1 December: Zirconium

Born on this date in 1743 was Martin Klaproth, the German chemist who discovered zirconium in 1789. 10 things you might not know about Zirconium:

1. Its symbol is Zr and its atomic number is 40.
2. It is found in the mineral zircon, from which it gets its name. The mineral gets its name from the Persian word for gold coloured. Zircon crystals come in a variety of colours and have been used to make gemstones. It’s sometimes known as jargoon, hyacinth, jacinth or ligure, and was mentioned in the Bible. It wasn’t until 1789 that anyone realised there was a new element in it.
3. Martin Klaproth discovered zirconium while analysing a jargoon gemstone from Sri Lanka. It was 1824 before the metal form was isolated by a Swedish chemist called Jöns Jacob Berzelius.
4. It is a grey-white metal.
5. The melting point of zirconium is 1855 °C (3371 °F), and the boiling point is 4371 °C (7900 °F).
6. Zirconium powder is highly flammable.
7. Zirconium has a concentration of about 130 mg/kg in the Earth's crust and about 0.026 μg/L in sea water. It is not found in its metallic form in nature.
8. Australia, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa and the USA are the primary sources of zirconium on Earth. It is present in the Sun, some Meteorites, and in Moon rock.
9. It doesn’t have any known biological role, but it is present in our food. We take in about 4.15 milligrams of it a day. It’s found in brown Rice, Spinach and Eggs. Scientists have found no evidence that it does humans harm, unless the powder gets in someone’s eyes.
10. What is it used for? Aside from making jewellery – cubic zirconia is a cheaper alternative to Diamonds – it can be used in grinding wheels or sandpaper, or as an opacifier, that is, something that makes other materials, such as ceramics, opaque. Dental implants and replacement bones, such as hip replacements are among its medical uses.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

30 November: Edinburgh

Today is St Andrew’s Day, the patron saint of Scotland. Here are 10 things you might not know about Edinburgh, capital of Scotland.

1. The castle is built on a mound formed by a volcanic eruption 340 million years ago. The castle is actually sitting on the vent of an extinct volcano. While there was no longer a risk from volcanic eruptions when the castle was built, it has been under threat from human activity – it is the most embattled fortress in Europe, having been attacked 23 times.
2. An Elephant once lived in the castle. It was a regimental mascot brought back from Sri Lanka, and while resident in the castle, developed a taste for Beer. Nowadays Edinburgh Zoo is home to its exotic animals. It is the only zoo in the UK that houses Koalas and Giant Pandas, and there’s also a knighted Penguin. Sir Nils Olav III is the mascot and colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King's Guard, and was knighted in 2008. In 2016 he had the title of brigadier bestowed upon him in a special ceremony at the zoo with 50 Norwegian soldiers in attendance.
3. While on the subject of animals, Edinburgh has more statues of animals than it does of women. Most of the city’s statues are of men, but there are three of animals: Polish Bear Wojtek, who was involved in the Second World War and lived out his last years at Edinburgh Zoo, 'Bum' - a dog who died in San Diego, a city twinned with Edinburgh, and of course, the famous Greyfriars Bobby. Queen Victoria and community campaigner Helen Crummy are the only women to be honoured with statues.
4. The Royal Mile is actually one mile and 107 yards long.
5. The clock of The Balmoral Hotel hardly ever tells the correct time. When it was installed in 1902 it was set three minutes fast so that people were less likely to miss their train at Edinburgh Waverley Station – though I’m sure the people of Edinburgh are wise to it after 120 years. Edinburgh Waverly Station, by the way, got its name from The Waverly Novels by Sir Walter Scott.
6. Talking of literature, a number of authors have been inspired by the city. To name but a few: JK Rowling famously wrote the first Harry Potter novel in Edinburgh cafes, but not only that. She got the names Thomas Riddell and William McGonagall from gravestones in Greyfriars cemetery. Charles Dickens also took inspiration from a tombstone, in his case in Canongate Kirkyard. The grave belonged to one “Ebenezer Scroggie – Mealman” which Dickens misread as “Ebenezer Scrooge – Meanman”. The rest is history. Finally, Edinburgh Castle witnessed a gruesome event in 1440 known as the 'Black Dinner'. The teenage James Douglas, 1st Earl of Avondale was invited to dine with King James II’s younger brother at the Castle. The king's men dragged the Earl and his entourage into the courtyard and staged a mock trial which found them all guilty of treason and the lot of them were beheaded on the spot. Centuries later, this event would become the inspiration for the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones.
7. Edinburgh once hosted the Eurovision song contest. In 1972, it should have been held in Monaco, since the tiny country had won it the previous year. However, perhaps surprisingly, Monaco couldn’t afford to host it, so Usher Hall offered to host it for them.
8. Edinburgh is sometimes nicknamed “Auld Reekie”, but that’s nothing to do with it being smelly. It’s actually derived from Scottish words for “Old Smokey”, because of the trains which used to run on coal and create a lot of smoke.
9. Edinburgh was the first city in the world to have a fire brigade. James Braidwood developed the first municipal fire brigade in 1824.
10. The expression “getting off scot-free” originated in Edinburgh. It originated when everyone in the city was given a day off work, except for children at school. A bunch of schoolboys took exception to this and barricaded themselves into their bedrooms in protest. During the fracas that followed, with the army sent in to sort it all out, a schoolboy shot a soldier and killed him. The boy in question was the son of a lord and therefore got away with it. In England, they joked about it, and invented the term, to get off scot-free.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

29 November: Iodine

On this date in 1813, the discovery of Iodine was announced to the public. 10 things you didn’t know about iodine:

1. Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. It is a blue black solid that looks metallic even though it’s not a metal. It melts at 114 degrees Celsius, and boils at 184 degrees Celsius. The liquid and gas forms are Purple, which is how the element gets its name, from the Greek word for violet coloured.
2. It was discovered by accident in 1811 by French chemist Bernard Courtois. Courtois discovered it while making Sodium carbonate for saltpetre, a substance used in the Napoleonic wars. To do this, he burned seaweed and washed the ash with Water, then added sulphuric acid to remove contaminants. If he added too much sulphuric acid he got a cloud of purple vapour. He guessed what he had there was a new element, but didn’t have the funding to research it. He gave a sample of it to fellow chemists Charles Bernard Desormes and Nicolas Clement, who did some work on it and confirmed what Courtois had thought.
3. In early periodic tables, iodine was often given the symbol J, for Jod, its name in German.
4. It’s an essential substance for human life, a key constituent of the thyroid hormones crucial to growth and metabolism. Iodine deficiency causes the thyroid gland to stop functioning properly and to swell – this condition is called a goitre. Iodine deficiency can also cause learning deficiencies in children. Historically, the word “cretin” was the term for congenital thyroid hormone deficiency.
5. Most of our iodine requirement in the UK comes from Milk – about 50% of it. Milk is rich in iodine because it’s in the grass which Cows eat. Fish and Eggs are also good sources. All is not lost if you happen to be vegan, though – seaweed is also rich in the stuff.
6. It can both cause and cure cancer. After the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, children developed thyroid cancer from consuming locally produced milk. However, get the dosage exactly right and it targets and kills the cancer cells. Potassium iodide is used in radiation pills.
7. Potassium iodide can also be used to test for starch. Exposure to starch turns potassium iodide Blue. As well as being a fun experiment to do in a school chemistry lab, the process is sometimes used to detect counterfeit banknotes. The paper Money is usually printed on doesn’t contain starch, but a forgery will.
8. Iodine was used to create the very first photographs, when in 1839, the French painter Louis Daguerre placed liquid iodine on a silvered Copper plate, and exposed the plate to light. The photograph was called a 'daguerreotype' and was the most commonly used means of recording images for nearly twenty years.
9. The top Iodine producing countries are Chile and Japan. In Chile they mine it; in Japan it’s produced by extracting it from brine.
10. It has antimicrobial properties at low concentrations and is often used in operating theatres to disinfect skin before surgery. Iodine has also been used to purify water, either in tablet or liquid form.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

28 November: Caernarfonshire Day

Today is Caernarfonshire Day. 10 things you didn’t know about a historic Welsh County:

1. Why today? 28^th November is the date Owain Gwynedd died. He was the first person to be styled “Prince of Wales”. The date of his death is used because his date of birth isn’t known.
2. The county was originally created under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 after Edward I of England conquered the Principality of Wales.
3. It hasn’t existed as an administrative county since 1974 – when the area was split between the three districts of Aberconwy, Arfon and Dwyfor of Gwynedd (along with Merionethshire and Anglesey). A new unitary area was created in 1996 and called Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire, but the name was soon changed to Gwynedd. Most of the historic county therefore lies within the present county of Gwynedd.
4. That said, the county’s Flag was registered with the Flag Institute in 2012. The design consists of three gold eagles on a Green background, which is thought to be the standard flown by Caernarfonshire soldiers at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
5. It is bounded to the north by the Irish Sea, to the east by Denbighshire, to the south by Cardigan Bay and Merionethshire, and to the west by Caernarfon Bay and the Menai Strait, which separates it from Anglesey.
6. Principal towns are Bangor, Betws-y-Coed, Caernarfon, Conwy, Llandudno, Porthmadog and Pwllheli.
7. The highest point in the county is also the highest point in Wales – Mount Snowdon, at 1,085 m (3,560 ft).
8. There is a narrow gauge railway which runs 4.7 miles (7.6 km) from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon. It’s a popular tourist attraction which in a normal year would carry over 140,000 passengers. Despite being closed from November to March, it still operates in some of the harshest weather the UK can throw at it, and has even been used to rescue people stranded on Snowdon when the rescue Helicopter is unable to operate.
9. Other places of interest include Carnarvon Castle, which was first built in the late 11^th century and the current stone structure was put in place by Edward I in 1283. It was the location for the investitures of Princes of Wales in 1911 and 1969.
10. A less grand residence which is open to the public (in normal years, anyway – at time of writing I’m wondering if there will ever be a normal year again) is Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant, a house owned by the National Trust. It is significant as it was the birthplace of Bishop William Morgan who was the first person to translate the Bible into Welsh. The Wybrnant part of the name comes from the stream near the house. The origins of the name Wybrnant are not known for certain. Nant meanss a small stream and wybr is an old word for sky or cloud, but some say the word is derived from the word gwiber, meaning "adder" or "viper". There is a legend that there was once a huge flying snake living in this valley.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

27 November: Sekhmet

According to Pharoah’s Egyptian astrology, we are currently entering the sign of Sekhmet. Here are 10 things you might not know about this Egyptian deity:

1. Her name is derived from the Egyptian word “Sekhem” meaning “power” or “might”, and so is often translated as the “Powerful One” or “She who is Powerful”. Other names she was given include the "(One) Before Whom Evil Trembles", "Mistress of Dread", “Lady of Pestilence”, "Lady of Slaughter" and "She Who Mauls".
2. She is said to be the daughter of Ra and wife of Ptah.
3. The most famous story about her involves Ra sending her to punish humanity for not doing what they were told. However, Sekhmet developed a lust for Blood in the process and went way over the top. It looked like she wasn’t going to stop at Ra’s proscribed punishment, but to eradicate humans completely and feast on their blood. She was so inflamed with the blood lust that Ra’s pleas for her to stop fell on deaf ears, so a new strategy was needed to slow her down. Ra collected huge amounts of Beer which he mixed with red ochre or Pomegranate juice so that it looked like human blood. Sekhmet gorged herself on this concoction and became totally intoxicated and passed out for three days. When she woke, the blood lust had passed. In some versions of the story, the first thing she saw on awakening was Ptah, and she became inflamed with lust for him instead.
4. A yearly celebration was held in Egypt to remember the saving of humanity. Beer stained with pomegranate juice was drunk and a statue of Sekhmet was dressed in red facing west.
5. Sekhmet is pictured as a woman with the head of a Lion, dressed in Red, the colour of blood. Sometimes she has a sun disc on her head. When seated, she holds the ankh of life; when standing she holds a sceptre made from papyrus.
6. She and Hathor were often depicted as partners and temples built to honour them both. Hathor was a popular deity, the goddess of joy, music, dance, sexual love, pregnancy and birth, while Sekhmet was said to breathe Fire and send plagues against those who angered her. Good cop/bad cop.
7. While Sekhmet could send plagues if she got angry, she could also cure them, when people were on her good side. She was the patron of Physicians and Healers. Her priests were skilled doctors.
8. She was also said to breathe fire, which accounted for the searing hot winds of the desert.
9. Author Margaret Atwood wrote a poem about her called Sekhmet, the Lion-headed Goddess of War.
10. There’s an Asteroid named after her, too. 5381 Sekhmet was discovered in 1991 by Carolyn Shoemaker. The diameter of the asteroid is estimated to be about 1.4 km, and it may even have a moon, 300m in diameter which orbits approximately 1.5 km from it, although this is yet to be confirmed.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

26 November: Frederik Pohl Quotes

 Born on this date in 1919 Frederik Pohl, US, sci-fi author. 10 quotes from him:

1. They were two lovely choices. One of them meant giving up every chance of a decent life forever...and the other one scared me out of my mind.
2. Anyway, that's what life is, just one learning experience after another, and when you're through with all the learning experiences you graduate and what you get for a diploma is, you die.
3. On this day I want to tell you about, which will be about a thousand years from now, there were a boy, a girl and a love story.
4. You can't trust reason. We threw it out of the ad profession long ago and have never missed it.
5. Slaves dream of freedom, commoners dream of becoming kings, what do kings dream of?
6. Advertising reaches out to touch the fantasy part of people's lives. And you know, most people's fantasies are pretty sad.
7. There is no greater dark than the dark between the stars.
8. Anybody who sets out to turn the world upside down has no right to complain if he gets caught in its gears.
9. I don’t think you know what it’s like to have someone head over heels in love with you. What’s the good of a man who’s upside down?
10. For someone to be taken seriously it was valuable to have the appearance of someone who deserved to be taken seriously.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

25 November: 25

 It's the 25th day of the month, so here are ten facts about the number 25:

1. 25 is the sum of the single-digit odd natural numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, the first five odd natural numbers. To work out if a number is divisible by 25 is easy – if it ends in 00, 25, 50 or 75, it’s divisible by 25.
2. In British slang, a pony is £25.
3. A-ha, George Michael and Adele have all released albums called 25. In Adele’s case, it was her age when the album was released.
4. Talking of age, 25 is seen as the transition point between youth and full adulthood. It’s also the minimum age of candidates for election to the United States House of Representatives.
5. 25 is the atomic number of manganese, a silvery-grey metal which is a bit like Iron.
6. In Baseball, the number 25 is reserved for the best slugger on the team.
7. The 25^th year of anything is it’s silver anniversary or jubilee. People who have been married for 25 years celebrate their Silver wedding anniversary, and Queen Elizabeth II’s silver jubilee was in 1977.
8. India’s national board game is called Pachisi, which is Hindi for 25.
9. The Interstate 25 in the USA is a north–south road, the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. In the UK, the A25 carries traffic east from Guildford, Surrey, into mid-west Kent, to Wrotham Heath where it connects with the A20. But a better known British road is the M25 or London Orbital motorway, one of the busiest roads in the country. When the final section was opened by Margaret Thatcher in 1986, it was the longest ring road in Europe at 117 miles (188 km).
10. People born on the 25^th of the month, or have 25 as a birth number, are said in numerology to be interested in just about everything from metaphysics and philosophy to science. They tend to express themselves artistically and creatively. They have great intellect and diplomatic skills, wit and wisdom. On the down side, they can be too caught up in their thoughts and can seem cynical and unemotional at times.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

24 November: Barbed wire

On this date in 1874, Joseph F Glidden patented barbed wire. 10 things you might not know about barbed wire:

1. Although he’s credited with inventing barbed wire as we know it today, Glidden wasn’t the first to patent a vicious type of wire fence. It was a Lucien B. Smith of Ohio who first patented it in 1867. Glidden simply made improvements to it and patented a new improved version.
2. He wasn’t the only person trying to produce a fence with barbs. There were three others working on the same idea: Jacob Haish, Charles Francis Washburn, and Isaac L. Ellwood. Together, they were known as the “Big Four” in fencing production. Rose’s version was a wooden strip with wire sticking out of it. Glidden’s design eventually came out on top and became known as “The Winner”.
3. Why did people want such a product in the first place? To stop their cattle from escaping, mostly. Only later did it become used to keep other humans out of places by adding it to the top of a wall.
4. Before barbed wire was invented, farmers had to use thorny bushes to control their cattle, but the problem with that was you had to wait for them to grow and transplant them to where you wanted them.
5. The invention of a cheap wire fence that would do the same job as a thorn bush and simpler to erect, so no special skills were needed as long as you had fence posts and something to fix the barbed wire to them, meant more people could get into the animal husbandry business on a large scale. It was also the beginning of the end for cowboys, who were essentially made redundant as there was no longer any need for people to chase after stray cattle.
6. While it may be good for containing slow moving, grazing animals, who will simply back off as soon as they come into contact with the pointy bits, it’s less good for containing Horses, which might panic and injure themselves. It can also be a problem for birds and Bats, who might not be able to see the thin strands and can get caught up in it. Adding Rubber bands parallel to the wires is one solution. In Australia, more than 60 species of wild animal have been recorded as being injured or killed by barbed wire fences, so a wildlife friendly fencing project has been set up to address the problem.
7. Barbed wire is made from steel coated with Zinc or a zinc aluminium alloy.
8. It is sometimes known as bobbed wire or bob wire.
9. It was first used in warfare by Portuguese troops defending from African tribes during the Combat of Magul in 1895. The best known use, though, was to defend trenches during the first world war to stop enemy charges. It was cheap and easy to replace if it suffered bombardment from heavy weapons.
10. Since it is also used in prisons and concentration camps, barbed wire has become a symbol of oppression. Amnesty International include it in their logo.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

23 November: Sagittarius star sign

People with birthdays about now were born under the Sagittarius star sign. 10 things you might not know about this sign:

1. The name Sagittarius is Latin for "archer".
2. In Greek mythology Sagittarius is associated with the centaur Chiron, who mentored Achilles in archery and was a tutor to Jason. Chiron was the son of Philyra and Cronus, who changed himself into a horse to escape his jealous wife, Rhea. However, there is another constellation in the sky, not part of the zodiac, Centaurus, also a centaur, so some believe that one is Chiron. Or that Chiron created both centaurs to help guide the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece.
3. As an archer, Sagittarius is said never to fail in hitting his target, including when using the power of prophecy. Hence, it’s said that seers and prophets are often born under this sign.
4. The Babylonians also identified Sagittarius as a centaur, but a little different to the one we’re familiar with. Their Sagittarius was the god Nergal, also a centaur-type creature with a bow, but their version had wings, two heads, one human, one panther, and a Scorpion sting as well as a Horse’s tail.
5. Famous Sagittarians include Nostradamus, Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Frank Sinatra, Woody Allen, Pope Francis, Bruce Lee, Taylor Swift, Donny Osmond, Miley Cyrus and Brad Pitt.
6. The Constellation Sagittarius is visible in the night sky in summer in the Northern Hemisphere, although it cannot be seen from Scotland or Scandinavia. Its stars include Rukbat, meaning "the archer's knee", and the brightest star is Epsilon Sagittarii, also known as "Kaus Australis," or "southern part of the bow". Sagittarius is close to the Milky Way and contains a number of star clusters and nebulae, including the Lagoon Nebula, the Omega Nebula and the Trifid Nebula.
7. Sagittarius is a Fire sign and its ruling planet is Jupiter.
8. The birthstones for those born under this sign are Turquoise, amethyst, lapis lazuli, opal, sapphire and obsidian, and its metal is Tin. Plants associated with the sign are Carnation, Holly and black spruce.
9. Sagittarius rules outspokenness, charisma, bluntness, sexuality, friendliness, truthfulness, progressiveness, the future, restlessness, fearlessness, travel, danger, prophecy, philosophy, rebellion, addiction, promiscuity, hunting, seeing the truth, and in the body the liver, hips and thighs.
10. People born under the sign are said to be free spirits who hate to be tied down. They’re warm, generous, optimistic, easygoing and honest. They love to travel and explore, and enjoy gambling and taking risks. They enjoy the good things in life and want the best of everything.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

22 November: George Eliot quotes

George Eliot, author of seven novels: Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, the Radical, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda, was born on this date in 1819. 10 quotes from her:

1. It is never too late to become the person you always thought you could be.
2. No man can be wise on an empty stomach.
3. Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms.
4. The darkest night that ever fell upon the earth never hid the light, never put out the stars. It only made the stars more keenly, kindly glancing, as if in protest against the darkness.
5. It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.
6. Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.
7. What we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.
8. It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them.
9. Any coward can fight a battle when he's sure of winning.
10. One can say everything best over a meal.

See also: Facts about George Eliot

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-book

21 November: World Hello Day

Today is World Hello Day, so here are 10 things you didn't know about the greeting, "Hello!"

1. World Hello Day has been celebrated since 1973, and was started as a response to the Yom Kippur War. The idea behind it is that communication at all levels is the key to peace – communication not conflict. The suggested way to observe World Hello Day is to verbally greet ten people over the course of the day (if you’re in England make sure you spread them out because talking to too many people at once is a heinous crime). The official website is at http://www.worldhelloday.org/
2. The word Hello first appeared in print on 18 October 1826 in the Norwich Courier of Norwich, Connecticut.
3. In Britain, the first occurrence was in 1833 when an 1833 American book called The Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett was reprinted in The London Literary Gazette.
4. Variations of the word can be spelled with any of the five vowels: Hallo, Hello, Hillo, Hollo and Hullo.
5. The word has been around in some form since way before the 1800s although it wasn’t always used as a greeting. It could have derived from the Old High German word used to summon a ferryman; the French for 'whoa there!' (holà). In England it was often used as an expression of surprise (‘Hello, that’s funny’); and hollo was the word often shouted during a hunt when the quarry was spotted.
6. Saying “Hello” when answering the phone is so natural to us now it’s hard to believe a convention of what to say when picking up the phone was ever up for discussion, but it was. Alexander Graham Bell favoured the nautical term “Ahoy” as a telephone greeting. However, Thomas Edison won out in the end, after, as the story goes, he said “Hullo”, expressing surprise, which was misheard as “Hello”.
7. One of the first computer programmes many children learn is “Hello World!” The first codes many of them write is one that causes the screen to display the words “Hello World!”
8. Between 2003 and 2012 there was an airline in Switzerland called Hello.
9. Hello! is a weekly magazine in the UK specialising in celebrity news and human-interest stories. Published since 1988, it is the English edition of the Spanish publication ¡Hola!.
10. Hello is often used as the title of a song. Artists who have recorded songs called Hello include Lionel Ritchie, Ice Cube, Kelly Clarkson, Oasis, Eminem, Prince and Adele. The musical The Book of Mormon also includes a song entitled Hello.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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