Tony Squire's Blog
November 14, 2021
A little snippet from my book 'Buckley Saves Christmas'
Here is an excerpt from my latest story, 'Buckley Saves Christmas', which is set during the drought of 1902. This story will be available to buy next week, so watch out for it in online stores.
"As they approached, Buckley spied a young aboriginal boy, sitting on a branch, peering at them through the foliage. “Hello young fella,” said Buckley, waving in the direction of the tree. “Who are you talking to?” enquired Archie. “The young lad over yonder in the tree. Can’t you see him?” said Buckley. “No mate, I obviously haven’t been eating my veggies lately,” joked Archie. The young boy, realising he had been spotted, and by a Yowie no less, suddenly leapt from his place of safety, landing hard on the ground. Rising unsteadily to his feet he glanced over towards Buckley and Archie. “Jindeera!” he screamed, as he took off, as fast as his legs could carry him, towards the safety of the distant forest of gum trees. Percy, who had been watching from afar, sprang into his saddle and spurred his horse on to catch up with the terrified boy. Meanwhile, Buckley began running at what can only be described as super Yowie speed, and had soon overtaken the young boy, who had stopped as suddenly as he had started. The boy was very dirty and obviously hadn’t seen a wash basin or bar of soap for some time. His feet were bare and blistered, his hair was long and straggly, and he was dressed in a torn and dirty white shirt and black short trousers. “Jindeera, please do not eat me. Look....” said the boy, pointing to his emaciated arms, “I have no meat on me so would be a poor choice for a meal”. “That is just a myth. I do not eat people. I am your friend,” laughed Buckley as he offered his large hand in friendship, “Buckley is the name, and these two stout young fellows approaching now are my brothers Percy and Archie”. The boy was surprised and, although a little apprehensive, accepted Buckley’s hand.
#booksforkids; #Christmas; #christmasgifts; #christmasiscoming; #reading; #storytelling
"As they approached, Buckley spied a young aboriginal boy, sitting on a branch, peering at them through the foliage. “Hello young fella,” said Buckley, waving in the direction of the tree. “Who are you talking to?” enquired Archie. “The young lad over yonder in the tree. Can’t you see him?” said Buckley. “No mate, I obviously haven’t been eating my veggies lately,” joked Archie. The young boy, realising he had been spotted, and by a Yowie no less, suddenly leapt from his place of safety, landing hard on the ground. Rising unsteadily to his feet he glanced over towards Buckley and Archie. “Jindeera!” he screamed, as he took off, as fast as his legs could carry him, towards the safety of the distant forest of gum trees. Percy, who had been watching from afar, sprang into his saddle and spurred his horse on to catch up with the terrified boy. Meanwhile, Buckley began running at what can only be described as super Yowie speed, and had soon overtaken the young boy, who had stopped as suddenly as he had started. The boy was very dirty and obviously hadn’t seen a wash basin or bar of soap for some time. His feet were bare and blistered, his hair was long and straggly, and he was dressed in a torn and dirty white shirt and black short trousers. “Jindeera, please do not eat me. Look....” said the boy, pointing to his emaciated arms, “I have no meat on me so would be a poor choice for a meal”. “That is just a myth. I do not eat people. I am your friend,” laughed Buckley as he offered his large hand in friendship, “Buckley is the name, and these two stout young fellows approaching now are my brothers Percy and Archie”. The boy was surprised and, although a little apprehensive, accepted Buckley’s hand.
#booksforkids; #Christmas; #christmasgifts; #christmasiscoming; #reading; #storytelling
November 2, 2020
A small snippet from my novel 'Buckley the Yowie and the Legend of Ned Kelly'
“Buckley we require your help,” said Ned. “What is it you ask of me? replied Buckley. Ned explained that they needed a way to prevent the police from being alerted to their presence in Euroa, and the only way to do that was to cut the telegraph wires on both sides of town. Buckley, Ned and Joe set out first to the east, then to the western sides of Euroa where, a mile outside of the town, Buckley pushed over a number of telegraph poles whilst Joe and Ned set about cutting the wires with the bolt cutters. Ned and Joe were meticulous planners and had thought of everything, ensuring that they destroyed more wire than the railroad repair teams would carry. Unfortunately they had not accounted for the four railway workers who arrived on the scene to challenge them about their destructive activities. “Oy! What do you think you are you doing!?” demanded one of the men. “Just chopping some fire wood,” replied Joe with a wry smile. “Well you can tell that to the constables,” answered one of the men. There was a clicking sound as Ned pulled back the hammer of his revolver. “Now there’s no need to bother them now is there?” Ned responded. The four men instinctively threw their arms above their heads. “You’re Ned Kelly aren’t you?” asked one of the men. “It appears that my fame precedes me,” replied Ned, “now, be good lads and go along with this fine fella”. Ned beckoned Buckley over. “Buckley will you be very kind and take these fellows to the station please?” asked Ned. “Certainly, this way gentlemen,” said Buckley pointing them in the direction of the station at Faithful’s Creek. The four men, stunned at the sight of the tall Yowie, obeyed his directions without question. Just as they were about to be led away Ned leaned in to the men and said in a quiet voice, “Now, mind, he appears a kindly fellow, but he is fast on his feet and very partial to human flesh, so be good”. If the men had had any thoughts of escape, they harboured no such ideas now. “You’re a cheeky so and so Ned,” laughed Joe, “it was all I could do to stop myself laughing”.
Buckley the Yowie and the Legend of Ned Kelly
Buckley the Yowie and the Legend of Ned Kelly
A few lines from 'Buckley's Return'
"Next morning Frank drove Buckley in to town in his old Ute. Buckley, of course, being so large, had to sit in the back. The ute was small compared to Buckley so he had to sit cross legged; but all was good. This was new to him as he had never been in a motor vehicle before. He marvelled at how fast it travelled compared to a horse and cart, and enjoyed the wind blowing though his hair, and the smell of nature all around. Before they left home Frank had reminded Buckley not to frighten anyone in the town as, to them, he was just a myth and a statue in the park. “Perhaps it’s time to say g’day then,” Buckley thought to himself".
Buckley's Return
Buckley's Return
A little snippet from my book 'Buckley the Kilcoy Yowie'.
'It was in, what he knows now, the year 1815, whilst roaming southern Australia, in a place we know today as Victoria, that he saw a pale looking, very tall man, almost as tall as himself, with long hair and a beard, wearing a Kangaroo skin, and sitting fishing with a stick by the Birrarung, which was the Aboriginal name at the time for the Yarra River. He sat behind a bush for some time watching how the man was catching fish with a stick, some string made from platted strips of grass and a piece of bent metal. The man would attach a worm to the piece of metal, cast it into the river and wait. The stick would then bend and, after a bit of a tussle, the man would suddenly fling a flapping fish on to the river bank. “What a great way to catch fish,” Jingera thought to himself. It seemed easier than his way of standing in the water and trying to spear any passing fish. His method worked well enough, but was very tiring and not always successful, for his giant shadow more often than not frightened the fish away. In fact in some cases he only succeeded in getting wet, so he ended up having his weekly bath a bit earlier and regular than usual.
Jingera watched this pale fellow for hours, over many weeks. He was good at hiding so was never seen by the stranger. One day, whilst watching, he came to the attention of a swarm of flies. He tried swatting them as fast and quietly as he could, and was doing well until one of them flew up his nose causing him to let out an almighty sneeze, which alerted the stranger to his presence. “Oh dear, I’ve been spotted,” he thought to himself. Indeed he had. Jingera was pleasantly surprised when the pale man beckoned him over, as usually the smaller folk whom he encounters run off screaming. The man spoke to him in the local language, which Jingera understood, and they greeted each other and began talking as if they were old friends. “My name is William, William Buckley,” said the stranger, “I am pleased to make your acquaintance. What is your name my huge friend?” “I have no name, but the small men always call out “Jingera!” when they see me...........before they run away,” replied the Yowie in a sorrowful way. “Jingera? Oh, you must be the Big Hairy Man that I have heard about. I thought you were just a story, but, sure enough, here you are,” said William. “Are you hungry? I have some freshly caught fish if you’d like some, my big hairy friend,” asked William. Jingera gratefully accepted the offer to share the fish, and he watched as William cooked it over the bright hot orange light that he called a fire; then enjoyed the wonderful flavour of his meal, as he chewed and swallowed every morsel of the fish'.
Buckley the Kilcoy Yowie
Jingera watched this pale fellow for hours, over many weeks. He was good at hiding so was never seen by the stranger. One day, whilst watching, he came to the attention of a swarm of flies. He tried swatting them as fast and quietly as he could, and was doing well until one of them flew up his nose causing him to let out an almighty sneeze, which alerted the stranger to his presence. “Oh dear, I’ve been spotted,” he thought to himself. Indeed he had. Jingera was pleasantly surprised when the pale man beckoned him over, as usually the smaller folk whom he encounters run off screaming. The man spoke to him in the local language, which Jingera understood, and they greeted each other and began talking as if they were old friends. “My name is William, William Buckley,” said the stranger, “I am pleased to make your acquaintance. What is your name my huge friend?” “I have no name, but the small men always call out “Jingera!” when they see me...........before they run away,” replied the Yowie in a sorrowful way. “Jingera? Oh, you must be the Big Hairy Man that I have heard about. I thought you were just a story, but, sure enough, here you are,” said William. “Are you hungry? I have some freshly caught fish if you’d like some, my big hairy friend,” asked William. Jingera gratefully accepted the offer to share the fish, and he watched as William cooked it over the bright hot orange light that he called a fire; then enjoyed the wonderful flavour of his meal, as he chewed and swallowed every morsel of the fish'.
Buckley the Kilcoy Yowie
What is a Yowie?
The Yowie is Australia's equivalent of Bigfoot, and, for all we know may be the same type of creature. Kilcoy, in Queensland, Australia, is famous for Yowie sightings and has a park named in honour of a famous encounter in 1974. In the park is a statue of the Kilcoy Yowie. In my books I have re-imagined the Yowie and given him a name, Buckley, given to him by a famous convict whom he meets and befriends on his travels. I have written 4 books in the series to date and am currently working on the fifth. My stories place the gentle and naive Buckley into actual history, and he meets real historical figures on the way. To me, my stories are a great way to regain some knowledge of this country's history, whilst having some adventures with Buckley at the same time. I hope that readers of all ages come to love Buckley for the wonderful character that he is. My first book 'Buckley the Kilcoy Yowie', is available to purchase on Amazon. Please check it out.
Many thanks,
Tony Squire.
Many thanks,
Tony Squire.
Tony Squire - An Introduction
Buckley the Yowie and the Legend of Ned KellyBuckley the Yowie loves ChristmasBuckley the Kilcoy YowieBuckley's ReturnI'm Buckley and I'm a Yowie
G’day Goodreads!
I am reasonably new to this website so thought I'd introduce myself. I am Tony Squire and I live in Kilcoy, Australia.
It has always been my desire to become a professional author. This stems from a fortune teller informing me, when I was 12, that one day I would write a best selling novel, which would be about truth. That thought has stayed with me for all of those years, but what to write about has always been the problem. I love history and I love to hear about mysterious tales. Obviously Bigfoot and the Yeti are world famous, but it was not until I came to Kilcoy that I learned about the Yowie. I truly believe that these creatures really exist, after all thousands of people have seen them, so they can’t all be wrong. I think the reason we are seeing more and more of them is that civilisation is encroaching upon their forest homes.
So, getting back to the subject of Buckley, I thought why not write about a caring giant, and place him in to actual history. The name, Buckley, comes from his first contact with Europeans, when he meets the escaped convict, William Buckley, who is a real person who lived for over 30 years with the Watourong people around the Yarra River area in Victoria. Buckley and William become great friends for over 20 years, learning much from each other, until William is pardoned and returns to the settlers. It is then that Buckley goes on Walkabout and encounters many other characters from history, who will appear in future stories. In the early 1890s he ends up in Somerset, QLD, and is taken in by Doris and Raymond Taylor, settlers from England, who are setting up their own cattle station, ‘Doriray’, at Sandy Creek. Buckley not only helps them build their station, but befriends the whole town of Kilcoy and helps in its construction, becoming firm friends with everyone; even attending school there. This is all detailed in my first story, 'Buckley the Kilcoy Yowie'. After some sad events Buckley feels the need to clear his head, so he goes on a short walkabout. As Yowies are immortal time passes quickly and it is 90 years before Buckley returns to Kilcoy and his family, only to find that the town, but not his family, has forgotten about him. Buckley then sets about on a quest to befriend the town again and also to help them get on the world tourist map. Again, this is all detailed in my second story, 'Buckley’s Return'.
With regard to what Buckley would look like, Yowies are generally depicted as monsters, but I did not want this for him. As much as I love the cuddly Yowie logo on Kilcoy businesses I wanted to portray Buckley as legend describes him, a 3 metre tall hairy man. I’m not a great artist, so it was a challenge to create something I liked. In the end I took inspiration from the statue in Yowie Park, for it shows the Yowie as described in folklore. Really all I did was cartoonise him a little.
Now, I have been uploading posts about Buckley all over the place, adding Buckley in photos of local, and some not so local, places. Selfishly, yes this is to promote my book, but I have also been trying to promote Kilcoy and encourage people to visit. I have been sharing these pictures around Queensland and Australia via Facebook etc with the hashtag visitkilcoy. I also have a Buckley Instagram, and You Tube account which I am using to publicise Buckley and Kilcoy, plus an author account on Twitter.
I have now written 5 Buckley the Yowie books and all are available on Amazon, Fishpond, The Book Depository and many other online stores. Í have already mentioned my fist 2 books. My third novel is a story for all ages, 'Buckley the Yowie and the Legend of Ned Kelly'. It is set between the first and second book and involves a chance meeting with an 11 year old Ned Kelly and the friendship which develops between Buckley and Ned. I have also recently written and published 2 early learning reader/picture books, 'I'm Buckley and I'm a Yowie', and 'Buckley the Yowie Loves Christmas'. I hope that these will encourage youngsters to start reading.
I have many other stories in my head and hope to add more tales of Buckley the Yowie to my list in the near future.
Thankyou everyone for your time.
Tony Squire
G’day Goodreads!
I am reasonably new to this website so thought I'd introduce myself. I am Tony Squire and I live in Kilcoy, Australia.
It has always been my desire to become a professional author. This stems from a fortune teller informing me, when I was 12, that one day I would write a best selling novel, which would be about truth. That thought has stayed with me for all of those years, but what to write about has always been the problem. I love history and I love to hear about mysterious tales. Obviously Bigfoot and the Yeti are world famous, but it was not until I came to Kilcoy that I learned about the Yowie. I truly believe that these creatures really exist, after all thousands of people have seen them, so they can’t all be wrong. I think the reason we are seeing more and more of them is that civilisation is encroaching upon their forest homes.
So, getting back to the subject of Buckley, I thought why not write about a caring giant, and place him in to actual history. The name, Buckley, comes from his first contact with Europeans, when he meets the escaped convict, William Buckley, who is a real person who lived for over 30 years with the Watourong people around the Yarra River area in Victoria. Buckley and William become great friends for over 20 years, learning much from each other, until William is pardoned and returns to the settlers. It is then that Buckley goes on Walkabout and encounters many other characters from history, who will appear in future stories. In the early 1890s he ends up in Somerset, QLD, and is taken in by Doris and Raymond Taylor, settlers from England, who are setting up their own cattle station, ‘Doriray’, at Sandy Creek. Buckley not only helps them build their station, but befriends the whole town of Kilcoy and helps in its construction, becoming firm friends with everyone; even attending school there. This is all detailed in my first story, 'Buckley the Kilcoy Yowie'. After some sad events Buckley feels the need to clear his head, so he goes on a short walkabout. As Yowies are immortal time passes quickly and it is 90 years before Buckley returns to Kilcoy and his family, only to find that the town, but not his family, has forgotten about him. Buckley then sets about on a quest to befriend the town again and also to help them get on the world tourist map. Again, this is all detailed in my second story, 'Buckley’s Return'.
With regard to what Buckley would look like, Yowies are generally depicted as monsters, but I did not want this for him. As much as I love the cuddly Yowie logo on Kilcoy businesses I wanted to portray Buckley as legend describes him, a 3 metre tall hairy man. I’m not a great artist, so it was a challenge to create something I liked. In the end I took inspiration from the statue in Yowie Park, for it shows the Yowie as described in folklore. Really all I did was cartoonise him a little.
Now, I have been uploading posts about Buckley all over the place, adding Buckley in photos of local, and some not so local, places. Selfishly, yes this is to promote my book, but I have also been trying to promote Kilcoy and encourage people to visit. I have been sharing these pictures around Queensland and Australia via Facebook etc with the hashtag visitkilcoy. I also have a Buckley Instagram, and You Tube account which I am using to publicise Buckley and Kilcoy, plus an author account on Twitter.
I have now written 5 Buckley the Yowie books and all are available on Amazon, Fishpond, The Book Depository and many other online stores. Í have already mentioned my fist 2 books. My third novel is a story for all ages, 'Buckley the Yowie and the Legend of Ned Kelly'. It is set between the first and second book and involves a chance meeting with an 11 year old Ned Kelly and the friendship which develops between Buckley and Ned. I have also recently written and published 2 early learning reader/picture books, 'I'm Buckley and I'm a Yowie', and 'Buckley the Yowie Loves Christmas'. I hope that these will encourage youngsters to start reading.
I have many other stories in my head and hope to add more tales of Buckley the Yowie to my list in the near future.
Thankyou everyone for your time.
Tony Squire
Buckley the Yowie and the Legend of Ned Kelly
Buckley the Yowie and the Legend of Ned Kelly by Tony SquireMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you love history, mythology or just a rip roaring adventure then this is the book for you. Join Buckley the Yowie, Australia's Bigfoot, as he befriends a young Ned Kelly. Share their adventures and special friendship as Buckley mentors Ned, and tries his best to lead him on the path of right. Will he succeed or will it all end in a fiery showdown in a small town called Glenrowan?
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