20 December: The number 20

On the 20th, some things you may not know about the number 20.

1. An alternative word for twenty is a score. Multiples of twenty may be referred to as a number followed by the word score - eg fourscore meaning eighty. The word is also used to mean an indefinite number, for example, "scores of people turned up."
2. A solid with 20 faces is called an icosahedron.
3. In religion, 20 represented the Sun god for the Maya, and there were 20 days in a Mayan month. The number 20 is used 117 times in the Bible but only once in the Quran.
4. In sport, there are 20 sectors on a standard dartboard and a maximum of 20 horses in the Kentucky Derby.
5. A couple who have been married for 20 years are celebrating their China anniversary.
6. In old fashioned measurements, there were 20 shillings in a pound, 20 sous in a franc and 20 hundredweight in a ton.
7. In numerology, 20 is seen as a complete and perfect number. Its energy relates to family, health, harmony, compassion and teamwork.
8. 20 is the atomic number of calcium.
9. There is a small village called Twenty in Lincolnshire, England. The name is thought to have derived from the fact that it stands where, in the mid-19th century, the North Fen Drove crossed the 17th-century Twenty Foot Drain.
10. The term 20/20 vision is commonly used to mean perfect eyesight. It refers to normal vision at 20 feet, so strictly speaking would only apply to places using the imperial system. Where they metric system is used the term should really be 6/6 vision.

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

New!

Secrets and Skies

Jack Ward, President of Innovia, owes his life twice over to the enigmatic superhero, dubbed Power Blaster by the press. No-one knows who Power Blaster is or where he comes from - and he wants it to stay that way.

Scientist Desi Troyes has developed a nuclear bomb to counter the ever present threat of an asteroid hitting the planet. When Ward signs the order giving the go ahead for a nuclear test on the remote Bird Island, he has no inkling of Troyes' real agenda, and that he has signed the death warrants of millions of people.

Although the island should have been evacuated, there are people still there: some from the distant continent of Classica; protesters opposed to the bomb test; and Innovians who will not, or cannot, use their communication devices.

Power Blaster knows he must stop the bomb from hitting the island. He also knows it may be the last thing he ever does.

Meanwhile in Innovia, Ward and his staff gather to watch the broadcast of the test. Nobody, not even Troyes himself, has any idea what is about to happen.

Part One of The Raiders Trilogy.

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