24 November

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 24 November:

1. This date in 1942 saw the birth of Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian sometimes known by the nickname The Big Yin (The Big One).
2. In 1999, a member of a Christian cult in California died while practising the art of walking on water in his bath. He slipped on the soap and drowned.
3. In 1615, King Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria were married. Both bride and groom were aged 14. Louis was so nervous about his wedding night that his mother had to escort him to the new queen's bedroom after the ceremony.
4. In 1993, 14 bottles of Scotch Whiskey salvaged from the SS Politician, wrecked in 1941 and the inspiration of the book and film, Whisky Galore, were sold at auction for £11,462 at Christie's.
5. The Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, by British naturalist Charles Darwin, was published in England on this date in 1859. Darwin's theory argued that species are the result of a gradual biological evolution in which nature encourages, through natural selection, the propagation of those species best suited to their environments.
6. In 1997, in Urbana Ohio, a plane took off without a pilot, flew 100 miles in two hours at up to 12,000 feet, then crash landed in a bean field. All because engineer Paul Sirks had restarted the engine without fitting chocks.
7. In 1999, all afternoon greyhound racing in Sunderland was cancelled due to a police investigation, because the greyhounds in trap 6 had won all eight races that morning.
8. In 1971, D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane and collected $200,000 in ransom money from threats he made to passengers and crew. He jumped from the jet in Washington State with the ransom, and was never found.
9. In 1978, a man in Pajala, northern Sweden, was convicted of smuggling a villa from Finland into Sweden. To avoid paying duty, the smuggler took the building piece by piece across the border, until customs officials’ suspicions were aroused by his daily appearance.
10. In 1997, Humphrey the cat retired from his position as Chief Mouser in Downing Street because of kidney problems. He was filmed alive and well at a secret location with current newspapers to dispel a rumour that Cherie Blair had had him killed.

New!!

A Superhero love story.

Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.

It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.

Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.

Where to get it:

Paperback

E-book