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Newsletter Archive
December 10, 2022
'Chilly, but chilled'
Hello again, Reader. Or welcome, if you're new!
Winter has finally arrived in force here, we had temperatures well below freezing for the first time this season, and naturally our boiler decided to take the night off. Fortunately it just needed a stern talking to, a swift reset, and the house is warming back up again... As beautiful as the view is covered in frost, I do prefer it to be outside the walls. My writing den is nice and warm again now, which is just as well - I need to keep that writing streak going, which is difficult with frostbite. This newsletter reaches you just two days before my three-year anniversary of consistently writing every day, and I'd hate to break the habit now. I've written well over 700,000 words in that time, and you can always keep up to date on my progress via my website - markhoodauthor.com By the way, I recently gave that site a facelift - I'd love to know what you think! Check it out, and you can just reply to this email, it'll come straight to me. I hope you're staying warm (or cool, depending on your local climate, I have readers all over the world) and that the holiday preparations are going well.
Space News
Extraterrestrial Live Meerkat Radio Telescope
I've always been fascinated by the idea that there might be life out in the universe, and I suspect it's something all Science Fiction fans are intrigued by. So SETI (the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) is a field I have a lot of love for. That search just got a gigantic boost - an array of 64 dishes in a remote part of South Africa has been added, which will increase the number of targets that can be surveyed by a thousand times. Not adding a thousand, multiplying by a thousand. Oh, and it's called MeerKAT, which of course brings the visual of 64 adorable rodents peeking their heads up... A project scientist explained: "MeerKAT will provide us with the ability to detect a transmitter akin to Earth's brightest radio beacons out to a distance of 250 light years in our routine observing mode." In other words, if there is life out there, and it's anywhere nearby, we have an excellent chance of detecting it. Add to this the James Webb telescope's newly demonstrated ability to analyse the chemical composition of atmospheres, and I honestly think we'll have proven that life exists beyond Earth within the next two years. Maybe we won't have found intelligence, but we're on the threshold of proving we're not alone, as so many Science Fiction fans have long believed.
MeerKAT array - a bank of radio telescopes against a starry background.
Source: engadget.com
Other Books To Check Out
I've gathered a few great books from independent authors like me, I hope you'll check them out.
And let me know if you have any books to recommend! I'm particularly interested in indie authors, but anything you've read and loved would be awesome.
The Vials of our Wrath
Free
Would you live forever?
In the halcyon days of the twenty-third century, human beings are healthier, more beautiful, and more long-lived than ever before thanks to regeneration therapy from the Global Health Directorate. The assassination of a Directorate scientist starts a war between a genocidal bureaucracy and a group of self-mutilating religious fanatics. Dr. Rosemary "Roger" Mitchell must find her way through the violence and chaos to save as many as she can.
Boxset
They aren't nice, and they aren't trying to get along.
The fae, shifters, and humans of this world are not one big happy family, and in this massive collection of new fantasy romance tales from 19 authors, their worlds are about to collide. There won't just be danger; there will be an all out war.
Hannah of Planet Ecco
Free
One lost soul is brought back for a final mission..
In a far-future where mankind dominates the outer rims of space, special combat soldier Hannah is forced back into service, for one last mission that proves to be a sinister one, throwing Hannah head-first into unforeseen yet familiar territory.
SFF Book Bonanza!
A selection of the finest speculative fiction, free for a limited time.
A Science Fiction and Fantasy giveaway, literally dozens of free books which means there's something here for everyone. It's neatly categorised too, so it's never been easier to find your idea read!
Pick up a couple today, and then drop the author a line, telling them what you think! Believe me, it really makes a writer's day when they get an email like that.
Strange News
The greatest movie Scorsese never made
Often we hear about movies that were planned, written, but never made. Or occasionally, made but never released, locked in a vault for ever. But 'Goncharov' is an even odder story.
There's been a lot of talk on Tumblr about the greatest mafia movie ever made.
Released in 1973, the little-seen Scorsese flick starred Robert De Niro as Goncharov, "a former discotheque owner who comes to Naples after the fall of the Soviet Union" with the goal of becoming a mob boss. Harvey Keitel plays the eye-patched Andrey (or Andrei) "The Banker" Daddano; Gene Hackman plays Valery Michailov; Al Pacino appears as Mario Ambrosini and Cybill Shepherd plays Goncharov's wife, Katya. Apparently, it was really good and was added to the Criterion Collection.
And you've never heard of it because it doesn't actually exist.
If you think that's bizarre, the idea came from a cheap pair of knock-off boots, printed with garbled English... And the internet did what it did best, ran with it. There are posters, reviews, comic books, soundtracks, and a whole lot more.
I love seeing the creation of a new myth, and the collaborative effort involved in this one is frankly remarkable. At a time when it feels like the internet is imploding under the weight of hatred, mistrust and money-grabs, it's wonderful to see some pure creativity and cooperation to remind us what we are truly capable of.
Movie poster for 'Goncharov' - mafia men overlaid on a backdrop of Moscow and Naples.
Source: The Guardian
Miscellany
Gorgeous Lunar Eclipse Image
Andrew McCarthy used two telescopes and cameras to capture a lunar eclipse from his back garden, and made the resultant image available in 4K resolution, ideal for your PC wallpaper. Absolutely gorgeous, and the detail when you zoom in is just remarkable. At the time of writing, he still has calendars of his wonderful photos too: https://cosmicbackground.io/products/2023-cosmic-calendar
Source: twitter.com
A Very Shropshire Christmas
I live in Shropshire, and am always on the lookout for local myths, legends and stories. One blogger has an absolute wealth of information on the region, and this article about the traditions of Christmas is well worth a look. It contains everything from kneeling cattle that can strike you blind, to fairies punishing you for not properly polishing your pewter.
Source: nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com
The real life origins of movie monsters
I think we all know Dracula was inspired by Vlad the Impaler, but do you know where the idea for Pennywise the clown came from? Or Freddy Krueger? What about the Blob?
Source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!
And Finally
Top 80 greatest guitar intros
I'm in awe of this guy - not only did he manage to choose 80 great intros spanning decades, he learned them, played them in order and did it all from memory.
Source: youtube.com