Thomas Shum Photography

I have finalised my writing so that it could be published into Canva. First, I have increased the content in Chapter Two, so that the story of the chapter would look completed. Instead of just describing the scene of the bombing process that worked out by a B-52D, I decided to add the interaction between the Spirit of Minot and the B-52D that flew on that mission, in order to explain more on the details of the deadly mission during war.  Then, I changed the description for the plot when Minot bombed the energy's airport, so that when the audience read this part they can experience from the perspective of Minot. Also, in the draft I mentioned that this bombing mission was Minot's "another mission" after returning from the first one, but I decided to change it to become her "final" mission, so that it can foreshadow her first "retirement" from the active fleet, which will be the story for the last chapter of the book.  For the last chapter, I did not...

 After adding the references and in-text citation, the final writing is as followed. Chapter 1: The Design of B-52H In 1948, after the World War Two ended, the world entered the era of the cold war.  In response to the escalating tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States Air Force seek for a new long-range strategic bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons and to replace the B-29. This is the journey of the B-52 began. Engineers from Boeing worked very hard over the blueprints, sketches, and calculations. They experimented with new materials, such as aluminium alloys and composite materials, to make the aircraft lighter and more durable. As the design phase neared completion, the project faced a lot of difficulties and obstacles. Budget cuts threatened to cancel the program, and the design team also facing different technical challenges, such as landing gear failure. Despite the challenges, the engineers worked tirelessly to overcome the diff...

 Today, I will be creating my book cover with Photoshop. I will demonstrate the process and my design in this post.  I started with a canvas, which I clicked on 'File' followed by 'New" and there is a setting menu popped out. In the setting, I chose 'Print' and A4 size will be used for the book cover. The resolution is set to be 300 ppi, so that the cover quality would not be bad when it is printed out.   After confirming the setting, the default background colour of the cover is white.  I have decided to use some photos from Unsplash, where I found some useful pictures. After downloaded the photos, in the photoshop I clicked 'file' and then 'open' to start with the pictures. I think the pictures are good enough for the theme and I do not have to edit them.  After that I clicked 'Select' on the top bar and then 'All', then I copied the picture and paste it onto the canvas. I then used move tool so that the two planes fitted into ...

 I have finished the draft for the chapbook. Chapter 1: The Design of B-52H In 1948, after the World War Two ended, the world entered the era of the cold war.   In response to the escalating tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States Air Force seek for a new long-range strategic bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons and to replace the B-29. This is the journey of the B-52 began. Engineers from Boeing worked very hard over the blueprints, sketches, and calculations. They experimented with new materials, such as aluminium alloys and composite materials, to make the aircraft lighter and more durable. As the design phase neared completion, the project faced a lot of difficulties and obstacles. Budget cuts threatened to cancel the program, and the design team also facing different technical challenges, such as landing gear failure. Despite the challenges, the engineers worked tirelessly to overcome the difficulties one by one. Months tur...

 After completing the initial ideas and planning, it is time to do some researches.  Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, is a strategic bomber that can bring nuclear bombs or missiles (United States Air Force [USAF], 2019). However, it is also known as the Big Ugly Fat Fellows, aka the BUFF (Case, 2021). According to USAF (2019), the bomber can bring up to 70,000 pounds of payload and fly 8,800 miles without refuelling. According to USAF (2019), the first B-52 was built in 1954, and the last rolled out from factory in 1965, with a total of 744 airframes built. According to USAF (2024), the first combat mission for the bomber was in the Vietnamese War in 1965, and 15 B-52 lost during war, causing 33 airmen died as a result (Lendon, 2022). Lendon (2022) reports that 6 B-52 were shot down in a single day. B-52 did not only join the Vietnamese War, but also the Gulf War, as well as Operation Iraqi Freedom (Air Force Technology, 2023). According to Air Force (2021), USAF will upgrade the r...

 It was a rainy day when she first opened her eyes. She was born a bit fat, but she was taller, and stronger than all of her sisters. The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, a bomber that was built after the Second World War, was first delivered to the United States Air Force in 1955. It took 10 years until they received their first mission call that lead them to the Vietnam, where they had to strike against the communist party. In the Southeast Asia country, 16 of her sisters could not made it back to the states.  She was first stationed in freezing Alaska, and she was very excited 

 ● What is your final idea? Please explain in two sentences the theme and the form your writing will take. My idea is to write a narrative story, and the theme of the story is a life of a bomber plane and the ideology of anti-war. ● Considering the form, how do you intend to layout your book pages? I would layout my writings just as a typical novel. ● How many pages do you expect there will be? 35-40. ● Are you going to use images? Are these your own images (illustrations/photographs) or copyright free images that you will source? Maybe some pictures that are copyright free. ● What is the plan of your time and how much you will need to spend on this? Remember writing is something that you will need time and concentration without disturbance - you must make sure that you plan time to do this. 15-25 hours. ● What do you imagine the final book will look like? It will be in 5'5 x 8'5 inch.  ● Have you considered the cover page/contents page/back cover with blurb? Yes, so that ther...

 Introduction to the project: Include some research on chapbooks: Form and Themes: Narrative - Life of a war plane My initial idea was to describe a story of a post-World War Two bomber jet, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. I will be using first person perspective to describe the story. The story will go through the story of its production, it's position during the Vietnam War as well as the Cold War, and the current standing in the United States Air Force fleet and it's influence. Unlike most of the story that tend to be American Imperialism, my thought of the story is to bring up the idea of anti-war through the perspective of the bomber plane itself.  I have read a book when I first arrived the UK last September. The book was called "Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War Two", written by James Holland in 2018. The book was about different air battles from 1943 to 1944 in Europe during the World War II. It was a narrative novel of WWII air battle history, mai...

 Emotion: Sadness When Sam was a kid, his parents divorced and he lived with his mother, Erica. They were not rich, but Erica still managed to find a job that earned enough money to send Sam into one of the best university and to study Anatomy. Yesterday, it was his