31st December: Hecate

The last day of each month is sacred to the Goddess Hecate. As 31 December is the last day of the year, as well, ten facts about this Greek goddess seem particularly appropriate.

1. It's not certain where her name derives from. Some say the Greek word for "will" or possibly an obscure name given to Apollo which meant "she that operates from afar". Another theory is that she evolved from an Egyptian frog goddess called Heqet.
2. Hecate was the only daughter of Perses and Asteria. Leto, mother of Artemis and Apollo, was her aunt. Her grandmother was the Titaness Phoebe, who personified the Moon. Hecate never married, nor did she have a regular consort. She's generally thought not to have any children although some legends say she gave birth to the monster Scylla.
3. She is associated with crossroads, doorways and borders between one place and another, including the entrance to the underworld. Hence she was a goddess the Greeks would call upon at critical moments and points of change. She was often depicted in small sculptures as having three aspects, and it was common for such effigies to be placed at crossroads or at the entrance way to a house. She also became associated with being "between" one place and another, such as the wild places between towns.
4. There are a number of animals associated with Hecate. One is the Frog, a connection with Heqet, perhaps, or acknowledging that frogs are creatures that move between the elements of air and water. Owls, which are known for being able to turn their heads a long way around and therefore see easily in different directions, like Hecate's triple form. Polecats, because she is said to have felt sorry for another goddess who'd been turned into one and made the polecat her personal servant. Probably the animal most closely associated with her was the Dog. She is depicted in art as having a dog with her and her approach was heralded by the howling of a dog. The gates of the underworld, one of Hecate's areas of influence, are said to be guarded by a dog, Cerberus.
5. She is also the goddess of plant lore, particularly medicines and poisons. Yew, Garlic and cypress are particularly sacred to her. She is also associated with hallucinogenic plants such as mandrake. The fact that dogs are used to dig up mandrake helps tie this particular plant to her. Plant lore was often associated with witchcraft, which may be why Hecate has come to be known as the crone goddess of Witches and sorcery.
6. The Athenian Greeks honoured Hekate during a festival called the Deipnon, which means "evening meal", usually observed around the time of the new moon, or the darkest night of the month. They would eat a meal, either at a crossroads, or at what would in today's homes be the top of the driveway. The purpose of this was to placate any angry souls Hecate had around her, purify the home, and to seek forgiveness for anything anyone in the family might have done to annoy Hecate. There would be a ritual sacrifice, often of a dog, which may even have been eaten at the meal, or a female black lamb.
7. She ruled over three kingdoms: the earth, the sea, and the sky, and was associated with the moon, which has three phases, full, half and new. This is probably why she came to be depicted as having three forms.
8. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Trivia, which means "three ways".
9. She had the power to create or hold back storms, and so became the patron of shepherds and sailors.
10. In Shakespeare's MacBeth, she is invoked by the three witches who are concocting a brew at the opening of the play.

30 December: Six Geese a laying

Today is the Sixth day of Christmas, on which, according to the song, my true love sent to me: six geese a laying. Here are ten things you didn't know about geese.

1. The word "goose" applies mainly to the female of the species. The male is a gander and the young are goslings. The collective noun "gaggle" applies to a group of geese on the ground. In flight, they are a skein, a team, or a wedge; when flying close together, they are called a plump.
2. Geese are thought to have been the first birds to be domesticated. Charles Darwin cites evidence that there were domesticated geese more than 4,000 years ago in Egypt.
3. No doubt Darwin was interested in geese because over the millennia, differences have emerged between domesticated geese and their wild cousins. Many of the differences look like the direct results of selective breeding. Domestic geese are larger (more meat on them) weighing up to 10 kilograms (22 lb) while wild geese don't weigh more than about 4.1 kilograms (9.0 lb). Their bodies are different in shape - domestic geese have fatter bottoms which make them walk more upright and makes it harder for them to fly (less likely to escape). Domestic geese are more fertile - a farmyard goose can lay up to 50 eggs a year while a wild goose lays no more than twelve. Wild geese mate for life, whereas a domestic gander often has a harem (possibly because females outnumber males in the farmyard, because they produce eggs and are therefore more useful kept alive). Domestic geese have been selected for White plumage (so when plucked and ready to eat any feathers left behind are less conspicuous).
4. Wild geese migrate as far as 2,000-3,000 miles in order to return to where they were hatched to mate. The V formation geese fly in helps them cover these great distances - the formation can fly 71% further than geese flying alone. The goose in front creates an uplift as it flaps its wings, meaning the geese following don't have to work so hard. The geese will take it in turns to be the lead goose. There's also a possible social aspect - the following geese honk at the geese in front to encourage them to keep up their speed.
5. Geese have a reputation for being fierce and attacking people in farmyards. Geese guarded the temple of Juno in ancient Rome, once protected a Scottish brewery, and there are still guard geese at police stations in rural China.
6. That said, geese are sociable birds. There are bonds between members of a group. If, during migration, a bird is injured or ill, a couple of the others will drop out of formation to look after it, continuing on later when the sick bird recovers or dies. In the farmyard, geese get along well with other animals. Goslings will "imprint" on the person who feeds them as a chick, and will have a bond with that person for the rest of their lives.
7. Geese have inspired several sayings in the English language, such as "his goose is cooked", meaning he is about to suffer a terrible misfortune; "a wild goose chase" is a useless, futile waste of time and effort; and "killing the goose that lays the golden Eggs", referring to a greed-motivated action that renders a favourable situation useless, comes from Mother Goose and similar fables warning against the dangers of greed.
8. Geese are mostly herbivores, and live on fresh grass and greenery, but have been known to eat the occasional mealworm. The inside of a goose's beak, and its tongue, are serrated to help it cut through grass stems while feeding. They can be picky eaters, preferring fertilized over grass to unfertilized. This is why they can be pests on golf courses or well maintained Lawns.
9. Perhaps their predilection for golf course grass is the reason for a historical use of geese - the first golf balls were stuffed with goose feathers. Another historical use of geese was by Victorian chimney sweeps who would send a goose down the chimney to dislodge coal and soot.
10. The Charites (Roman "Graces"), had a chariot which was drawn by geese.

29 December: Tribbles

On this date in 1967, Star Trek's The Trouble With Tribbles aired for the first time. Here are ten things you may not know about tribbles.

1. Tribbles are native to the planet Iota Geminorum IV.
2. Tribbles were first encountered by Humans in the early 2150s when Denobulan doctor Phlox brought a small number aboard Enterprise NX-01 as an easily sustainable food source for his pets.
3. They are depicted as small balls of fluff which are soft, gentle and slow moving. When stroked by a human or a Vulcan they will emit a purring or cooing sound which makes them irresistibly cute. They are essentially small bundles of fur with no visible external features. Their fur can be White, Grey, speckled light to dark Brown, Yellow to reddish Orange, and Black.
4. Klingons, however, don't find them cute at all. In fact, the two races are said to be mortal enemies. When Klingons are about, tribbles make a terrible shrieking sound. Some sources say Klingons and tribbles hate each other because they smell revolting to one another. The Klingons even tried to wipe out tribbles completely. Klingon warriors were sent to hunt them down throughout the galaxy, and the tribble homeworld was obliterated in the late 23rd century. "Another glorious chapter in Klingon history. Tell me, do they still sing songs of the Great Tribble Hunt?" the character Odo remarked when told about this. It probably didn't help that tribbles were instrumental in foiling a Klingon plan to poison a shipment of quadrotriticale intended for Sherman's Planet, when tribbles which had eaten the grain were found dead.
5. Dr. Leonard McCoy observed that a tribble has only two purposes in life - to eat and to breed. Tribbles are born pregnant so a single tribble can reproduce exponentially by producing a litter every twelve hours, provided there is sufficient food. On their homeworld, tribble populations were kept in check by a large number of reptilian predators. The expression "multiplying like tribbles" has become commonplace in the context of science fiction or technology. Because they breed so fast and eat so much, Starfleet considers them dangerous organisms and forbids their transportation.
6. Controlling the tribble population in the Star Trek universe has included genetically engineering a predator for them, and also genetically modifying tribbles themselves to stop them breeding so fast - the latter backfired when, instead of reproducing, tribbles just got bigger and bigger as they ate.
7. If that expression is reminiscent of "multiplying like Rabbits" that's no coincidence. David Gerrold, who wrote the original "Trouble with Tribbles" episode said that he was basically telling the story of rabbits in Australia where rabbits had no natural predators and bred like, well, rabbits. Not wanting to use actual rabbits in the story, a ball of Pink fluff attached to a keyring inspired the creatures, as balls of fluff were easy to make in large numbers.
8. The creatures were originally going to be called "fuzzies", but wanting to avoid confusion with a novel called Little Fuzzy, Gerrold brainstormed nonsense words, arriving at "tribble" almost at random. However, the similarity of the word to the word "trouble" made this name the winning contender.
9. Although tribbles only appear in four episodes and only briefly in some of the films, they are one of the most popular and well-known species featured in the Star Trek universe. You don't have to be a hard-core Trekkie to know what a tribble is! The only Star Trek laserdisc to feature episodes from several different series on one disc is called "Triple Tribble Troubles" and features all the episodes in which tribbles appear. In 2006, two tribble props from one episode were auctioned for $800 to $1,200.
10. A family of proteins which have a variety of roles, including control of the cell cycle in the fruit fly, was named after tribbles.

28 December: Westminster Abbey

This date in 1065 saw the Consecration of Westminster Abbey in London. Here are some things you may not know about it:

1. Westminster Abbey is formally titled the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster.
2. In 1042, Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St Peter's Abbey to provide himself with a church to be buried in. Although the building wasn't finished until 1090, it was consecrated on 28 December 1065, presumably because Edward knew at this point he wasn't long for this world - he died a week later.
3. Edward's successor Harold II was probably the first monarch to be crowned at the abbey, although the first one to be documented was that of William the Conqueror. Since then, Westminster Abbey has been the venue for coronations of English and British monarchs. Henry III was crowned in Gloucester Cathedral because the French had control of London at the time, but the Pope deemed this improper, and so he was crowned again in Westminster Abbey as soon as possible.
4. The coronation throne is kept in the Abbey. It is called King Edward's Chair (or St Edward's Chair) and has been used at every coronation since 1308. Before the Stone of Scone, on which Scottish kings were crowned, was returned to Scotland, it was also kept with the chair. The stone may well return temporarily for future coronations.
5. The Abbey is also the venue for royal weddings, the first being on 11 November 1100 when King Henry I of England married Matilda of Scotland.
6. Funerals are held here, too, with most kings and queens up until George II being buried there. A few, and most royals from the modern age are buried at Windsor. You don't have to be a king or queen to have been buried there - being a national hero would qualify you, too. Since Oliver Cromwell had Admiral Robert Blake buried there in in 1657, it has been the final resting place for a number of national figures including Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, William Wilberforce, William Pitt and Geoffrey Chaucer. In 1905 the actor Sir Henry Irving was cremated and his ashes buried in Westminster Abbey, thereby becoming the first person ever to be cremated prior to interment at the abbey.
7. The Abbey has the tomb of The Unknown Warrior, an unidentified British soldier killed on a European battlefield during the First World War. He was buried in the abbey on 11 November 1920. The Lady Chapel has a memorial to airmen of the RAF killed in the Second World War. It incorporates a memorial window to the Battle of Britain, which replaced an earlier Tudor stained glass window which was destroyed during the war.
8. The towers are 225 feet (69m) high. The floor area is 32,000 square feet (3,000 m2), and the width of the nave is 85 feet (26m).
9. In 1536 the Abbey was the second richest in England, second only to Glastonbury. Westminster escaped the dissolution of the monasteries unscathed, because Henry VIII didn't want to destroy it, and so had it turned into a cathedral. It was a cathedral for about 16 years. Now it is a Church of England "Royal Peculiar"—a church responsible directly to the sovereign.
10. Westminster School and Westminster Abbey Choir School are also in the precincts of the abbey. The Abbey has always been a seat of learning, with the Benedictine monks required by the Pope to maintain a charity school there in 1179. Before the 19th century, it had almost as high a status as Oxford and Cambridge for education. the first third of the King James Bible Old Testament and the last half of the New Testament were translated here, and in the 20th Century The New English Bible was also put together here.

27th December: Johannes Kepler

Born this date in 1571 was Johannes Kepler, German astronomer best known for his laws of planetary motion.

1. Kepler was born in the Free Imperial City of Weil der Stadt, which is today part of the Stuttgart Region of Germany.
2. His grandfather had been Lord Mayor of the city, but the family's fortunes had dwindled, so that his father had to work as a mercenary. He left the family when Johannes was five, and never came back - he was believed to have died in the Eighty Years' War in the Netherlands. Kepler's mother Katharina was a healer and herbalist. In 1615, Katharina was accused of using witchcraft to make a woman involved in a financial dispute with the family ill. She was sent to prison, but released after fourteen months after Kepler drew up a compelling legal defence for her.
3. His interest in astronomy started at a young age, encouraged by his mother, who took him to look at the Great Comet of 1577 at the age of six. However, he suffered from smallpox as a child which damaged his sight.
4. In Kepler's day, astronomy and Astrology were virtually the same thing, and Kepler was known at university for casting horoscopes for other students. In later life, when working as imperial mathematician his primary function was to provide astrological advice to the emperor, even though he didn't believe astrology could predict the future. When Emperor Rudolph and his brother Matthias both sides sought Kepler's astrological advice during a time of political tension, his advice made little reference to the stars, except in fairly general statements. Mainly he was trying to advise them not to do anything drastic.
5. Kepler's first major astronomical work was Mysterium Cosmographicum (The Cosmographic Mystery) published in 1596. Its full title (translated from the original Latin) was the catchy Forerunner of the Cosmological Essays, Which Contains the Secret of the Universe; on the Marvelous Proportion of the Celestial Spheres, and on the True and Particular Causes of the Number, Magnitude, and Periodic Motions of the Heavens; Established by Means of the Five Regular Geometric Solids. In it, Kepler proposed a model of the Solar System with each planet's movements represented by a different solid shape within a sphere representing Saturn, the most distant planet known at the time.
6. Kepler sent this work to numerous prominent astronomers of the day, hoping to get patronage. He was acknowledged as a skilled astronomer but the paper wasn't widely read (perhaps the long title put people off). One of these people was a man called Reimarus Ursus who was in a bitter dispute with the astronomer Tycho Brahe. He used Kepler's paper to get one over on Brahe. Despite this, Kepler and Brahe started corresponding with each other when Brahe critiqued Kepler's work. This led, eventually, to Kepler working as Brahe's assistant.
7. When Brahe died, Kepler was appointed his successor as imperial mathematician with the responsibility to complete his unfinished work.
8. As well as the movements of planets, Kepler also wrote papers on optical theory, in which he became the first to observe that images are projected onto the retina inverted, and a description of the hexagonal symmetry of snowflakes. The latter was written as a New Year's gift to one of his patrons.
9. He married twice - his first wife was Barbara Müller, who had already been widowed twice at the age of 23. Third time lucky for her, as he outlived her and later married Susanna Reuttinger, 24 after considering eleven different women over two years.
10. His epitaph reads: I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure; Skybound was the mind, earthbound the body rests.

26th December: Wren Day

Today is Wren Day. Here are ten facts about wrens and Wren Day.

1. Why Wren Day? Wrens are connected with St Stephen. whose feast day is today. According to legend, a singing wren gave away Stephen's hiding place to his enemies and the activities of Wren Day are exacting revenge on the bird.
2. In olden times, boys would go out on Christmas Day, kill a wren and parade the tiny corpse around town, begging for money to bury it. They'd use the money to pay for a "Wren Ball" in January. It was also a day of revelry and fighting. Today, no wrens are harmed in the festivities - the bird paraded around is fake. Girls and adults join the boys; people dress up and play jokes on each other; and the money goes to charity.
3. It was considered bad luck to kill a wren or disturb its nest on any other day. Doing so could result in broken bones, your house getting struck by Lightning, or an injury to your cattle.
4. There are about 80 species of wren. The species vary considerably in terms of appearance, habitat and behaviour. They range in size from the white-bellied wren, which measures under 10 cm (3.9 in) and weighs 9g (0.32 oz), to the giant wren, which measures about 22 cm (8.7 in) and weighs in at almost 50g (1.8 oz).
5. Only one true species of wren is found outside the Americas - the Eurasian Wren. Wrens are found in a range of habitats including rainforests and dry, sparsely wooded areas.
6. Some species are shy and secretive, others perch in plain sight and sing. Some species are monogamous and others polygamous but all build dome shaped nests.
7. What they eat varies according to species, too, but generally they eat insects. Some eat seeds and berries as well, larger species may prey on small Frogs or lizards. Eurasian wrens will wade into shallow water to catch tadpoles and small fish. Still other species will eat Snails or birds' eggs.
8. In Old High German, the word for wren is kuningilin "kinglet"; in modern German, the word is Zaunkönig, king of the fence (or hedge). In Dutch, the name is winterkoninkje (little winter king). There are two possible reasons for this. One because some wrens have Yellow plumage on their heads. Secondly, because of a fable about the election of the king of the birds. The birds held a contest to see which of them could fly highest, and that bird would be proclaimed king. Naturally, it was the eagle which could fly highest under its own steam, but a wren, either by accident or design, was caught in the eagle's feathers and when the eagle was soaring above everyone else, the wren took off from the eagle's back and flew that little bit higher.
9. A group of wrens is called a herd.
10. The Carolina wren is the state bird of South Carolina and is depicted on the state quarter. A wren also once appeared on a British coin, the farthing, from 1937 to 1960 when farthings ceased to be legal tender.

December 25: Alternatives to Christmas

Bah! Humbug! Sick of Christmas? Ten other things you can celebrate instead!

1. The birthday of the Egyptian god Horus
2. National Pumpkin Pie Day
3. On this date in 1741 the Centigrade Temperature scale was devised by Anders Celsius and incorporated into a Delisle thermometer at Uppsala in Sweden.
4. The Internet's birthday: in 1990 the first successful trial run of the system which would become the World Wide Web took place today.
5. Taiwan Constitution Day
6. Anniversary of the coronations of Charlemagne and William the Conqueror
7. Humphrey Bogart's Birthday
8. Name day for those called Eugenia, Stella, Stacy or Anastasia.
9. Day of the Dog in the French Revolutionary Calendar.
10. Newtonmas/Gravity Day: Secular holiday celebrated in honour of Sir Isaac Newton, who was born on Christmas Day according to the old style calendar. He made important advances in science and mathematics. Since his birthday coincided with Christmas, his birthday is considered by some to be the perfect choice for a non-religious holiday. This is ironic because Sir Isaac Newton devoted more time to the study of Scripture than to science, and said, "I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily." Traditions: The Newtonmas Tree is an Apple tree, but because it's not nice to kill trees, Newtonmas trees are usually something green and treelike with apples, preferably synthetic ones, on them. Living apple trees are better, but they should be left where they are growing, although decorations like lights and ornaments are okay. Newtonmas morning everyone gathers around the Newtonmas Tree and exchanges gifts of knowledge. These gifts are usually books, but educational CDs, videos, and other media are acceptable also.

Merry Christmas!

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

24 December: Birch

Today is the first day of the Celtic tree month Beth (Birch). So 10 facts about birch trees.

1. Birch trees belong to the family Betulaceae, which also includes Alders, hazels, and hornbeams. There are about 60 species, 11 of which are listed as endangered mainly due to habitat destruction and various fungal diseases.
2. The name derives from the root word for "to shine" in numerous languages, because of the tree's white bark.
3. Birch bark can be grey, yellow, silver or black as well as White. Young birches have smooth bark, but as the trees age deep ridges form and in most species, the bark will peel off in long horizontal strips. The bark is an old folk remedy for stomach ache, and can also be soaked and made into a cast for a broken arm. It contains betulinic acid, which is used in the pharmaceutical industry today.
4. A fully grown birch tree is capable of producing 1 million seeds per year.
5. Birch wood is fine-grained and pale in colour. It is strong and flexible, and is used in the manufacture of skateboards and model aircraft. It has even been used to make real aircraft - although it was nicknamed the "Spruce Goose", the Hughes H-4 Hercules was made mostly of birch wood. Birch has a natural resonance that peaks in the high and low frequencies, so it is a sought after wood for making hi-fi speakers. It's also highly flammable, so makes good firewood as well.
6. Birch trees are known as a pioneer species, as they are often the first trees to grow back after a forest fire. This adaptability has led to it representing growth, renewal, stability, initiation and adaptability in Celtic folklore.
7. It is estimated that 15-20% of people who suffer from hay fever in the northern hemisphere are reacting to birch pollen.
8. The birch is New Hampshire's state tree and the national tree of Finland and Russia. Birch trees halted a fire in the Swedish city of Umeå, so after the fire, the trees were planted all over the city. Umeå became known as "City of the Birches" and the name of its ice hockey team translates as "The Birch Leaves".
9. Birch sap is used in the manufacture of Wine and Beer in the northern Europe, Russia and China. It can also be used to make birch syrup, which is used like Maple syrup for pancakes and waffles.
10. Birch is associated with the feast of Pentecost in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, and Russia, where its branches are used as decoration for churches and homes.

December 23: Christmas Quotes

As it's nearly here, let's have some Christmas quotes to get us in the mood!

1. I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. Charles Dickens
2. He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree. Roy L. Smith
3. Christmas gift suggestions: to your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect. Oren Arnold
4. It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. W.T. Ellis
5. Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. Norman Vincent Peale
6. Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! Hamilton Wright Mabie
7. Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. Janice Maeditere
8. Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most. Ruth Carter Stapleton
9. Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. Charles Schultz
10. Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it 'white'. Bing Crosby

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

22 December: Diocletian

On this date in 244 the Roman Emperor Diocletian was born.

1. At least, some historians say 22 December was his birthdate, because it was his official birthday, but others disagree.
2. His parents gave him the Greek name Diocles, or possibly Diocles Valerius. He changed it when he became emperor to Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus.
3. He didn't inherit the position of emperor. In fact, his family were of low status, and lived in the Roman province of Dalmatia, in present day Croatia.
4. Diocletian rose through the ranks of the Roman army and become cavalry commander to the Emperor Carus. Carus died during a military campaign in Persia. His son Numerian set out to claim the throne, but on the journey, was found dead in his coach. Diocletian accused a member of the entourage, Aper, of killing him. After swearing an oath that he himself had nothing to do with the assassination, he executed Aper, quoting Virgil as he ran him through with his sword.
5. Despite coming from a low status family himself, Diocletian didn't believe in social mobility for anyone else. He brought in laws which stated sons must follow in their father's profession.
6. Diocletian instigated the system of tetrarchy, in which junior emperors were appointed and each of them ruled a quarter of the empire.
7. Diocletian unsuccessfully tried to control inflation using price control.
8. He was a bit of an egomaniac. His subjects were required to prostrate themselves in his presence. If they were really lucky, they were allowed to kiss the hem of his robe. He hated visiting Rome because the people there treated him with too much familiarity.
9. He was the first Roman Emperor to abdicate. He left office in 305, after becoming ill and retired to his palace in Split, Croatia, where, like many retired people today, he spent his time gardening. He died in 312. It's thought he may have committed suicide after hearing about the failure of his tetrarchic system.
10. Diocletian is best known for his extensive and cruel persecution of Christians. His attempts to stop the spread of Christianity failed spectacularly when just 12 years after his death, Constantine became emperor. Constantine was a Christian, and Christianity became the empire's preferred religion. Even Diocletian's tomb in Split is now a Christian church, the Cathedral of St. Domnius. If you visit and here a strange shuffling noise, it's probably Diocletian turning in his grave.

Superheroes getting together for Christmas. What could possibly go wrong? My latest novel. Only £5! Even less for the kindle!

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.

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21st December: Hercules

Hercules was honoured on this date in Ancient Rome. Although he was originally a Greek hero, the Romans revered him, too. Here are some facts.

1. Hercules was the son of Zeus and a human woman, Alcmene.
2. Zeus's wife Hera was understandably not happy about her husband playing away with the humans, and in a fit of jealousy, tried to have Hercules killed when he was a baby. She sent two Snakes to kill him in his crib, but a hero from the start, he strangled them both.
3. Hera continued to hound Hercules into adulthood. She succeeded in sending him mad, which resulted in Hercules killing his wife and six sons. When he regained his senses and realised what he'd done, he sought a way to atone for his actions. This is how the twelve labours came about - The Oracle told him he would have to serve his cousin, King Eurystheus, for twelve years and perform any task the king set him. Hercules wasn't happy about having to do this, but he did it, knowing Zeus would be angry with him if he didn't.
4. The twelve labours were: Slay the Nemean Lion; Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra; Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis; Capture the Erymanthian Boar; Clean the Augean stables in a single day; Slay the Stymphalian Birds; Capture the Cretan Bull; Steal the Mares of Diomedes; Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons; Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon; Steal the Apples of the Hesperides and Capture and bring back Cerberus.
5. When he wasn't busy with all that, Hercules performed other tasks which have been depicted in art, including: Killing a fire-breathing Cacus; Holding up the world for Atlas; Wrestling with Achelous; Fighting the giant Antaeus; Retrieving Alcestis from the underworld and Freeing Prometheus.
6. He was made a god when he died, as a reward for helping the Olympians in their epic battle against the Giants. He was granted a home on Mount Olympus and a goddess for a wife - but only the part of him that was the son of Zeus. The human aspect of him which came from his mother was sent to the Underworld.
7. Hercules is usually depicted in art as a strong, muscular and tanned man, often wearing a lion's skin and carrying a gnarled club.
8. Because of the number of children he had, and his foiling of Hera as a young child, Hercules was revered as a god of childbirth!
9. Mark Antony considered him a personal patron god, as did the emperor Commodus.
10. His name was used as a swear word in Ancient Rome. Hercule! or Mehercle! was a common oath in Classical Latin.

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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