25th June: Mozambique Independence Day

Today is Mozambique independence day. 10 things you might not know about Mozambique:

1. Vasco da Gama visited in 1498, and the country was a Portuguese colony for around 400 years, declaring independence in 1975. The new government sent all the Portuguese people still living there packing. They were ordered to leave within 24 hours and could only take 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of luggage with them.
2. The country is named after after the Island of Mozambique, which was an island town. The island, in turn, was named after Mossa Al Bique, an Arab trader who used to live there. The island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
3. It was the capital until 1898 when Lourenço Marques became the capital. Lourenço Marques is now known as Maputo. The name changed when the country became independent. At the same time a lot of the street names also changed to reflect the Soviet influence of the freedom fighters. There are streets named for Ho Chi Minh, Robert Mugabe, Patrice Lumumba and Karl Marx. It is also known as the City of Acacias.
4. The Mozambique flag is the only flag to feature a modern firearm, a rifle, representing defence and vigilance. The flag also features a book, representing education, and a hoe, for agriculture.
5. The marimba, a percussion instrument, is native to Mozambique. The musical influences of Africa and Portugal combine to produce marrabenta, a popular style of dance music. Beyoncé's dance moves are influenced by the dance customs of Mozambique. In 2011 she flew a group of Tofu dancers from Mozambique to the USA to teach her dance team their moves.
6. The country's highest point is Monte Binga at 2436m and the longest river is the Zambezi.
7. It's a good place for marine life. Mozambique’s coastline is home to five of the seven endangered species of sea Turtles, and the Bazarut Archipelago is the largest marine reserve in the Indian Ocean and home to 1200 species of fish.
8. The currency is the metical, the name of which derives from an Arabic word for a unit of weight. The metical is divided into 100 centavos.
9. Mozambique exports aluminum, prawns, cashews, Cotton and sugar.
10. The CFM Railway Station in Maputo is considered one of the most beautiful railway stations in the world. That's it in the picture above.

My Books

Death and Faxes

Several women have been found murdered - it looks like the work of a ruthless serial killer. Psychic medium Maggie Flynn is one of the resources DI Jamie Swan has come to value in such cases - but Maggie is dead, leaving him with only the telephone number of the woman she saw as her successor, her granddaughter, Tabitha Drake.

Tabitha, grief-stricken by Maggie's death and suffering a crisis of confidence in her ability, wants nothing to do with solving murder cases. She wants to hold on to her job and find Mr Right (not necessarily in that order); so when DI Swan first contacts her, she refuses to get involved.

The ghosts of the victims have other ideas. They are anxious for the killer to be caught and for names to be cleared - and they won't leave Tabitha alone. It isn't long before Tabitha is drawn in so deeply that her own life is on the line.

Paperback - CreateSpace or Amazon 

Or get the E-book: Amazon Kindle (Where you can use the "Look Inside" function and read the first few pages for free!)

Glastonbury Swan

Every few weeks, there is a mysterious death in Glastonbury. They seem completely unrelated - an apparent suicide, a hit and run, a drug overdose, a magic act which goes horribly wrong - but is that what the killer wants people to think?

The police are certainly convinced - but one of the victims is communicating to medium Tabitha Drake that the deaths are linked.

Who is killing all these people and why? 

This is what Tabitha has to figure out - before it is too late to save someone very dear to her.

Paperback CreateSpace or Amazon

E-book Amazon Kindle

Jigsaw

The first ten short stories from my writing blog. Within these covers you will find murder, mayhem, ghosts, romance, dungeons and dragons and alien vampire bunnies.

You can, of course, read all these stories and more on the blog for free by following the link above, and you're welcome to do that, but if you find you'd like to read them over and over without looking at a screen, or you know your friend who hates technology would absolutely love them, the book is available.

Paperback CreateSpace or Amazon 

E-book Amazon Kindle