7 July: Figs

Caprotina was a Fig Tree Festival celebrated by Roman women on this date. Here are ten things you might not know about figs.

1. Ficus carica is a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, western and southern Asia. There are over 750 known Ficus species in the world.

2. Nearly all of those species have co-evolved with a type of wasp which depends on the tree for food and a place to breed, and the tree in turn depends on the wasps for pollination. Neither could survive without the other. In fact, the fig tree doesn’t have Flowers as we know them; the flowers are inside the fruit. They are pollinated when a wasp crawls in to feed or lay eggs (the latter is in the male fruit while we only eat the female fruit, so eating a fig doesn’t mean you’re eating wasp eggs).

3. These trees are also pretty important to hornbills in Africa. When they’re about to lay eggs, the females shut themselves away in the trunks of fig trees and nest there for anything from 90-130 days, while the males bring food for them and the chicks, passing it through a small hole in the bark.

4. Figs have been around for millions of years, and would have survived the mass extinction event that wiped out the Dinosaurs. Figs are probably the first fruits to be cultivated by humans. Remains of fig trees have been found in Neolithic sites dating back to 5000 BCE and there are Sumerian stone tablets from 2500 BCE which mention them being used in cooking.

5. Fig trees probably arrived in Britain thanks to the Romans. Fig seeds have been found during the excavation of Roman settlements, but we don’t know for sure whether the Romans actually planted and cultivated the trees or if discarded seeds just sprouted on their own. The first documented fig tree in the UK was planted by Cardinal Reginald Pole, a sworn enemy of Henry VIII, in the 16^th century.

6. For a long time it was only the upper classes that ate figs. In the 18^th century, rich people grew them on south facing walls. The lower classes, however, didn’t care for them much, hence the phrase “not worth a fig”.

7. In the US, they have missionaries from Spain to thank for their fig trees. George Washington was a big fan of figs and believed everyone should have a patch of land with a fig tree on which to live in peace. He often quoted a verse from the Bible ("But they shall sit every man under his own vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid.”) in his letters. Washington had fig trees planted on his Mount Vernon estate in February 1798, and when he retired, he wrote to the Marquis de Lafayette: “I have once more retreated to the shades of my own Vine and Fig tree.”

8. It’s possible that the forbidden fruit in the Bible wasn’t an Apple at all, but a fig. The idea that it was an apple may have been a medieval translator getting mixed up with the word “malum”, which can mean both apple and evil. Jewish scholars have concluded that the notorious fruit is more likely to have been a fig, and Michelangelo agreed. On the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the serpent handing the fruit to Eve is coiled around a fig tree. Which makes the idea of Adam and Eve using fig leaves to cover their naughty bits make even more sense.

9. Christianity isn’t the only faith which mentions figs in their traditions. The Prophet Muhammad liked them. He called them “a fruit that descended from paradise” and recommended them as a remedy for piles and gout. In East Africa, Maasai people say when the earth and the sky became separated, all that connected them was a sacred fig tree.

10. In Hong Kong, there’s a widely held belief that spirits live in the fig trees, and that they will grant wishes. People would write their wishes on red or gold paper, tie them to a piece of string and tie the other end to an orange, and throw it into the tree. If the wish got stuck in the tree, it would come true, and the higher the branch it stuck to, the more likely it was that the wish would be granted. However, that tradition was scuppered by Elf and Safety after the weight of the wishes caused a branch to snap off, so now people can only throw their wishes into fake fig trees.

Character birthday

Sean “Fingers” Fingale, a small time criminal in England. He and his friend Darren Suggs one day found a small boy asleep in their secret hide out. Rather than notify the authorities that they’d found the missing child, they saw that he might be useful as an accomplice and took care of him, using him as a look out when they were committing crimes. When the boy grew up, he used his intelligence and genetic variant super-senses to plan more ambitious crimes and Fingers and Suggs became the accomplices to the notorious burglar known as “The Fox”. He appears in From a Jack to a King.

From A Jack To A King

A royal palace is burning. The King and Queen are dead. The only hopes for an ancient dynasty flee to England for their lives.

A boy runs from his mother and the people he believes want to mutilate him, and vanishes, seemingly forever.

Gary Winchcombe, the experimental "super-cop" pursues a notorious gang of bank robbers, and starts to discover that his friends and neighbours have secrets he never could have imagined.

Tod Reynard wants to turn his life around. When he meets and falls in love with the beautiful Jade, he knows she might just be the one to help him change his life for the better. He cannot possibly know just how much.

When Jade's twin sister Gloria is kidnapped, old rivalries must be put aside and new associations formed in order to save Gloria's life and restore the rightful order of things.

Available from: Amazon, Amazon Kindle

7 August: Raspberries

National Raspberries and Cream Day. Here are 10 facts about raspberries:

1. Raspberries belong to the genus Rubus, part of the rose family. The subgenus is Idaeobatus.
2. Rubus means Red, and the subgenus name means "belonging to Ida". This is because of a myth. When the god Jupiter was a baby, he cried. So Ida, a nymph charged with taking care of him, went to pick some raspberries to give to him. At that time, raspberries were White, according to legend. However, while gathering the fruit, Ida pricked her finger and stained the berries red for all eternity.
3. The name “raspberry” comes from “raspise”, meaning a “sweet rose-coloured wine”, which in turn comes from “raspoie,” meaning “thicket”.
4. Every raspberry is made up of about 100 individual fruits called drupelets, each containing one seed, arranged around a central stem.
5. There are over 200 species of raspberries, but only a few are cultivated and consumed commercially.
6. While most raspberries are red, they come in a variety of other colours – Yellow, golden, Purple or Black. Surely, I hear you say, a black raspberry is a blackberry, isn't it? Well, no, Blackberries are a different species. The way to tell a black raspberry from a blackberry is to look at the middle of the fruit. When raspberries are picked, the stem is left behind leaving a hole in the middle. Blackberries retain a central core.
7. There's an old German myth which says that if your Horse is bewitched and becomes wild, it can be tamed by tying a raspberry twig around the horse's body. You have to catch the horse first, mind you.
8. Raspberries are an excellent source of dietary fibre, Vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B9, and minerals such as manganese and magnesium. They contain nutrients which are good for high blood pressure, inflammation of the joints and liver function. In Eastern Asia, they were once used as a remedy for a sore throat.
9. The top of the table for world raspberry production is Russia, producing between 20 and 26% of the world supply. Other large producers are Mexico and Poland.
10. If you cross a raspberry plant with a blackberry plant, the result is a loganberry.

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18 July: Blueberries

July is National Blueberry Month, so here are some fascinating facts about blueberries.

1. Blueberries belong to the genus Vaccinum, and are therefore related to not only cranberries, bilberries and huckleberries but also the Rhododendron and the azalea.
2. They are a rare example of a food that is naturally Blue. The pigment responsible for the colour is anthocyanin.
3. Blueberries are native to North America and weren't introduced to Europe until the 1930s. They are grown commercially in several US states and in British Columbia in Canada. Blueberries are Canada’s most exported fruit.
4. North American indigenous peoples called them “star fruits” because the blossom end of the berry forms a star shape. In most languages, however, the word for this fruit is a translation of "blue berry".
5. There are two types of blueberries, highbush and lowbush. The ones you find in the supermarket are highbush. Lowbush blueberries are smaller and sweeter, and are the ones used for juices, jams, blueberry muffin mixes and the like. Lowbush blueberries can also be used to make blueberry wine.
6. A single blueberry bush can produce as many as 6,000 blueberries per year.
7. Wild blueberries produce more fruit after forest fires.
8. The silvery "bloom" on blueberries is a natural compound which protects the fruit. Therefore you should only wash them right before you plan to eat them.
9. It's said that early American colonists boiled them with Milk to make Grey paint.
10. Blueberries consist of 14% carbohydrates, 0.7% protein, 0.3% fat and 84% water. They contain moderate levels of manganese, Vitamin C, vitamin K and dietary fibre.

13 October: Peaches

The French Revolutionary Calendar celebrated Peaches on 13 October. Here are 10 things you might not know about peaches.

1. The Latin name for the peach tree is Prunus persica. The word peach comes from "persica", which derives from the fact that the Romans believed peaches came from Persia. The Romans called peaches “Persian apples” (They are actually native to China). The genus name Prunus means plum. Peaches are related to Plums, Cherries, Apricots and Almonds.
2. Because peaches and almonds are related, the inside of a peach stone tastes similar to almonds. Peach stones are sometimes used to make a type of Marzipan which is cheaper to produce, called persipan.
3. Nectarines are basically peaches without the fuzz. While they are marketed separately, nectarines are essentially mutant peaches.
4. Around 58% of the world's peaches and nectarines are produced in China. Spain, Italy, the United States and Greece are also peach growing nations.
5. In China, the peach represents longevity and good luck. Chinese literature mentioned the fruit from the early 1st millennium BC. The gods are said to eat them in order to remain immortal.
6. In Chinese medicine, peach kernels are used to treat allergies, inflammation and Blood disorders.
7. A peach will continue to ripen after it is picked from the tree. Peaches and nectarines don't keep for long – they should be eaten or preserved within two weeks of picking. They are best stored at temperatures of 0 °C (32 °F) with high humidity.
8. Fossils resembling modern day peaches have been found in Kunming, dating to 2.6 million years ago. The name Prunus kunmingensis has been assigned to these fossils, since scientists can't be sure they were exactly the same as the peaches we eat today.
9. Peaches were taken to America by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. The first peach orchard in the Americas was established in Florida in 1565.
10. Paintings found on the walls of houses in Pompeii and Herculaneum include depictions of peaches.

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21st July: Melons

The French Revolutionary Calendar celebrated melons on this date. Here are 10 facts about melons.

1. Melons belong to the Cucurbitaceae family, meaning they are related to squash, Pumpkin, gourds and Cucumber.
2. Are they a fruit or a vegetable? We tend to see them as fruit, but then, their cousins listed above are all seen as vegetables. The distinction is important to the US state of Oklahoma, since they made watermelon the state vegetable in 2007. They considered making it the state fruit, but they already had one - the strawberry. Not everyone was happy - State Senator Nathan Dahm tried to knock the melon off its pedestal on the basis it was a fruit. Botanically, melons are berries.
3. Cantaloupe melons get their name from the Italian papal village of Cantalup, where they were first cultivated in the 1700s.
4. Watermelons get their name from being 92% Water. In fact, early explorers would use them as water canteens.
5. Melons were popular in ancient Egypt. They are depicted in Egyptian paintings, and melon seeds have been found in tombs, including that of Tutenkhamen.
6. It's not just the flesh of the fruit that's edible. Watermelon rinds can be eaten, and are full of nutrients. In China, they stir fry, stew or even pickle them. The seeds can be dried and roasted, as pumpkin seeds are, and eaten as a snack.
7. In Japan, you can get the most expensive melons in the world, Yubari King, which have a unique sweet flavour. They only grow in one small area of Japan and hence can cost more than $10,000 each. The Japanese have also perfected the art of growing square melons, making them easier to pack and transport.
8. The largest melon ever grown weighed 350.5 pounds, as much as a man with the build of an American football player. It was grown by Chris Kent, of Sevierville, Tennessee, in 2013.
9. There are other Guinness World Records relating to watermelons which are a bit wacky. There's the record for watermelon seed spitting, held by Jason Schayot since 1995. He spat a melon seed 75 feet 2 inches. The record for the number of watermelons smashed by a person's head in one minute is 43, achieved by Tafzi Ahmed in 2011. Olga Liashchuk holds the record for crushing watermelons open with her thighs - she managed three in 14.65 seconds in 2014. Finally, one you definitely shouldn't try at home. In 2016, Ashrita Furman and Bipin Larkin achieved the record for the number of melons which could be sliced on the stomach of someone who's lying on a bed of nails at the time - 14.
10. Mark Twain called watermelons the food of angels.

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17 July: Avocados

Today is the Avocado Festival. Here are 10 fascinating facts about avocados.

1. The avocado is believed to have originated in the state of Puebla, Mexico, as far back as 10,000 B.C. They first evolved as food for the large animals that once roamed the earth, like giant ground Sloths. Time was there were animals large enough to eat the fruit whole and excrete the stones. Avocados might have gone extinct if humans hadn't developed a taste for them.
2. They are a fruit, not a vegetable. Technically, they are a single seeded berry. They belong to the Genus Persea in the Lauraceae family, which also contains cinnamon.
3. If you've ever thought an unpeeled avocado looks like a testicle, you're not alone. The Aztecs thought so, too. Their word for an avocado, “ahuacatl,” which evolved into the modern word for the fruit, also meant testicle. Avocados are called alligator pears or cheese pairs in some parts of the world.
4. The Aztecs saw them as a symbol of love and fertility. Not only do they look like testicles, but they grow in pairs on the tree.
5. They can be used in baking as a substitute for Butter. Not only are the resulting cakes healthier, but they stay moist for longer. In Brazil, they add avocado to Ice cream.
6. Avocados have more fibre and protein than any other fruit and also contain vitamin B6, Vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, and folate. They are the only fruits which contain monounsaturated fat (the one that's good for you). An avocado also contains more Potassium than a Banana.
7. They're good for you, but not for your pets. Most parts of the avocado tree are toxic to animals, including the peel. The fruit itself is highly toxic to Horses and some birds.
8. Avocados do not ripen on the tree - they have enzymes preventing this. Leaving them on the tree means they can be in season for longer. When they feel heavy for their size and are dark in colour, they're ripe. You can speed up the ripening process by storing the avocado in a bag with an Apple or a banana. The gases from these fruits help the avocado ripen faster.
9. Avocado trees do not self pollinate. They need to be grown near other avocado trees for pollination to happen. Flowers which haven't been pollinated may produce a smaller fruit without a seed. These are known in the avocado industry as "cukes" and are usually thrown away, but they are sometimes marketed as "cocktail avocados".
10. 95% of the avocados grown commercially come from the descendants of one tree, which a postman named Rudolph Hass found in his garden in the 1930s.

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12th February: Grapefruit

February is Grapefruit Month. So here are ten things you might not know about grapefruit.

1. Grapefruit gets its name because the fruit grow in clusters on the trees like large Grapes.
2. Grapefruit is a hybrid originating in Barbados as an accidental cross between two introduced species, sweet Orange and pomelo. A man called Captain Shaddock is thought to have been the first to introduce some of the seeds from Asia in the 17th century. He might have crossed them, although the most common theory is that it was an accidental cross, occurring naturally. Hence grapefruit was known as the shaddock or shattuck until the nineteenth century.
3. It was also referred to as "the forbidden fruit" during the 18th century. It was first documented in 1750 by Welshman Rev. Griffith Hughes, who described specimens from Barbados in his book, The Natural History of Barbados.
4. Opinions seem to be divided on which nation is the world's top grapefruit producer. Wikipedia says it's China, followed by the USA, while other sites say most of the world's supply comes from Florida and Texas. Wikipedia's figures are for "grapefruit and pomelo" however. The grapefruit was brought to Florida by Count Odet Philippe in 1823.
5. Botanically grapefruit is a berry. Grapefruit trees are evergreen and can grow to 13–15m (43–49 ft), although their usual height is about around 5–6 meters (16–20 ft). A single grapefruit tree can produce more than 1,500 pounds of fruit.
6. A grapefruit is 75% juice. A medium grapefruit produces 2/3 of a cup of juice.
7. They're good things to include in a diet for weight loss, and 1/2 (100g) of a grapefruit contains roughly 60% of your daily requirement for Vitamin C They don't react well with certain drugs though, statins being one example, so check before eating if you're on medication.
8. Grapefruit is known for its slightly tart, bitter taste. In some parts of the world, such as Haiti and Costa Rica, it is cooked and eaten as a dessert or made into jam.
9. The grapefruit is said to be one of the “Seven Wonders of Barbados,” and Texas Red Grapefruit was designated as the official fruit of Texas in 1993.
10. There are special items of cutlery especially designed for eating grapefruit. A grapefruit spoon is like a teaspoon except it tapers to a sharp or serrated edge in order to separate the flesh of a grapefruit from its rind. A grapefruit knife is small with a curved serrated blade, designed to hug the curves of the grapefruit and separate the outer edge of the segments from the rim of the fruit.

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2nd February: California Kiwi Fruit Day

It's California Kiwi Fruit Day. Here are some things you didn't know about kiwi fruit.

1. Kiwi fruits grow on vines, similar to grapevines.
2. They are native to China - the first recorded description of the kiwifruit dates back to the 12th century China during the Song dynasty. They called this fruit “Yang Tao”. Europeans called it the Chinese gooseberry.
3. In the early 20th century, missionaries brought the fruit to New Zealand, and it was the commercial growers here who would give it the name kiwifruit in the 1960s for marketing purposes. By 1974, it was the official name for the fruit.
4. That said, New Zealand isn't the top producer of kiwi fruit - that's China, followed by Italy. New Zealand comes in third.
5. The fruit became popular with American servicemen stationed in New Zealand during World War II They exported them to California using the names "Chinese gooseberry" and "melonette".
6. The kiwi fruit belongs to the genus Actinidia, and there are over 60 species. The fruit varies in size (there are some about the size of grapes, referred to as kiwi berry, baby kiwi, dessert kiwi, grape kiwi, or cocktail kiwi), shape, hairiness, colour, juiciness and taste, A few are unpalatable.
7. Chances are the kiwi fruit you buy in the supermarket will belong to the species A. deliciosa. More specifically, it's likely to be the most common cultivar, 'Hayward', developed by Hayward Wright in Avondale, New Zealand, around 1924. Other varieties include 'Blake', and 'Saanichton 12'.
8. Although most people discard the skin, the skin is edible.
9. They have lots of nutrients - a serving of two kiwi fruit contains more Vitamin C than an Orange, as much Potassium as a Banana and as much fibre as a bowl of whole grain cereal. It is also rich source of vitamin E and K. It also contains minerals like manganese, iron and magnesium.
10. Some people can have an allergic reaction to the actinidain found in kiwifruit and suffer from unpleasant itching and soreness of the mouth, and sometimes wheezing.

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24 October: Pears

The French Revolutionary calendar celebrated pears on this date. Here are a few things you might not know about pears.

1. Pear trees belong to the genus Pyrus, a member of the Rose family. Hence the word pyriform means pear-shaped.
2. Pears have been around a long time. They were cultivated in China as far back as 1134BC, and a pear tree was planted in the Massachusetts colony in 1620.
3. In China, the pear was a symbol of immortality and the destruction of a pear tree symbolised untimely death. It was considered unlucky to share a pear with someone, because the words for “to share a pear” were the same as “to separate”, so doing so would mean the end of a friendship.
4. There are about 3,000 varieties of pear. One of these is the Bartlett, the most popular variety of pear in the United States. This variety is known by a different name in Europe - the Williams Bon Chrétien or the Williams. It has a different name in the US because a Bostonian named Enoch Bartlett bought a pear orchard. He didn't know the pears already had a name, so he began distributing them as Bartlett pears.
5. In the Odyssey, Homer called the pear a “gift from the Gods.” The pear was sacred to two goddesses in Greek mythology – Hera and Aphrodite. It was also sacred to the corresponding Roman goddesses, Juno and Venus, and to Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruitfulness. The ancient Greeks used pears as a remedy for nausea.
6. A medium sized pear has 100 calories. It is also rich in Potassium and contains Vitamin C.
7. Before tobacco was introduced in Europe people used to smoke pear leaves.
8. In the 1700s people called pears “butter fruit” because of their soft, buttery texture.
9. Cider made from pears is called Perry. Towns with Perry as part of their name would at one time have had an abundance of pear trees.
10. Architect's rulers are made from pear wood because it doesn't warp.

See also: Apples

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11th January: Pineapples

On this date in 1813 The first pineapples were planted in Hawaii. Here are some things you didn't know about pineapples.

1. The Latin name for pineapple is Ananas comosus, which comes from the Tupi word for excellent fruit, and comosus means "tufted". The English word pineapple derives from the fact that they resemble pine cones. In fact, pineapple was an old English word for a pine cone. The Spanish word is piña, hence the name Pina Colada for the cocktail. The Hawaiian word for pineapple is ‘halakahiki‘.
2. Despite Mr. Dole and Mr. Del Monte setting up pineapple plantations in the early 20th century, Hawaii isn't the world's top producer of the fruit. In 2013, that was Costa Rica, followed by Philippines and Brazil.
3. The fruit is actually multiple berries, which have fused together. It can take up to three years for a single fruit to mature. Once they are picked, they won't ripen any more, so there's no need to keep them. Once they reach the supermarket, they won't get any riper - so just eat it! A Green pineapple is no less ripe than a Brown one - it was just grown in a different place.
4. Once you've eaten it, the tuft at the top can be planted in soil to grow a new pineapple plant.
5. Commercial pineapples are propagated by suckers - the growers prefer that they are not pollinated, because seeds would ruin the fruit. This is the reason Hawaii has a law banning the import of Hummingbirds.
6. A pineapple plant can produce up to 200 flowers, which vary in colour from lavender to light Purple and Red. There are types of wild pineapple which are pollinated by Bats, and only open their flowers at night.
7. Christine McCallum from Bakewell, Australia holds the record for growing the largest pineapple ever in 2011. It was 32cm long, 66cm in girth and weighed 8.28kg.
8. Pineapples contain an enzyme called bromelain which breaks down proteins. It's not harmful to eat, and in fact can be beneficial as anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxant, and digestive aid. It could even help prevent tumours from growing. However, this enzyme is the reason some people get a sore mouth when eating raw pineapple, because it is breaking down tissues in the mouth. Also raw pineapples contain crystals of calcium oxalate, which are needle shaped and can be an irritant. Because Bromelain breaks down proteins, pineapple juice is great for tenderising meat.
9. The plant is indigenous to South America and is said to originate from the area between southern Brazil and Paraguay. It spread from there throughout South America, and to the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico, where it was cultivated by the Mayans and Aztecs. Columbus was introduced to the fruit in 1493 on the leeward island of Guadeloupe. He called it piña de Indes, meaning "pine of the Indians", and was the first person to bring a pineapple back to Europe.
10. Because they were expensive to import and difficult to grow (they required a hothouse or a "pineapple stove" as was built in Chelsea Physic Garden in 1723 to keep them warm) pineapples became something of a status symbol in Europe. Rich people built "pineries" to grow them in, and they often wouldn't eat them, but used them as a table decoration at dinner parties to show off. The wealthy would try and outdo each other in the field of pineapple growing. John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore built a hothouse on his estate surmounted by a 14 metre high stone cupola in the shape of the fruit; it is known as the Dunmore pineapple.

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Find out here about my novels and short stories.

November 23: Eat a Cranberry Day

Today is Eat a Cranberry Day. If you decide to properly celebrate this, here are ten things you need to know about what you're eating.

1. Cranberries are native to North America and the Latin name for the plant is Vaccinium macrocarpon. In Britain, there is a genus of cranberry called Vaccinium oxycoccos.
2. Cranberries are best known for cranberry sauce, which is traditionally eaten with Turkey at Christmas and also, for Americans and Canadians, at Thanksgiving. It may have become traditional thanksgiving fare after starving English settlers in Massachusetts were introduced to the fruit by Native Americans.
3. The name cranberry derives from "craneberry", first named by early European settlers in America who thought the flowers looked like a crane's head and neck. They are sometimes called mossberries in Canada, and bearberries in the USA (because bears eat them). The British version, Vaccinium oxycoccos, were called fenberries because they grew in fenland.
4. Commercials for cranberry sauce and juice often show harvesters wading through Water which has led to a belief that they grow in water. They don't. They grow on sandy bogs, but the cranberry fields are flooded for the harvest. The berries float, so the water makes it easier to pick them.
5. The cranberry plant is a low, creeping shrub which can grow up to 2 metres (7 ft) long and 5 to 20 centimetres (2 to 8 in) in height.
6. The flowers are dark Pink, and the berries are bigger than the leaves of the plant.
7. Native Americans used cranberries for food, medicine and fabric dye. The berries are a natural source of lutein, which is great for eye health, and quercetin, which acts as an anti-inflammatory. They are commonly consumed as a remedy for urinary tract infections, although recent studies have shown there is no evidence of any benefit.
8. About 768 million pounds of cranberries are grown in the U.S. each year; Americans consume about 400 million pounds of them annually. There are eight places in the U.S. named Cranberry, or a close variation of the word.
9. A bottle of cranberry juice typically contains about 4,400 berries.
10. Cranberry juice is an ingredient of the Cosmopolitan cocktail.

New! 

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.

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