- The word Alabama comes from the Creek Indian language, and means "tribal town".
- The capital is Montgomery, which was the birthplace of the Confederate States of America. Montgomery also had the world's first electric trolley car system and the first open Heart surgery in the Western Hemisphere when Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill sutured a stab wound in a boy's heart.
- Alabama has some odd sculptures and monuments, including: the World's Largest Office Chair, made of 10 tons of steel; a 13ft high monument to a hog; the largest catfish in the world, 28 feet long, which is also animated so it rolls its eyes and swishes its tail; a giant rooster made of car bumpers and a monument to the boll weevil. The latter is commemorated with its own monument because it played a significant role in encouraging Alabama farmers to diversify the crops they produced and to grow things other than just Cotton.
- Magnolia Springs, Alabama is the only US postal route which is entirely on Water, all the year round.
- Alabama celebrated Mardi Gras years before New Orleans did.
- The rocket that first took people to the Moon was designed and built in Huntsville, Alabama, which is known as the rocket capital of the world.
- Alabama is the only state which has all the natural resources to make Iron and steel.
- Famous people from Alabama include: Boxer Joe Louis, actors Tallulah Bankhead and Courtney Cox, singers Nathaniel Adams (Nat King) Cole and Lionel Richie. Helen Keller was born there too, which is why Alabama has the only circulating US coin with Braille lettering on it, produced to commemorate her.
- Things it is illegal to do in Alabama include driving while blindfolded, making people laugh in church by wearing a false mustache, opening Umbrellas in the street (it could scare the Horses), buy live Chickens after dark, wash your hands or feet in a public fountain, put an ice cream cone in your back pocket or put Salt on a railway track. You can actually get the death penalty for that last one. You can, however, drive the wrong way down a one way street if you have a lantern attached to the front of your car.
What happens when superheroes get together for Christmas! My latest novel. There's still time to get it as a stocking filler for the superhero-lover in your life! Only £5!
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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