reading.























Clancy's comment: I love the quote about salt and sugar. Pass them on folks.
I'm ...

23 April 2020 - THEN AND NOW SHOTS OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES

THEN AND NOW SHOTS OF THE AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES
G'day folks,
The flames which have been consuming Australia for months, have razed homes and wiped out entire towns. Since the start of the 2019 fire season, a staggering 10 million hectares have been burned across the country. For comparison, the California fires of 2018 claimed about 800,000 hectares.About half a billion animals have suffered from the blaze in the New South Wales state alone, with millions potentially dead, according to ecologists at the University of Sydney. These numbers include birds, reptiles, and mammals, except bats. Insects and frogs are also excluded from the list, meaning the true number is much higher.
However, like Josef Stalin once said, "The death of one ... is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic." So, to help you comprehend the devastating destruction of the bushfires, here is a list of before-and-after photos from the affected areas.






























Clancy's commment:  What can I say? And, after this came the floods. Now, we have covid 19 to deal with, but we will battle on.

I'm ...

22 April 2020 - PERTOSA CAVES IN ITALY - 34 MILLION-YEARS-OF-AGE

 PERTOSA CAVES IN ITALY - 34 MILLION-YEARS-OF-AGE -
G'day folks,You can ride a boat through this magnificent underground world, which now doubles as a theater.  This karst cave system is is believed to be more than 34 million years old. Though typically known as the Pertosa Caves, cave system is also known as Grotte dell’Angelo (Angel Caves), in honor of Saint Michael the Archangel, or Grotte di Pertosa-Auletta, for the two municipalities where most of the caves are located. Almost two miles (three kilometers)  long and still not completely explored, the Pertosa Caves are connected with the phreatic zone of the Alburni Mountain range in southern Italy’s Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park. The water coming out of the phreatic zone forms an underground river that passes through the cave system and later joins the Tanagro River.






Thanks to this, the Pertosa Caves are among the few caves with a navigable stream. They’re the only caves of their kind in Europe that are accessible to tourists. To visit the first section of the cave, you must take a boat that’s pulled by a steel cable. The second part of the cave features a pedestrian path that winds between stalactites, stalagmites, and waterfalls.




Various vases and utensils dating back to the Stone Age and the Bronze Age have been found in the caves, leading to the hypothesis that the cavities were inhabited in prehistoric times. Today, the caves are not only a tourist attraction, but also a theater for productions inspired by Dante’s Inferno and Homer’s Odyssey.



Clancy's comment: Interesting indeed, but I will not be visiting as I dislike small spaces.

I'm ...










 

21 April 2020 - PAUL COLLINS - GUEST AUTHOR & PUBLISHER

 PAUL COLLINS - GUEST AUTHOR & PUBLISHER -
G'day folks,
Today, I'm pleased to present one of Australia's most noted authors, publishers, and characters. 
Paul Collins has written many books for young adults, but has many strings to his bow. He’s been an agent, publisher, writer and editor. He is best known for his fantasy and science fiction titles in The Jelindel Chronicles and The Quentaris Chronicles. The Earthborn Wars trilogy was published by Tor in the US.

Paul has been short-listed for many awards and has won the Inaugural Peter McNamara, A Bertram Chandler, Aurealis and William Atheling awards. However, he has just published his latest novel, and it’s presented here today.

Over to you, Paul, and welcome …

 JAMES GONG: THE BIG HIT



Publisher: Hybrid PublishersDistributor: New HollandRRP $16.95ISBN: 978-1-925736-44-1
Synopsis:
James Gong is training for his black belt in taekwondo. One night a camera crew from Hollywood Productions turns up at training for an episode of My Life, only to see James at his most ornery aggressiveness. They love James' jumping spinning sidekick, and decide to star him in a small budget flick. Trouble is, Hollywood Productions is a scam company that basically produces B grade ‘loser’ movies to offset huge tax bills.

Meanwhile, James, who likes his sister Caitlin’s best friend, Amber, thinks his sudden film career will curry favour. Not so. If anything, Amber shuns him more so. Hollywood Productions may want to lose money, but underestimates their star.



About the author:
Paul Collins has written many books for younger readers. He is best known for his fantasy and science fiction titles: The Jelindel Chronicles and The Quentaris Chronicles ─ co-edited with Michael Pryor. His trade series The Earthborn was published in America by Tor. Paul has been short-listed for many awards and has won the Inaugural Peter McNamara, A Bertram Chandler, Aurealis and William Atheling awards.
The Book!

I originally wrote James Gong – The Big Hit as a book for Lothian back in the days when they were publishing a stack of my books. These included six Quentaris Chronicles titles, The Great Ferret Race and The Dog King. I was also co-editing the series with Michael Pryor – we produced about thirty titles all up.
Alas, Lothian was bought out by Transworld and within weeks, Hachette took out Transworld. Although he Quentaris Chronicles held on for six more titles with Hachette, Lothian’s other books were dropped. As an aside, one of them went on to sell to Penguin, so there was an upside!
But not so The Big Hit as it was known as back then. It did the rounds but nobody seemed interested. At that time there was what’s known in the industry as the mid-list implosion. Many publishers were getting rid of those authors who weren’t performing so well sales-wise. It’s getting worse now, as I see some former A-list authors getting published by smaller presses.
But back to James Gong! I originally got that idea from The Age newspaper. There was a big article on the bottom of the harbour schemes whereby businesses would deliberately strip themselves of assets just prior to tax returns thus avoiding tax to the ATO. There’s an article on it here: 
 ARTICLE

So I figured, okay, what say we have a martial artist kid who gets spotted by a talent scout who’s associated with a shonky producer that needs to lose some money on producing a really bad movie to avoid paying tax.
I’ve since learnt that a similar idea was used in The Producers (‘Springtime for Hitler’), but I really did get this idea from The Age. A bit of trivia: I wrote Cyberskinin 1994 and Hybrid published it, and that’s who James Gong – The Big Hit is published by. Anyway, the elevator pitch for Cyberskin might be: Movie star is filmed basically making snuff movies whereby people have to fight to stay alive. The movies are screened worldwide as gladiatorial sport. Sound familiar? The Hunger Games might have the same pitch. But I wrote Cyberskintwo decades before Suzanne Collins wrote her series. It happens.
But I’ve digressed again. One of my tips is to never throw out a manuscript. The Beckoning was written even before Cyberskin, and I finally resurrected it and finally sold it to Damnation Books. I took the same line of approach with James Gong.



I can honestly say the lead-time between writing the first draft to when it was actually published was around thirty-five years. I dabbled with it from time to time, added things, deleted scenes, etc. It’s been very much a hobby book, during which time I had other books commissioned by Scholastic and others. One thing most people don’t realise is that often, authors write for specific markets. And The Big Hit didn’t really fit into what people were looking for at the time. Hence it usually took a backseat to books that I had commissioned and knew would sell.
When I finally had the draft I was happy with, I secured an agent who thought it was great. Alas, she had no luck in placing it. She tried about fifteen publishers and gave up.
This worried me somewhat. As the publisher at Ford Street Publishing, I reckon I know a good book when I read one. I hope that doesn’t sound too bigheaded, but I knew there were way worse books being published. Regardless, cutting a long story short, I remember Hybrid telling me that they’d always publish me if I sent them another manuscript. So I tested them and sent James Gong – The Big Hit.
The publisher got back to me some weeks later and said he’d be true to his word and publish the book. He added that quite apart from keeping his word, he actually thought it was a great read.
You can imagine his delight when four book clubs pre-ordered 2000+ copies. When this happens you know the book has legs. Book clubs get offered most of the books being published in the country by the major publishers. So for a small press to get a book taken up by four of them, you have to say the publishers who rejected the book got it wrong. 2000 pre-sales is a good figure to any publisher, big or small.
Re the book itself, it contains parts of my life. I have two black belts in martial arts and was trained in kick-boxing by Dana Goodson, then Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion of Australia. So all of that experience hopefully shines through in the book.



It’s early days, but so far a couple of reviewers have given it ‘Highly recommended’ reviews. Here’s one from a teacher-librarian in Queensland:
REVIEW



My partner, fellow children’s writer, Meredith Costain, has produced a trailer for it. Watch it here: 
BOOK TRAILER

WEBSITE
'James Gong: The Big Hit' is available from all good bookshops and via my own website.
Clancy's comment: Well done, Paul. I hope you sell squillions of this book. Keep up the good work, and stay safe.
I'm ...




 

20 April 2020 - JENN BRINK - GUEST AUTHOR

 JENN BRINK - GUEST AUTHOR -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview a genre-crossing author from the U.S.A.
Welcome, Jenn ...

1.   TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.
I write mostly fiction, although I am working on a NF novel, Addy Is A Bitch, about my journey from diagnosis to learning to live with Addison’s Disease. I have published an AF series, the Jessica Hart series. At this time there are four books (Black Roses, Cerulean Seas, and Silver Bells). I am working on a fourth as yet unnamed novel. I am also working on a YA novel, Unearthly Tides.

2.   WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?
I started writing about eight years ago. We had just moved to Tacoma, WA area. We didn’t have any friends in the area. I had been unsuccessful finding a job I wanted. My husband was working 16 hour days. I had one kid in school all day and two babies and a seizure ridden dog at home. I got bored one day and started writing a story, for my sanity. I became obsessed with it, finishing it two moves and one new chronic illness later, which isn’t as long as it sounds. That book was Black Roses.
3.    WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?
I get an idea, write on it and if it takes over my focus, make it a book. The story writes itself. Unfortunately, it doesn’t name itself.

4.   WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
I like immersing myself into a world of my own where time stands still. It is relaxing and soothes the spirit. Then, I get to share it with people. I absolutely love hearing from people who read my stories and knowing that for a moment, my world was real in someone else’s imagination.

5.   WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
The hardest thing for me is keeping a writing schedule. My brain does its best writing when I’m not thinking about it, but you have to sit down and think about it or you’ll never get anything written. I like to keep things creative and flow into the project or not, but that doesn’t get things done.
I also really hate selling my books. Having to pitch them, and explain them. I just want to say, “I have this book. You’ll like it.” and give it to the reader, but you don’t make any money doing that and money makes the world go ‘round.




6.   WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?
I have an MS in Psychological Services and spent ten years in mental health. I worked with the severely mentally ill, sexual assault, domestic violence, addiction, kids, adults, victims, and perpetrators. I’ve been to the darkest regions of the most twisted souls minds and pieced back the mental fabric of the broken.

7.   WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?
I haven’t achieved it yet.

8.   WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Life inspires me. Real life, people on the streets, overheard conversations, stories people tell, news clips, possibilities. Movies and books influence me, but without real life and real people it all falls flat. I base my stories and characters on real life, with a twist of what if.

9.   WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?
I’m a certified genre crosser. My Jessica Hart series is mystery, adventure, mixed with comedy and a trace of romance.
My NF, Addy Is A Bitch, is of course a less than series look at a very series subject.
My YA is a modern day pirate adventure novel with a scifi twist.
10.                DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?
Writing is the easy part.




11.                DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?
No, but I do suffer from a poor attention span and lack of structure, not in my writing but with my writing.

12.                DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
I like to write in the midmorning to early afternoon. I’m not a morning person, so it takes a couple of hours to get my brain in gear. And, as the day wears on, that brain gets tired. I’ve found that just about everything I write in the evening gets thrown out the next day.

13.                DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?
We move around a lot, so I do not have a cool Hemmingway room to write in, but I want one. Each house we live in has a spot where I just seem to write better. Although sometimes, when everyone is home and I need to write, I go sit in my care someplace where I can stare at nature and write. I can’t write with people around, they talk to me.




14.                WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN WRITING?
Creating something new but real.

15.                WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?
I have a lot of respect for so many authors, but no real favourite. I tend to read everything I can by an author, and then suddenly tire of them and move on to something new. I’ll read almost anything.

16.                WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?
That I was they’re favorite author. It gave me warm fuzzies.

17.                WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?
I had a reader give me a bad review (yes, I read them) complaining that my book was nothing about Thailand. They were right, it wasn’t about Thailand. That was just the setting. It bothered me because they obviously expected something completely different than what I had offered (did they even read the synopsis?) and then got upset about it. It was unfair.
18.                WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
Every day.
19.                OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
I’m an artist at heart. I enjoy painting. I taught my kids about the colorwheel and how to draw and paint on different mediums. I made some super cool stuff out of old bourbon barrel lids when we were in Kentucky. I enjoy photography, but not enough to become more than a semi-talented dabbler. Currently, I’m fascinated with upcycling furniture. I love the concept of taking something useless and bringing it new life.




20.                DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?
I am a firm believer in a proper edit. Edit, edit, edit…. It is absolutely amazing what difference a good edit makes in the plotline and readability of a book.

21.                WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
We are about to PCS (Permanent Change of Station) to the D.C. area. The Army hasn’t told us exactly when to be there – sometime between April and August. So, I need to finish up some projects to free my time up to begin the moving process. We do this approximately every 1.5-3 years, so we’re pros.
22.                 WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON BOOK TRAILERS? DO THEY SELL BOOKS?
I’m not sure. I haven’t seen enough numbers to form an opinion.

23.                DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?
My main character, Jessica Hart in my series is my alter-ego. She is based on the person I might have been, if I had chosen another path.
24.                DOES THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?
Frustrates, intimidates, keeps me up at night try to understand it. Yes.

25.                DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?
When I’m out of stories, or get bored, I’ll move onto something else. Until then, I’ll write.

26.                WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES? EVER WRITTEN A SCREENPLAY?
I think every writer imagines their book as a movie. It’s easy for me to imagine because when I write, it’s like I’m watching a movie. I write in scenes that play out before my imagination. I did consider writing a screenplay, but I haven’t the faintest how to go about it.





27.                HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?
Book covers aren’t my lane. I either like them or don’t. I don’t design them.
28.                  WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?
I’m not good at the business part. I need to sell enough books that I can hire someone to do that for me.



WEBSITE

Clancy's comment:  Well done. Keep going. I wish you heaps of sales.
I'm ...

19 April 2020 - THE SECRET DRAKELOW TUNNELS in ENGLAND

THE SECRET DRAKELOW 
TUNNELS in ENGLAND 


G'day folks,Near Birmingham, England three and a half miles of top-secret tunnels housed a World War II “shadow factory” and a Cold War nuclear bunker.  Beneath Kingsford Country Park, north of Kidderminster in Worcestershire, England, the Drakelow Tunnels are a former underground military complex. Make that a “top secret” underground military complex. 

 Not far from Birmingham, the tunnels have a colorful history. They were dug between 1941 and 1942 in order to build a “shadow factory” for the Rover car company, mostly machining parts for aircraft engines. A shadow factory was a method of production devised in Britain in the late 1930s, whereby both knowledge and machinery could be cross-pollenated between industries, by experts “shadowing” each other, as at Drakelow between auto and aircraft manufacturers. The underground works were comprised of three and a half miles of tunnels, and were used throughout World War II and for most of the 1950s, first for aircraft then for tank engines. By 1961 a different kind of shadow fell over Drakelow. The British Government took half of the tunnels and converted them into a top secret “shadow government” headquarters, one of thirteen such sites in the UK forming a network of underground bunkers like Drakelow.  This was the height of the Cold War era, and the thinking was if things up top got out of hand the British Government could still run the country from down below. 

 Drakelow soldiered on in secrecy until 1993 when it was decommissioned, and the miles of tunnels and outdated equipment was sold into private hands. Since the sale, the Drakelow Tunnels Preservation Trust has been working to restore the complex to its former glory, hoping to create a comprehensive Cold War Museum. They have their work cut out for them, but there are sections that are already open for visitors. There’s a lot to discover in the shadows down there, but maybe soon, not so many secrets.  Clancy's comment: Wow. So many secretive places in the world, eh? I guess James Bond knew about it
I'm ...

18 April 2020 - A COLLECTION OF MAJOR STUFF UPS

A COLLECTION OF 
MAJOR STUFF UPS
G'day folks,
Check out these major stuff ups. Ever seen these types of things?






















































Clancy's comment: Mm ... Where was the supervisor?
I'm ...