8 December

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 8 December:

1. On this date in 1997, Jenny Shipley was sworn in as the first woman prime minister of New Zealand.
2. In 1660, Margaret Hughes, mistress of Charles II’s cousin Rupert, became the first British woman to appear on stage in public, playing Desdemona in Othello.
3. The largest Pizza ever, 122'8" long and 11,816 square feet, was made in Norwood, South Africa on this date in 1990.
4. In 1988, scientists at Liverpool University announced that they'd etched an image of Marilyn Monroe onto an area smaller than a pinhead using a revolutionary new instrument, an ultra-powerful ‘field emission electron microscope’, devised by Professor Colin Humphreys.
5. At sunset on this date in 1590, James Welsh, on the ship Richard of Arundel, sailing off the coast of Guinea, observed a great black spot on the Sun.
6. The Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon, Bristol, designed by Brunel, was opened on this date in 1864.
7. In 1954, a Tornado destroyed Gunnersbury tube station, West London.
8. In 1941, Britain and the United States declared war on Japan. Jeanette Rankin cast the only vote in Congress against American entry into the war.
9. In 2000, Dog litter boxes in Basildon were changed from Red to Grey to stop people posting letters in them.
10. On the same day, Sooty, a male guinea pig in Pontypridd was living his best life. He escaped his enclosure, got into the females' cage, got all 24 females pregnant in one night, then slept for two days.

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