13 December

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 13 December:

1. In 1577, Sir Francis Drake left England on The Golden Hind on what would become the first round-the-world voyage by an Englishman, taking almost three years.
2. In 1642, the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman and his crew became the first Europeans to visit New Zealand. Several of Tasman's men were killed as they landed because the local Maori tribe interpreted an exchange of trumpet fanfares as a call to battle.
3. In 2010, a 2,400 year old pot of soup was unearthed in China near the ancient capital Xi'an.
4. Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell (Emily Brontë) was published on this date in 1847, as was Agnes Grey by Acton Bell (Anne Brontë).
5. In 1142, Queen Matilda escaped a siege at Oxford Castle with just a few knights. she wore a white cloak as camouflage against the snow. Passing straight through King Stephen’s camp, no-one noticed her, and she crossed the frozen River Thames to safety.
6. In 1981, The Cross Hands Hotel in Old Sodbury, Gloucestershire, became the only British hotel to have a room occupied by the reigning monarch when, stranded by a raging blizzard, the Queen spent the night in room 15.
7. The first use of a telephone to capture a felon in the US occurred on this date in 1901. Kid Curry, of the Wild Bunch gang, was arrested after a Tennessee merchant spotted him and called the police.
8. The Holborn Viaduct in London was illuminated by electricity on this date in 1878, the first street lighting in Britain.
9. In 1975, after naturalist Sir Peter Scott had suggested the name Nessiteras rhombopteryx for the Loch Ness monster, London newspapers had a field day as they spotted it was an anagram of ‘Monster hoax by Sir Peter S’.
10. In 1995, the Canadian post office gave Santa Claus his own postcode – H0H 0H0.

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

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