30 March: Amelia Name Day

Today is the name day for people called Amelia.

Amelia is a feminine given name. Its English form may have been influenced by the names Amalia, derived from the Germanic root amal, with meanings "vigorous, active, work", and Emilia, meaning rival. 10 famous Amelias:

1. Amelia Earhart (pictured): American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world.

2. Princess Amelia Sophia Eleonore of Great Britain: second daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Queen Caroline.

3. Princess Amelia: fifteenth and last child and sixth daughter of King George III the United Kingdom and his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

4. Saint Amelia: nun and saint who lived in the 7th century. Patron against arm pain, bruises, and fever. Her feast is celebrated on July 10.

5. Amelia Jenks Bloomer: American newspaper editor, women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as Bloomers, her name became associated with it because of her early advocacy.

6. Amelia "Minnie" Driver: British and American actress who rose to fame with her break-out role in 1995's Circle of Friends.

7. Amelia "Amy" Pond: companion of the Eleventh Doctor in the television series Doctor Who.

8. Amelia Lily: English singer and television personality. In 2011, she was a finalist on The X Factor, where she finished third. In 2017, she finished as runner-up on the twentieth series of Celebrity Big Brother.

9. Lady Amelia Windsor: British fashion model and member of the British royal family. In May 2023, she was 43rd in the line of succession to the British throne. She is a granddaughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, so she is consequently a great-great-granddaughter of George V.

10. Amelia Shepherd: a neurosurgeon in the TV medical dramas Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

29 March: Edward Stanley Earl Derby

This date in 1799 saw the birth of Edward Stanley Earl Derby, English statesman and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 10 facts about him:

1. He is the longest-serving leader of the Conservative Party to date, serving from 1846 to 1868.

2. He is one of only four British prime ministers to have three or more separate periods in office. However, his ministries were short, less than two years and only totalled three years and 280 days. He is the only modern-era prime minister who never enjoyed a parliamentary majority.

3. He was born at Knowsley Park, Lancashire, the eldest son of Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, and his wife (and first cousin) Charlotte Margaret Hornby.

4. He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford. He left university without a degree, which was common at the time. It didn’t mean he lacked intellectual talent, though. He won the Chancellor's Prize for Latin poetry in 1819 with a poem on Syracuse.

5. The Stanley family rose to prominence in the 15th century and entered the peerage during the reign of Henry VII after Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, fought at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The family was a big noise in Horse racing: Earl Derby’s grandfather, the 12^th earl, was the one after whom the Derby horse race was named, and earlier, the 7^th earl, had instituted horse-racing on the Langness Peninsula on the Isle of Man.

6. He was first elected to Parliament in 1822, in the rotten borough of Stockbridge as a Whig, the traditional party of his family. Years later, Stanley would criticise rotten boroughs, arguing that no matter how talented their representatives, they lacked true legitimacy in the eyes of the people.

7. Stanley married The Hon. Emma Bootle-Wilbraham, the second daughter of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale, on 31 May 1825.

8. He resigned from the Whig Party over a difference of opinion with Lord Melbourne over reformation of the church in Ireland, and joined the Tory party.

9. His first stint as prime minister came in 1852 following the collapse of Lord John Russell's Whig Government. A lot of experienced politicians had left the party at the time, and so Stanley found himself having to appoint a lot of new people to the various posts. Only three of his cabinet had ever served in that capacity before. When their names were announced in the House of Lords, the Duke of Wellington, who was very old and rather deaf by this time, would shout out "Who? Who?" which led to Stanley’s first government being known as the "Who? Who?" ministry.

10. So what was his premiership known for? The India Bill in 1858, which transferred control of the East India Company to the Crown; the Jews Relief Act 1858: ending the disablement for Jews to sit in Parliament; Derby also introduced the state education system in Ireland, and reformed Parliament.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

28 March: Toffee Apples

On National Something on a Stick Day, have 10 facts about  Toffee Apples.

1. They are known as candy apples in the United States.

2. They are said to have been invented in 1908 by a sweet shop owner called William Kolb, of Newark.

3. His first candy apples weren’t meant to be eaten. They were created as a Christmas window display by dipping apples in Red cinnamon candy. His customers had other ideas, however. He sold the whole first batch for 5 cents each, and after a few years was selling thousands of them.

4. It was 1917 before the term “toffee apple” made it into print, the BEF Times Christmas edition that year.

5. There are several reasons why these treats are common at Halloween and Guy Fawkes night. One is that the hard Sugar coating doesn’t set well in hot and humid weather.

6. The other, of course, is that it’s just the right timing for the apple harvest in the Northern Hemisphere.

7. Granny Smiths are the most common apples to use for toffee apples. Granny Smiths have a tart flavour which goes well with the sugar coating as well as having a crisp texture which can survive the heat and the weight of the coating.

8. They may not immediately strike you as healthy food, but a home made toffee apple has just 215 to 286 calories and contains 0 to 3 grams of fat. There’s a lot of sugar in it, of course, but the apple underneath is one of your five a day.

9. The most common sugar coating is made from sugar (white or brown), corn syrup, water, cinnamon and red food colouring.

10. In Brazil, candy apples are called maçã-do-amor, equivalent to the French pommes d'amour, meaning "apples of love". There, they are commonly eaten during the festivities in honour of John the Apostle.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

27 March: Paella

On National Spanish Paella Day, 10 facts about paella.

1. The word Paella comes from the pan used to cook it in. It’s the Valencian word for a wide, shallow pan used to cook things over an open fire. Although some have claimed it derives from an Arabic word for leftovers.

2. Muslims in Al-Andalus began Rice cultivation around the 10th century, and the locals quickly caught on to the idea of making rice dishes to eat at family celebrations.

3. In Valencia, paella was a dish farm labourers would have for lunch. It was made from things they could easily find out in the fields.

4. The traditional ingredients are Valencian rice, olive oil, rabbit or hare, chicken, Saffron (which gives it the Yellow colour), Tomato, flat green beans, Lima Beans, Salt and water. Sprigs of Rosemary were often added for seasoning as well. People in coastal regions would use seafood instead of meat.

5. Paella isn’t eaten as an evening meal in Spain, but is strictly a lunchtime feast.

6. It’s not done to stir the paella in Spain, either. Rice that sticks to the bottom of the pan and even burns a little is a desirable feature for the people of Valencia. They even have a word for it, “socarrat”.

7. They’d see it as sacrilege to add chorizo, as many celebrity chefs will do. If chorizo is added, they’ll say, the dish is no longer paella, but merely arroz con cosas ('rice with things').

8. Talking of rice, it matters what variety of rice you use. It should be bomba, senia or bahía, and never long-grain or aromatic, because these don’t absorb the flavours so well.

9. According to Guinness World Records, the largest paella ever measured 20m 65ft 7in in diameter and was made by Juan Carlos Galbis and helpers in Valencia, Spain on 8 Mar 1992. It was eaten by 100,000 people. That said, Galbis claims that he and his team made an even bigger one in 2001, which was enjoyed by about 110,000 people.

10. Valencia City Council has declared paella a BIC or Bien de Interés Cultural (Intangible Cultural Asset). This is an important step towards making it into a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

26 March: 85

Today is day 85 of 2025. Here are 10 fun facts about the number 85.

1. The Roman numeral for 85 is LXXXV.

2. In Binary, it’s 1010101.

3. The A85 is a major road in Scotland. It runs from Oban along the south bank of Loch Etive, before passing through Perth, where it crosses the River Tay via Perth Bridge to Bridgend. Some statistics suggest that the stretch of the A85 between Oban and Tyndrum is among the ten most dangerous roads in Scotland.

4. 85 °C Bakery Cafe is a Taiwanese international chain of retailers which sells Coffee, Tea, cakes, desserts, smoothies, fruit juices, souvenirs, and bakery products. It has 1000 retail shops worldwide.

5. 85 Io is an Asteroid in the central region of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on 19 September 1865, and named after Io, a lover of Zeus in Greek mythology. With a two-digit number and a two-letter name, 85 Io has the shortest designation of all minor planets.

6. 85% Proof is the sixth studio album by Will Young. It was released by Island Records on 25 May 2015.

7. 85 is the atomic number of Astatine. Astatine is a chemical element with symbol At. Classified as a halogen, Astatine is a solid at room temperature.

8. In London, the 85 bus route runs between Putney Bridge Station and Kingston Hall Road.

9. 85% is a song by Loote, an American pop duo based in New York City and consisting of Jackson Foote and Emma Lov Block, released in 2019.

10. In numerology 85 is an efficient and pragmatic energy. People influenced by the number are people who get things done. They accomplish whatever they set their minds to, which is often building something for the benefit of the community.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

25 March: Aretha Franklin

This date in 1942 saw the birth of Aretha Franklin. Here are 10 things you might not know about her:

1. Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Her mother was a singer and her father was a baptist minister. When she was 5, the family moved to Detroit when her father took over as pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church. It was here that Aretha first performed. The first song she sang in public was the hymn Jesus, Be a Fence Around Me.

2. She supported the New Bethel Baptist Church throughout her life, sending regular donations, giving Money to struggling families, sponsoring Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and arranging concerts at the church each year.

3. Her career as a recording artist began when she was 18. Her first chart topper came 7 years later – Respect, which was to become her signature song.

4. She was the first female performer to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is still the most charted female artist in history.

5. Severe turbulence during a flight in a small plane in the 1980s left her with a lifelong fear of flying. She would only ever travel to her concerts by Bus.

6. She couldn’t read Music. She learned to play the Piano by ear. In later life, she said that never learning to read music was her biggest regret.

7. She had two children by the time she was 15, having first become pregnant at 12. She would have four sons altogether, the third with her first husband and the fourth the result of an affair with her road manager.

8. In the film The Blues Brothers, she performs a song called Think as diner waitress, Mrs. Murphy. She actually wanted to sing Respect, instead, but the song had been written specifically for that role and the producers refused to change it. In the 1998 sequel Blues Brothers 2000, however, she did get to sing Respect.

9. She performed at Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration, but refused to perform at Trump’s.

10. By the end of the 1960s, she had earned the title ‘Queen of Soul.’ She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, the first woman to receive that honour. In 1985, the Department of Natural Resources of the state of Michigan officially declared Franklin's voice a "natural resource of the state." She also has an asteroid named after her, Asteroid 249516 Aretha.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

24 March: William Morris

Born on this date in 1834 was William Morris, architect, poet, artist, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement. 10 facts about him:

1. He was born in Essex to a large and well off family.

2. He attended Marlborough College from the age of 13, and hated school. Morris would later say that at Marlborough he learned “next to nothing…for indeed next to nothing was taught.” His schoolfellows thought him somewhat eccentric and he was nicknamed “Crab”.

3. He studied Classics at Exeter College, Oxford, where he first met the Pre-Raphaelite painter, Edward Burne-Jones, who became a lifelong friend. The two were part of “The Brotherhood”, also known as the “Birmingham Set”, an influential group of artists and writers who championed traditional crafts. His friends there nicknamed him Topsy, after the character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

4. During his time at Oxford, Morris was very interested in religion and along with Burne-Jones, was involved with the Oxford Movement. For a while, it seemed likely the two of them would become clergymen, but later travels in Europe resulted in Morris pursuing a career in art instead. In later life, he came to be an atheist.

5. It was the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who persuaded Morris to make a career of painting and so he joined the group of friends who were decorating the walls of the Oxford Union with scenes from Arthurian legend.

6. This was how Morris met his wife, Jane. She was a working class woman who Rossetti had spotted and decided would be a perfect model for Guinevere. Both Morris and Rosetti were taken with Jane, but since Rosetti was already engaged at the time, it was Morris that she married. Rosetti would later say that he went through with the marriage “out of a mistaken sense of loyalty and fear of giving pain” despite have fallen for another. Jane’s marriage to Morris produced two daughters, but was rather rocky and when Rosetti was widowed, he and Jane began a long affair. Jane would say after Morris died that she never really loved him, but marrying him was the right decision for her at the time.

7. Morris was a staunch socialist and founded the Socialist League in 1884. He strongly believed that workers should have a say in how they are treated by their employers, and his ideas greatly influenced the Labour Party in Britain. Morris was even arrested once for disorderly conduct during a socialist demonstration.

8. His textile company came about after he bought The Red House as his family home and couldn’t find Wallpaper and textiles that he thought good enough to decorate the place, so went into business with a few friends and began making his own.

9. He also appreciated beautiful books, and started the Kelmscott Press in 1891. He designed multiple fonts including “Golden” Roman typeface, “Troy” Gothic type and “Chaucer.” He also wrote fiction and poetry himself, much of which was published after his death by one of his daughters.

10. Today, as well as in many stately homes and museums, Morris’s designs can be seen on Football kit. In 2023, Walthamstow F.C. launched a new home football shirt with Admiral Sports featuring a William Morris print which was widely regarded as one of the best kit launches of the year.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book