24 August 2012 - Sir Bob Geldof KBE

Quote of the day:

"Life wasn't meant to be easy ...

but was it meant to be this difficult?"

Sir Bob Geldof  KBE

(Robert Frederick Zenon 'Bob' Geldof , KBE - Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor, and political activist)

G'day guys,

Today I'm pleased to introduce a guy who has had my attention for many decades - Sir Bob Geldof, who first became known as a member of the Irish rock group the Boom Town Rats. However, it wasn't until 1984 when he took on a whole new persona. That was the year Bob toured Ethiopia and Sudan during a massive famine. His articulate descriptions of what he saw in those famines is moving, and his immediate actions to raise the world's awareness of the starving hordes is legendary. If you get a chance, beg, borrow or steal a book that will inspire and enchant you, "Bob Geldof - Is That It?' - Penguin Books 1986.

As a result of his experiences in Sudan and Ethiopia, the greatest rock events the world has ever known, 'Live Aid' and 'Band Aid'  were organised - New York (John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia) and London (Wembley Stadium) on the same day, organised by Bob and Midge Ure. It was one of the largest-scale satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time: an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion, across 150 nations, watched the live broadcast. Similar live concerts were also organised in Germany and Australia.

Phil Collins appeared on stage in London, then caught a plane and appeared on the New York stage, much to the excitement of all those who attended the concert in both cities. The following are some of the famous stars who gave up their time to support the starving: Phil Collins, Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Madonna, Boy George, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, and dozens of others.

A long playing record (LP) was produced as a result of that concert to raise money for the people in Sudan and Ethiopia. This LP was supposedly to be tax-free. However, one lunch time I ran down town to a large and well known record store in Melbourne, Australia to buy one, but found it was more expensive than had been advertised. I asked the shop attendent why it was more expensive. He replied, 'It's the tax.' Without hesitating, I asked for the store manager who arrived fairly smartly. What did I say to him? Simply, I told him in no uncertain terms that the LP was supposed to be tax-free and, if he did not remove the tax, I'd stay in his store and ring every television and radio station and tell them what sharks they were.  Fortunately he was smart enough to change the cost of the LP's - on the spot!

My point about the record shop relates to the likes of Bob Geldof ... oops, Sir Bob. What I did is exactly what Bob, Bono and other human rights activists and lawyers have been doing for years - SOMETHING! Yep, taking a personal stand on an issue that matters. There is an old expression which I often use. It is very relevant, 'Bad things only happen because good people allow them to happen.'

Bob Geldof is often described as scruffy, poorly dressed, an old Irish rockstar and other colourful terms. However, behind the facade is a sharp mind that operates like a bear trap. He is articulate and sensitive, and one of the best stand up speakers I've ever heard. So, today I have two videos about Bob Geldof. Sure, he does look scruffy, grey-haired and poorly dressed, but watch his facial expressions and listen to his words. He has more articulation and genuine sincerity than any politician I've ever heard. You can feel the pain  and passion in his voice.

You may well ask, 'Why has a rockstar like Bob Geldof become caught up in humanitarian work for the past three decades?' Great question. I personally think it's just the way he is; the way he was born, and has nothing to do with being a rockstar. However, Bob has used his notoriety and passion to achieve great things. In the book I mentioned above, he recalls conversations he had with leaders around the world, seeking money for the great unwashed. The conversations are quite blunt and amusing.

1. Here is Bob addressing the opening ceremony of the 'One Young World' Summit in Zurich, Switzerland in 2011.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlyk951rGtg

2. Here is Bob addressing the opening ceremony of the 'One Young World' summit in 1910. His advice for aspiring young leaders is fantastic. I would recommend this video to your teen kids and grandkids.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaoNCrf938E&feature=related

Question: Do you know of anyone doing great work? If so, let me know. They don't have to be a scruffy rockstar. Oops ... sorry, Bob.

Go, Bob. Love ya work! - CT

23 August 2012 - Ray Bradbury Video

Quote of the day:

"We praise the good old days,

but we have to live in the present."

Ray Bradbury

G'day guys,

Today I introduce an inspiring man who achieved much - Ray Bradbury.  Mr. Bradbury, recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, died on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91 after a long illness.

In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury has inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, teleplays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. He wrote the screen play for John Huston's classic film adaptation of Moby Dick and was nominated for an Academy Award. He adapted
sixty-five of his stories for television's The Ray Bradbury Theater, and won an Emmy for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree.

In 2005, Bradbury published a book of essays titled Bradbury Speaks, in which he wrote, "In my later years I have  looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back.  Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I've worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior."

Watch and listen carefully to this video address by Ray Bradbury. His simple philosophy, pull-no-punches-speak and attitude to technology is interesting:

Video link:  http://exp.lore.com/post/20464014771/what-youve-gotta-do-from-this-point-forward-is

Love ya work, Ray! Pax vobiscum - CT

Keep writing!

I'm Clancy Tucker.

www.clancytucker.com.au

22 August 2012 - Mark Abernethy - Guest Author

Copyright - Clancy Tucker (c)

Quote of the day:

"It’s always worth taking the
trouble to praise people."

 

Mark Abernethy - Guest Author  

G'day guys,

It's a pleasure today to introduce Mark Abernethy, my guest author. Mark is an accomplished author with a few books under his belt. He is a proud Australian and I'm happy to freely promote his work. This is his story:

1.  TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND
YOUR WRITING JOURNEY?

My first attempt at writing was song-writing in my early teens, when I was growing up in New Zealand. When I first went to uni to study law I didn’t enjoy my studies but I realised I liked writing the essays in my history and English lit classes. From mucking around on the campus newspaper to doing a journalism diploma seemed like a normal step and after 18, 19 years of journalism, and ghost writing business books, I tried writing a novel: Golden Serpent.

 2. WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?

After years of being a journalist, I had this idea that there were no Aussie versions of Tom Clancy, Frederick Forsythe etc. In mind-2006 I wrote six chapters of my idea and showed them to an agent. He showed them to Allen & Unwin and Golden Serpent was published in 2007.

 3.    WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?

I like being able to work from home, I like to be my own boss, wear whatever
footwear I choose and not be trapped in too many meetings. What I like most about being a writer is creating characters and getting them into trouble.

 4.    WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?

Although I don’t mind my own company, the solitude of the profession can be hard. You have to talk to other writers, go for a drink, go to the writers festivals etc.

5.    WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?

I have done many things: farm hand, insurance salesman, journalist and editor.

6.    WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT? Writing my first novel, Golden Serpent. I didn’t really know what I was doing – I hadn’t been to writing classes or anything like that and so I just wrote it the way I would like to read it.

7.    WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?
I’m just about to proof my sixth novel which should publish December/January and then I’ll be ghost writing a business book. I’m currently making notes for novel #7.

8.    WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

That thrill you get when you pick up a book you really like and allow yourself to be transported away into a world partly made by someone’s words, and partly made by your own mind. If I can do that for just one person, I’m happy.

9.    WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?

My Alan McQueen novels are spy thrillers, and my latest novels – written as Mark Aitken – are more military thrillers, focusing on the world of private
contractors.

10.  DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?

I have many but the best ones are not to get too bogged down in a writing guru’s rules; don’t write what you know – write what you love; be able to tell your story in one sentence; don’t ever set out to write something important.

11.  DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?

Only in small doses. Sometimes it’s more productive to shut down the laptop and leave the thing alone for a week.

12.  DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?

My preferred schedule is 9am – 12; 1pm – 4; 8pm – 11. That’s my preferred but when you have young kids, it doesn’t often work like that.

13.  DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?

I write anywhere: the kitchen table of my fiancée’s farm house in Ontario was a favourite; the desk at my old apartment in Newtown that looked out over the RPAH car park.

14.  WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN WRITING? 

Getting a chapter right: making the set-up bounce along and then giving the reader a big shake up at the end.

15.  WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?

Ian Fleming would have to be up there. I first read Dr No when I was 9 and I was hooked on Bond and whole genre after that. I also love Annie Proulx because she makes rural folks come alive, and I like Pete Dexter and Elmore Leonard because of their ear for dialogue and their clear portrayals of American men.

16.  WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?

Someone wrote me an email saying that she preferred my character Alan McQueen to Jack Reacher. I didn’t believe her, but I loved that email.

17.  WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?

It was something like, ‘I thought Arctic Floor was a Matthew Reilly book – can I get my money back?’

18.  WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?

Not really.

19.  HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED?

Ten, with one ready to go.

 20.  OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?

I love skiing, surfing, horse riding and hanging out at the beach in Coolangatta.

21.  DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY
EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?

Yes. The Allen & Unwin system is very good and you can learn a lot from how a professional edits you.

22.  DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY.

First draft is finished, a royalty cheque is in the letter box and I’m off to the airport to go to a writers festival with a good mate.

23.  WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?

Keep writing stories, probably for TV and film as well as novels. Keep Aussie characters alive in fiction, focus on entertaining the readers.

 Contact details

Mark's Website: http://alanmcqueen.com.au/

 

Recent book reviews for Mark Abernethy 

‘Golden Serpent is the most accomplished commercial spy thriller we’ve seen locally, a discerning read full of action and a kind of knowing wit. Abernethy conjures echoes of Ian Fleming, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy and the Jack Reacher novels of Lee Child.’
Graeme Blundell, Weekend Australian

“The spy thriller has traditionally not been much of a presence in Australian popular fiction. We have been dominated by the British and American product. Abernethy’s first novel follows the Tom Clancy model, but with an irreverent, distinctly Australian twist… Abernethy writes of a world where Maori mercenaries meet hi-tech shipping and the most inventive ways of killing people… For those who like thrillers, this is satisfying fare.”
Sunday Age

‘Reminiscent of a Tom Clancy thriller only with a strong Australian flavour to it.’
Crime Downunder

‘I have had the pleasure in recent years of discovering several Aussie authors – Matthew Reilly, James Phelan and David Rollins – capable of taking on the world’s best in the ‘techno-thriller’ stakes. Now add Mark Abernethy to the list.’
Sunshine Coast Daily

Mark, thanks for dropping by. Love ya work! - CT

Keep writing!

Don't be shy ... check out Mark's website, send me an email or leave a comment: clancy_tucker@hotmail.com

Thanks for listening.

I'm Clancy Tucker.

www.clancytucker.com.au

Horst Faas (c)

21 August 2012 - Great Advice from Authors

Quote of the day:

"When things go wrong, don’t
go with them."

G'day guys,

Here is a collection of comments made by published authors to aspiring writers. Mm ... it's very interesting. I've highlighted the major points. You will notice one consistent comment - DON'T GIVE UP!

Great Advice from Authors 

 * Read everything you can get your hands on. Be kind to your English teachers --- they know more than you realize (the good ones). Please don't be one of those people who just talk about being a writer... BE a writer. Write something! And never give up --- never, never, never, never.

* My advice to aspiring writers is to write as much as you can as regularly as you can --- every day, ideally. Don't wait for the mood or the muse to strike, just write. Write because you want to write rather than because you want to be a writer. Be original or don't bother.

*  I would advise anyone to write as they speak, and on the subjects that they know about.

*  Don't let anybody discourage you!

* Read lots and write often. And, truly, savor the process of writing. I had amassed over 250 rejections before I sold my first short story (to Cosmopolitan) when I was 24, so it's important to enjoy those moments when you are, literally, crafting sentences.

* Don't quit the day job! I gave a talk at Maui this year on ten things every writer should know: Read. Read. Read. Outline. Outline. Outline. Write. Write.Write. Repeat. That's it!

*  Write. But seriously --- 1) get some reporting experience early on. There is no better training. 2) Read Orwell's Politics and the English Language. 3) As my writing professor, the great William Zinsser, used to tell us, "Be grateful for every word you can cut."

*  Write, write, write! Read, read, read! Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite! Share it with a few people you trust, who can give feedback you'll respect. Send it out. Don't be afraid of rejection. Everyone gets rejected and will be rejected throughout their lives at one time or another. Do it because you must, because you want to, need to, couldn't live with yourself otherwise. If you do it for the fame and glory, you may fall hard on your face.

* Keep writing. Join a writer's group or writing class. If you have something that you can send out, try to get an agent. Go to the library and look up in Literary Market Place the list of agents, and send out letters to agents. The most important thing is to keep writing.

* Write everyday, even if only for a few minutes. To even accomplish a few minutes of writing you have to think about the story and the characters. Writing everyday keeps them fresh in your mind. When they are in your mind you are constantly working the story. A lot of writing takes place away from the computer or the pad and pencil. This little trick keeps that creative process going.

* Write about what obsesses you.

* There are only two rules I'd give to aspiring writers: one, write what you enjoy reading and, two, never, ever, ever give up; rejection is a speed bump, not a brick wall.

* I'm not sure I would presume to give advice, but here are some things I tell myself: If writing is important to you, you must be prepared to work hard at it, and simplify your life so that you can give your art the time and energy it requires. Read widely, practice for long hours. Like a potter, you must be willing to throw away misshaped pieces. You must be willing to take risks, try new forms, grow with each thing you write. You must try to tell the truth as best you are able.

*  Don't outline your stories. DO NOT outline your stories. I know some writers do this, but I think the writing process asks us to surrender to the mysteries of the unknown. Nowhere in our culture is this taught. You have to trust your gut, trust your characters to take a story where it's going to go; and, more often than not, it does that. That's my two cents.

* Read the best books and write as often as you possibly can. And be respectful of your work. Give it your best shot.

* Don't give up. It's not a hobby. You can't be a weekend dabbler. You have to commit. If you can, take a few months off from your job. Writing is not a part-time occupation. And remember that publishing a book is not just writing --- you have to promote the book, read the contracts.

*  Write every day. Find the hours that suit you. Sit there until something comes. Don't judge what you write that day --- you can do that tomorrow. And if nothing comes, you can edit what you did before. One more thing....your agent does NOT know more than you do, and neither does your editor. I listen to advice, but I don't always follow it.

*  Read everything, especially the classics and poetry. Eavesdrop on real conversations. Don't watch too much TV, nobody talks like TV people do. Don't ever be too attached to anything you've written; you are the vehicle for the word, not it's creator. Write what you're obsessed by.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate your comments. - CT

Question: have you got any good advice for emerging / aspiring writers?

Keep writing!

I'm Clancy Tucker.

www.clancytucker.com.au

Paris Holocaust Memorial.

20 August 2012 - Author Interview Videos

Quote of the day:

"It is not the size of the dog in the fight

but it is the size of the fight in the dog which counts."

G'day guys,

Today I'm offering you some author interview videos, courtesy of YouTube. The Louis Sachar and Henry Winkler videos are excellent. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vUpO5cgZ1w&feature=channel&list=UL Louis Sachar .... interesting ... great philosophy about writing a book.

*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHgVpLflbp8&feature=autoplay&list=UL7vUpO5cgZ1w&playnext=1 Henry Winkler ... great attitude.

*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGrao0kkVkc&feature=autoplay&list=ULFHgVpLflbp8&playnext=2 Gary Zukav

*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JjFn2kMrbM&feature=relmfu Richard Bach

Question: which video did you like most, and why?

Keep writing!

Thanks for listening.

I'm Clancy Tucker

www.clancytucker.com.au

19 August 2012 - Self-publishing vs Vanity-publishing

Writing tip of the day:

Self-publishing vs Vanity-publishing

Generally speaking, traditional publishers do not ask authors to contribute to the cost of publishing. Well, I've been approached by such publishers. Two in fact, and I rejected both contracts. Traditional publishers are a genuine business, so they have to decide if your work will sell.

What is vanity-publishing? Mm ... there have been countless stories told about how authors were ripped off. There is a general trend as to how it goes ... you're frustrated that your masterpiece has not been snapped up by a mainstream publisher. Then, someone approaches you, offers you the world, you sign on the dotted line, they take your money and that's about it.  Generally, the vanity-publisher isn't interested in flogging your book, making you the next J K Rowling, marketing or distributing your priceless book. Nope, they have already made a profit from you. See ya later, buddy! The vanity-publisher per se, has no connection with bookshops or distributors. So, what happens? You are left with a garage full of books. End of story.

 Genuine publishers offer an author a range of services: editing, book design, distribution and marketing. The author has complete control over every stage of production - number of copies, cover and promotion.

Self-publishing: This has been around for ages, and some of the world's most renowned authors have self-published: Virginia Woolf, Mark Twain, James Joyce and William Blake. I did too, and this is fast becoming the way to go for many writers, probably out of frustration. However, one has to approach it with a business mind. There are two things that are vital as an author: able to write and an ability to be a business person. The latter is possibly far more important, as you will find out from the comments made by the many guest authors I have on this blog. If you ignore the business side, forget it. Find a new hobby.

I have mentioned many points in previous postings that are necessary in preparing a book for publishing: cover design, ISBN numbers, colour of paper, font, layout, graphic design etc. However, all these things, and more, will be organised for you if you can find a mainstream publisher to pick up your work.

So, don't buy some champaigne and get all hot and flustered when a publisher raves about your manuscript. Take a deep breath, step back and give it some serious thought. It might be the best decision you ever made.

Keep writing!

Thanks for listening.

I'm Clancy Tucker

www.clancytucker.com.au

18 August 2012 - FAME and FEAR

Quote of the day:

"For when the one great scorer

comes to write against your name,

he marks not that you won or lost ...

but how you played the game."

FAME & FEAR

Whilst most of us lucky ones have been enjoying the Olympic Games, others around the world have been trying to survive. The following is a collection of photographs courtesy of the brilliant photographers at Reuters: Russell Boyce, Max Rossi, Lucy Nicholson, Eddie Keogh, Petr Josek, Fred Prouser, Jeff Tuttle, Tom Peter, Yorgos Karahalis, Carlos Barria and others. Compare the photographs below. The Olympic photographs are bright and colourful. The others are drab.  Life can really suck sometimes! How lucky are we?

Clancy Tucker

17 August 2012 - A Few Reminders

Quote of the day:

"Knowledge is experience.

Anything else is just information."

G'day guys,

A few timely reminders. These are the points I published in 'Kid Magazine' in the USA in February 2005. They still apply.

* If you are really serious about becoming a writer, try to write 2,000 words a day.

* Accept rejection as part of the journey.

* Seek criticism, swallow it, take it on board objectively and use it to improve.

* Read similar work published by other writers ... learn, don’t copy.

* Find something you are passionate about and write passionately about it.

* Revise, revise, revise ... don’t change things for the sake of change. Alter your work to make it better.

* Never give up.

Australian Nobel Prize Winners

Australia is considered to be the driest continent on earth. It is also massive in size and rich in mineral deposits. The largest uranium and coal deposits in the world are found in Australia. The 'lucky country' contains a mere 22.5  million people; tiny when you compare it to other smaller nations that have massive populations. Thailand has 70 million people. Bangkok alone contains 10 million people and as many cars.

Australia has done remarkably well to produce extraordinary sports people, but also people who have made a great contribution to mankind. These are the Aussies who have won a Nobel Prize - courtesy of whitehat.com.au:

Lawrence Bragg & William Bragg,
physicists received the Nobel Prize in 1915 for their work in x-ray crystallography. They remain the only father and son team to be awarded the prize, and Lawrence who was  aged 25 at the time is still the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize for science.

Howard Florey received the prize in 1945 along with Alexander Fleming and Ernest Chain (both British) for their work on the medicinal properties of penicillin. It was Florey who later turned penicillin into the practical drug which was to save millions of lives.

Macfarlane Burnett received the prize in 1960 for his work on immunology.

John Eccles received the prize in 1963 along with Andrew Huxley and Alan Hodgkin (both British) for their work on nerve cells.

Bernard Katz - received the prize in 1970 for Physiology and Medicine.

Patrick White received the prize in 1973 for literature.

John Cornforth received the prize in 1975  for chemistry.

John Harsanyi (Hungarian & Australian) who received the prize in 1994 for his mathematical contributions to economics.

Peter Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel (Swiss & Australian) who received the prize in 1996  for their work in immunology.

Barry Marshall and Robin Warren received the prize in 2005 for their discovery in 1982 of the Helicobacter pyloribacterium which causes stomach ulcers and gastritis.

Elizabeth Blackburn (dual Australian/American citizen) became Australia's first female Nobel Prize winner for her work in chemistry and genetics in October 2009 sharing the prize with her US-based colleagues Carol Greider and Jack Szostak.

Brian Schmidt received the prize in 2011 together with Adam Riess a and Saul Perlmutter (both American) for their work in physics which showed that universe was expanding at an accelerating rate.

COMING UP!

I have a few surprises coming up. You probably know that I'm involved in human rights - in any shape or form. Soon, I will have some great guests who are also involved in the rights of others. A top human rights Queens Counsel from London will be my guest. Also, a former top diplomat from Thailand will join me. He is a man who is revered in Thailand as an author and artist. At a later date his son will also join me as my guest. He is a very good writer, currently working as a senior diplomat in the Middle East. I've read some of his work and it's excellent.

Other top writers and authors will appear in the weeks to come. Stay tuned!

Keep writing!

I'm Clancy Tucker

www.clancytucker.com.au

16 August 2012 - Carlos Fuentes

Quote of the day:

"You must have discipline for your writing. It is not an easy task. It is very lonely. You're all alone. You are not in company. You are not enjoying yourself in that sense. You are enjoying yourself in another sense. You are delving into your depths, but you are profoundly lonely. It is one of the loneliest careers in the world. In the theater, you are with companions, with directors, actors. In film. In an office. In writing, you are alone. That takes a lot of strength and a lot of will to do it. You must really be in love with what you're doing to tolerate the huge loneliness of writing." - Carlos Fuentes.

G'day guys,

Today I'm introducing some interesting facts about a very interesting author - the late Carlos Fuentes, author, scholar and Mexican Diplomat who made the above statement on 2 June 2006. Mr Fuentes died at the age of 83.

Enjoy, courtesy of 'The New York Times' (c) - published May 15th 2012.

Carlos Fuentes

Mr. Fuentes was one of the most admired writers in the Spanish-speaking world, a catalyst, along with Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Julio Cortázar, of the explosion of Latin American literature in the 1960s and ’70s, known as El Boom. He wrote plays, short stories, political nonfiction and novels, many of them chronicles of tangled love.

Mr. Fuentes received wide recognition in the United States in 1985 with his novel “The Old Gringo,” a convoluted tale about the American writer Ambrose Bierce, who disappeared during the Mexican Revolution. It was the first book by a Mexican novelist to become a best seller north of the border, and it was made into a 1989 film starring Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda.

In the tradition of Latin American writers, Mr. Fuentes was politically engaged, writing magazine, newspaper and journal articles that criticized the Mexican government during the long period of sometimes repressive single-party rule that ended in 2000 with the election of an opposition candidate, Vicente Fox Quesada. Mr. Fuentes was more ideological than political. He tended to embrace justice and basic human rights regardless of political labels. He supported Fidel Castro’s revolution in Cuba, but turned against it as Mr. Castro became increasingly authoritarian. He sympathized with Indian rebels in
the southern Mexican state of Chiapas and skewered the administration of George W. Bush over its antiterrorism tactics and immigration policies, calling them unduly harsh.

He was also critical of Venezuela’s leftist leader, Hugo Chávez, however, calling him a “tropical Mussolini,” and of his own country’s failure to stem its rampant drug violence. On the day he died the newspaper Reforma published a hopeful essay by him on the change of
power in France.

Mr. Fuentes was appointed the Mexican ambassador to France in 1975, but he resigned two years later to protest the appointment of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz as ambassador to Spain. Mr. Díaz Ordaz had been president of Mexico in 1968 when Mexican troops opened fire on student protesters in Mexico City.

But it was mainly through his literature, Mr. Fuentes believed, that he could make his voice heard, and he did so prolifically and inventively, tracing the history of modern Mexico in
layered stories that also explored universal themes of love, memory and death.
In “The Death of Artemio Cruz,” a 1962 novel that many call his masterpiece, his title character, an ailing newspaper baron confined to his bed, looks back at his climb out of poverty and his heroic exploits in the Mexican Revolution, concluding that it had failed in its promise of a more egalitarian society.

Though Mr. Fuentes wrote in just about every genre, including opera (a 2008 work inspired by the life of Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna, the wooden-legged president of Mexico during the mid 19th-century), he declined to write an autobiography.

“One puts off the biography like you put off death,” he once said. “To write an autobiography is to etch the words on your own gravestone.”

Carlos Fuentes was born on Nov. 11, 1928, in Panama, the son of Berta Macías and Rafael Fuentes, a member of Mexico’s diplomatic corps. As his father moved among Mexican embassies, Mr. Fuentes spent his early childhood in several South American countries. Then, in 1936, the family was transferred to Washington, where Mr. Fuentes learned to speak English fluently while enrolled in a public school.

In 1940 the family was transferred again, this time to Santiago, Chile, where he began to experiment with writing. In an interview with The Times in 1985, Mr. Fuentes said he first had to decide “whether to write in the language of my father or the language of my teachers.” He chose Spanish, he said, because he believed that it offered more flexibility
than English. There was also a practical reason. English, he said, “with a long and uninterrupted literary tradition, did not need one more writer.”

He was 16 when his family finally returned to Mexico. He knew his homeland through the stories that his grandmothers had told during the summers he spent with them.

“I think I became a writer because I heard those stories,” he said in 2006 in an interview with the Academy of Achievement, a nonprofit organization in Washington. His grandmothers fascinated him with their tales of bandits, revolution and reckless love. “They
had the whole storehouse of the past in their heads and hearts,” Mr. Fuentes
said. “So this was, for me, very fascinating, this relationship with my two grannies — the two authors of my books, really.”

When he told his family that he wanted to be a writer, his father was encouraging, but insisted that he also study law, which he did in Mexico and Switzerland. After completing his degree, Mr. Fuentes entered Mexico’s diplomatic service, while also carving out time for
his fiction. His first novel, “Where the Air Is Clear,” was published in 1958 when he turned 30. It was a literary sensation, mixing biting social commentary with interior monologues and portrayals of the subconscious. His reputation established, Mr. Fuentes left government service to devote all his energies to writing.

As an author, he said, he did not spend much time rewriting and never suffered from writer’s block. He liked to write on the right-hand pages of lined notebooks, making changes and corrections on the left-hand pages before sending a manuscript to be typed.

Professor Ortega called Mr. Fuentes “an unleashed cultural force” who avoided some of the trappings of literary celebrity. In a retrospective book that he wrote about Mr. Fuentes’s life when the writer turned 80 in 2008, Mr. Ortega wrote, “Fuentes detests the literary  life, its obligations and commitments.”

“He hasn’t created his own group, and he belongs neither to parties nor ideologies,” Mr. Ortega added. “He isn’t controlled by either the power of the state nor the power of the market.”

Mr. Fuentes’s independent thought and reputation for supporting leftist causes led to his being denied visas to enter the United States in the early 1960s. When he was refused permission to come to New York in 1963 for a presentation of an English translation of one of his books, he reacted angrily, saying, “The real bombs are my books, not me.”

Congress intervened in 1967, and the restrictions against him were lifted. Later he traveled to the United States frequently, teaching at several Ivy League universities.

For much of his career Mr. Fuentes competed for recognition and influence in Mexico and abroad with another titan of Mexican letters, the poet Octavio Paz. Mr. Fuentes received the National Order of Merit, France’s highest civilian award given to a foreigner; Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award for literature in 1994; and, in 1987, the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world’s highest literary honor. Mr. Paz, however, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1990. Mr. Fuentes, a perennial on the shortlist for the honor, never did.

Still, in his later years, Mr. Fuentes  became an elder statesman of international letters. On his 80th birthday hundreds gathered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to celebrate his life and work. He was introduced by Rubén Beltrán, the consul general of
Mexico in New York at the time.

“To speak about Carlos Fuentes is to engage inexorably in Mexican history and culture,” Mr. Beltrán said. “We cannot fathom a debate on Mexican literary and humanistic traditions in which his name and work are absent.”

Pax vobiscum, Carlos Fuentes - CT

Keep writing!

I'm Clancy Tucker

www.clancytucker.com.au

15 August 2012 - Deborah Abela - Guest Author

Quote of the day:

"A politician is a statesman

who approaches every question with an open mouth."

Adlai Stevenson

 

G'day guys,

Today we are blessed to hear from a talented Australian author - Deborah Abela. Deborah is well known for her work and has been admirably awarded and mentioned in dispatches. Welcome, Deborah.

Deborah Abela - Guest Author  

* 2012 National Year of Reading Ambassador at Australian Federal Government

* Premier's Reading Challenge Ambassador at NSW Government

* Creative writing teacher/School Library Assistant at Stanmore Public School

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT  YOUR WRITING  JOURNEY.

Like so many writers I’ve had a fascination with books and writing since I was a kid. I
wrote stories as presents and wrote plays and acted them out with my brothers
and sister to ‘entertain’ my mother (sorry mum). After finishing a
Communications degree at UTS, I begged my way into a job at the TV Production
House, Southern Star, fell into a job writing and producing a National Kids’ TV
show at Network Ten, before leaving to write novels for kids. That was 11 years
ago and this year my 19^th novel will be released.

 WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?

Professionally, my first job as a script assistant at Southern Star was about 18 years ago and
I began writing novels 11 years ago.

 WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?

Hearing and seeing the reactions of kids to my work. It’s, of course, amazing to have a
publisher who believes in your work and to receive short-listings and awards,
but to have kids love what I do, is the most enjoyable part of all.

 WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?

Doubt. It can stick me, make me want to throw work away and think about other careers.
A novel I almost threw away has just won a USBBY Outstanding International book
award in the States (The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen or The Ghosts
of Gribblesea Pier in the US) and Grimsdon, another almost binned novel, has
been one of my most loved novels to date. Even after all these years, it’s hard
to quieten the doubt.

 WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME
A WRITER?

National TV producer and writer, bartender, house cleaner, Luna Park rides operator,
checkout girl.

 WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?

I’ve been nominated over 10 times for children’s choice awards. It’s always a
delicious surprise.

 WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?

I am working on the 3^rd book in a new series called Ghost Club, inspired
by a real club that was formed by ghost enthusiasts, including Charles Dickens,
150 years ago. The two main ghost catchers are kids, Angeline and Edgar Usher.

 WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

Characters that get inside and wont let you go, people and the way they relate, stories
that have to be told, the complete and wonderfully sinking way story can take
hold of you and carry you away. Literally.

  WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?

Mostly kids’ action and comedy with touches of a speculative nature.

 DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?

Join a writers’ group, take courses, check out your local writers’ centre and what
they have to offer, don’t submit until your work is word perfect, investigate who is publishing what before you submit, go to writers’ festivals or anywhere writers are speaking and listen hard, practice, practice, practice.

 DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?

Yes.

DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?

Write early before the phone rings and I don’t go to my mail program before noon.

 DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?

Not really.

 WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN WRITING?

From a blank screen come characters who make me laugh and cry.

 WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?

So many….mmm…but I love the kids’ authors Seuss, Snicket, Stroud….so many…

 WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?

I want to be just like you.

 WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?

I guess it’s not so bad, but sometimes readers choose one novel over another and it’s
as if they have slighted your other child…

 WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?

If not in fact then absolutely in emotion.

 HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED?

19

 OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?

Trekking and walking for days in remote areas having to carry everything with us, our
last trek was into the dessert of the Northern Territory in Australia. Bike
riding, sharing laughter and tears with friends. Reading, sorry, I know that’s
obvious.

 DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?

No, but I rewrote the living daylights out of my first submission.

 DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY.

It would have friends, sun, hiking boots, good food and a waterhole of some sort.

 WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?

Keep getting lost in story and the possibilities it holds.

Deborah's awards:

USBBY Outstanding International Book Awards 2012 for The Ghosts of Gribblesea Pier (FSG, USA) Grimsdon (Random House 2010) Aurealis Awards, REAL Awards (NT, VIC, NSW and ACT children’s choice), Speech Pathology Awards and Fav kids Book Kids' Book Review 2011

The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen Shortlisted Best Children's Book Aurealis Awards and Children's Book Council Notable Book 2010

Max Remy Superspy series
KOALA awards (NSW children’s choice) 2005, 2007, 2010
YABBA (Vic children’s choice) 2007, 2010
CROC (NT children’s choice) Awards 2007
Gold Oppenheim Awards New York
Shortlisted Children's Book Council Awards USA
Angus & Robertson’s Top 50 kids Books 2008
Annual Ellie Awards USA 2007
WAYRBA (Western Australia children’s choice) 2007/2011
Shortlisted for Aurealis Awards 2003

Contact:

www.deborahabela.com

Clancy's comment: Thanks, Deborah, for sharing your life as a writer. Looking at your awards, I think I might slink away to a dark place and sharpen my pencils. Well done on your achievements - richly deserved. Love ya work! - CT

Keep writing!

Don't be shy ... send me an email or leave a comment: clancy_tucker@hotmail.com

Thanks for listening.

I'm Clancy Tucker.

www.clancytucker.com.au

14 August 2012 - Bruno Torfs - Marysville Reborn

Quote of the day:

"He who laughs, lasts!"

Mary Poole

G'day guys,

 I've often mentioned a small town called Marysville which was devastated in the Black Saturday bushfires on February 7th 2009. The raging fires took 39 lives and destroyed 536 homes and businesses, including many large guesthouses that had operated for decades. The rebuilding of the town and its businesses has been slow but inspiring. Here are some photographs to show you what the town was like - then and now. Where  I live now is an hour from Marysville and during that summer we also lived nervously, waiting for the fires to head our way. I will never forget the morning after Black Saturday. It was 6.30 am as I sat in my study with tears in my eyes as I watched an aerial view from a helicopter of the destruction of one of the most pristine towns in Australia.  A week previously, I had been the official photographer for a friend who married a Japanese model in the old Anglican church in Marysville. That day was 48 degrees. The old church was sadly decimated in the fires.

I lived in Marysville for ten years and was highly involved in the community, but I still have a close association with many who have battled enormous odds to rebuild their homes and lives since 2009.  One of the residents is an extraordinary artist - Bruno Torfs. Bruno, originally from Belgium, settled in Marysville with his beautiful family and created a gallery like no other. I visited it many times with guests from all over the world. He created the most amazing creatures and people and spread  them around his treefern-clad garden, surrounded by tall mountain ash trees. His outdoor gallery backed onto a mountain stream. It was enchanting. Something amazing appeared every time you turned a corner.

Soon I will feature my biggest connection with Bruno. I won a contest to name one of his statues that proudly sits in our town of Eildon, naming it 'The Earl of Eildon'.

Marysville before Black Saturday:

Marysville after Black Saturday:

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULvs42tpumQ

* Bruno's gallery before the fires:

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv7koRVfpzE&feature=related

* Bruno's gallery before and after the fires:

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnLZUmkX3mo&feature=related

WHAT MAGNIFICENT WORK!

* Bruno's gallery has now been rebuilt. Watch the opening ceremony:

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWXEGPdwzUM

* VIDEO AND SONG BY GREG CHAMPION - "THIS WAS MY TOWN":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0LpKT_-Kmw

You have to admire the human spirit, eh?

Love ya work, Bruno ... love ya work, Marysville - CT

Clancy Tucker