26th December: Boxing Day

Ten facts for Boxing Day.

1. Boxing Day is celebrated the day after Christmas and is a bank holiday in the United Kingdom, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Bermuda, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago,  Jamaica and other former British colonies - unless Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday in which case the holiday is observed on the 27th or 28th December.
2. Boxing Day has been a bank holiday in Britain since 1871.
3. The origin of the name isn't certain but theories include that it was the day that domestic servants, after serving their employers on Christmas Day, got to go home and visit their families, and they may have been given a box to take with them, containing gifts and possibly some of the left over grub.
4. Another theory is that it concerns the alms boxes placed in churches, and also historically, on ships, in which donations for the poor would be placed. These boxes would be opened the day after Christmas and the money distributed.
5. Samuel Pepys' diary entry for 19 December 1663 mentions Boxing Day.
6. In South Africa, Boxing Day has been known as Day of Goodwill since 1994.
7. In parts of Europe, it is known as ‘Second Christmas Day’. It's also the Second Day of Christmas in the traditional song, for which the true love's gift was two turtle doves.
8. Boxing Day is also known as Wren's Day because it was the day when Wrens could be hunted. It was considered unlucky to kill these birds on any other day of the year.
9. In Britain, it's the biggest shopping day of the year and the day most of the sales start. It's traditionally the day for taking any unwanted gifts back to the shop to exchange them.
10. Some US states celebrate Boxing Day, and those who don't can celebrate National Candy Cane Day instead.

My Christmas Novella!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

Available from Createspace, Amazon and Amazon Kindle