4 September: Manhattan

On this date in 1609, Navigator Henry Hudson discovered the island of Manhattan. 10 things you might not know about Manhattan.

1. The original inhabitants of the island of Manhattan were Munsee, Lenape and Wappinger tribes. Even in those days it was a busy place. Members of the tribes were fishing for seafood and growing crops. Their movements around the island created pounded down trails, one of which eventually became Broadway.

2. The name of the island comes from a Lenape word which means “the place where we gather wood to make bows”, because there was a grove of hickory trees growing on the island which provided ideal wood for bowmaking.

3. In 1624, the Dutch established a permanent European presence in Manhattan with a trading post. Then, in 1626, according to legend, they bought the island from the Native Americans for goods valued at something like a thousand dollars in today’s Money.

4. Manhattan is 22.7 square miles (59 km²) in area, 13.4 miles long, and 2.3 miles wide at its widest point. It’s also one of the most densely populated locations in the world. In 2020 the population was 1,694,250, or 72,918 residents per square mile.

5. Manhattan has over 520 million square feet of office space. Many offices are housed in the characteristic skyscrapers, made possible by strong and deep bedrock beneath. The Skyscrapers even act like a kind of Stonehenge twice a year when the sunset aligns perfectly with the east-west street grid.

6. The layout of the streets in a grid system was established by the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, which called for 12 avenues running north-south and 155 streets running east-west. The Borough of Manhattan’s Main Street, however, is located on a different island, Roosevelt Island, across the East River.

7. As for the Traffic Lights, it is possible, if you drive up First Avenue at 28mph, to get a string of green traffic lights. If you’re on foot, pressing the button at a crosswalk is probably pointless – over half of them don’t do anything, because the lights have been automated since the late 1980s. The buttons are still there so you think you have some control over them.

8. It is illegal in Manhattan to put on a puppet show in your window and there was once a fine for flirting with someone on the street. You also need a license to hang out washing on a clothesline.

9. There’s a statistic which says than in Manhattan, you are ten times more likely to get bitten by a human being than by a Shark.

10. Some of the parks in Manhattan are former cemeteries. Washington Square Park is one such; in the 18th century it served as a burial ground for people who couldn’t afford private funerals.

5 April: Mallorca

Today is the feast day of St Catherine Tomás, Patron of Mallorca (also sometimes spelled Majorca in English). Ten facts about the island:

1. It’s the largest of Spain's Balearic Islands, and the seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.

2. The name of the island comes from an old Latin phrase ‘insula maior’ which translates as ‘larger island’, which was often mispronounced and that evolved into its modern name.

3. The capital is Palma, where around half the population live.

4. Its highest peak is the Puig Major (1445 metres) which is also the highest mountain in the Balearic Islands.

5. In 2011, Mallorca’s Serra de Tramuntana mountain range was awarded World Heritage Status by UNESCO for being an area of great Physical and Cultural significance.

6. There is a cathedral there which was built on the site of a mosque, so its orientation is towards the southeast rather than the usual Christian east to west alignment. Construction started on La Seu cathedral began in 1230 and continued for 400 years. In recent times, Antoni Gaudi made some additions.

7. There’s also a castle which is unusual because it’s built in a perfect circle. Castell de Bellver was built in the 14th century.

8. The island has been an inspiration to creative people of many kinds. Frederic Chopin spent some time here on his doctor’s advice. While he didn’t have the best possible time, he got a lot of composing done, working on the Preludes, Op. 28, his Ballade No. 2, Op. 38; two Polonaises, Op. 40; and the Scherzo No. 3, Op. 39. Agatha Christie stayed in Palma and Port de Pollença and was inspired to write a short story collection called Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories. The artist Joan Miro and the poet Robert Graves chose to settle on the island.

9. Mallorca has a traditional dance called Ball dels Cossiers which dates back to the 13th or 14th century. Three pairs of dancers, usually male, defend a "Lady," who can be played by a man or a woman, from a demon or devil.

10. In the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries there was a renowned school of cartographers, cosmographers, and navigational instrument makers called the "Catalan school". Their work with maps and navigational instruments made the discovery of the New World possible.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

14 December: Corfu

Today is the feast day of St Spyridon, Patron of Corfu. Here are 10 things you might not know about Corfu:

1. Corfu is located north east of mainland Greece, but the northern coast of the island is less then 3 kilometers from the coast of Albania. Corfu is the seventh largest Greek island with an area of 592.9 km².

2. In Greek, the name of the island is Kerkyra. This name derives from a nymph called Corcyra, who was kidnapped by Poseidon, god of the sea, who brought her to the island. The English name, Corfu, comes from two rocky hills known as Corifes, on which the Old Fortress is built.

3. The capital is also called Corfu but is referred to as Corfu Town or simply the old town. The Old Town of Corfu Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

4. Corfu has been occupied by the Romans, the Normans, the Venetians (from 1386 to 1797), The French, and the British up until 1864 when King George I agreed to give the island back to Greece. One foreign power it hasn’t been ruled by is the Ottomans, even though most of Greece was part of their empire. It wasn’t for want of trying: there were three major sieges in 1537, 1571, and 1716 but Corfu always managed to resist.

5. Saint Spyridon’s most famous miracle was calming a raging storm on Corfu when the people prayed to him. This miracle is celebrated every August. Spyridon is a popular first name for boys in Corfu.

6. It’s a popular film location. The movies filmed here include The Guns of Navarone, For Your Eyes Only and Mama Mia!

7. It’s also mentioned in a rap song. “I always meant to get you that villa in Corfu” is a line in Drake’s Still Drake.

8. Its highest point is Mount Pantokrator (906 m/2,972 ft).

9. It is the greenest island in Greece, which earned it the nickname Emerald Island.

10. Famous people born here include (according to legend at least) the poet Homer, Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Governor of Greece and Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, husband of Queen Elizabeth II and the longest-serving royal consort in history.

Christmas is coming! 

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.

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

9 June: The Åland Islands

Today is Autonomy Day in the Åland Islands. So here are 10 facts about them.

1. What and where are the Åland Islands? They make up an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea.

2. That said, the area is perhaps more Swedish than Finnish. The official language is Swedish and although Finnish is taught in schools, many of the people there prefer not to speak it. A tourist would be better off communicating in English, which is widely spoken. The main island, Fasta Åland, is 38 km (20+1⁄2 nautical miles) from Roslagen in Sweden. Åland's only land border is on the uninhabited skerry of Märket, which it shares with Sweden.

3. The Åland archipelago includes nearly three hundred habitable islands, of which about 60–80 are inhabited.

4. The name comes from ancient words for water, or river, even though there aren’t many rivers here. Another theory is that the name derived from the old name for perch, a type of fish.

5. The capital city is Mariehamn, which is on Fasta Åland. 90% of the population live on this island.

6. The highest point is Orrdalsklint or Orrdals Hill which is 129 metres above sea level or 423 feet in old money. There is an observation tower at the top.

7. Åland's Autonomy Day is celebrated on 9 June in memory of Åland County Council's first meeting on this date in 1922. Its demilitarised, neutral position dates back to the Paris Peace Treaty after the Åland War in the 1850s. This was affirmed by a decision made by the League of Nations in 1921 and by the treaty admitting Finland to the European Union. Residents are exempt from conscription to the Finnish Defence Forces.

8. That said, Åland is a member of The EU (decided by a separate referendum to that of Finland) and its currency is the Euro. Åland is not, however, part of the EU’s VAT area.

9. It has an extensive maritime history. The Åland Maritime Museum, at the West Harbour of Mariehamn, is the most visited museum in Åland. From the 19th century until World War II, Mariehamn served as the centre of a sailing fleet engaged in grain trade with Australia. Today, one of the main industries here is agriculture because of the mild climate and fertile soil.

10. The Åland coat of arms depicts a golden red Deer, even though these animals are not found on the islands. This occurred because of a medieval mix up between Åland and the Swedish island province of Öland, back in 1560. Öland was supposed to be the recipient of this coat of arms.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

9 May: Guernsey

Today is Channel Islands Liberation Day, the anniversary of the liberation of Jersey and Guernsey from German occupation in WW2. Facts about Jersey are here. Below are 10 things you might not know about Guernsey.

1. It’s the second largest of the Channel Islands and is located 27 miles (43 km) west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. In fact, in prehistoric times Guernsey was part of mainland Europe although rising sea levels turned it into an island approximately 8,000 years ago. Politically, Guernsey was part of the Duchy of Normandy until 1204. Guernsey has one town, Saint Peter Port.

2. The name is of old Norse origin and could derive from the old Norse for “Pine Tree Island”.

3. Post boxes on Guernsey are painted Blue, with one notable exception. The oldest postbox still in use anywhere in the British Isles is here, and this one is painted Red.

4. A man was once arrested underwater here. A type of shellfish called an ormer is a local delicacy, but the harvesting of them is controlled by strict laws. The perp, one Mr Kempthorne-Leigh, was illegally gathering ormers underwater and was apprehended by a policeman in scuba gear.

5. Guernsey is famous for its Cows, which produce rich, creamy Milk and distinctively flavoured meat. Guernsey also has a breed of Goat known as the Royal Golden Guernsey Goat, recognisable, as its name suggests, by its golden coloured coat. At the end of the Second World War, the Golden Guernsey was almost extinct, but was saved by a woman called Miriam Milbourne, who hid her heard from the Germans during the occupation.

6. Some island folklore: allegedly, Guernsey was once invaded by Fairies, attracted by the beauty of the local women. Rouge Rue in St Peter Port, which translates as “Red Road” is said to have been named for the blood that flowed through the street during the battle between the locals and the invading fairies. There’s also a mysterious circle in the ground at the west of the island, known as the Fairy Ring. It’s said if you walk around it three times and make a wish, that wish will come true.

7. Victor Hugo wrote some of his best-known works while in exile in Guernsey, including Les Misérables. He lived on Guernsey for 15 years. In 1866, he published a novel set on Guernsey, Travailleurs de la Mer (Toilers of the Sea), which he dedicated to the island. More recently, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows wrote a novel called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, set during the German occupation, which was made into a film.

8. Painters, too, have found inspiration here. French impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir visited the island in late summer 1883 and painted fifteen pictures of the views on the island, featuring the bay and beach of Moulin Huet.

9. A symbol of the island is Guernsey lily, Nerine sarniensis. However, it’s not native to Guernsey – it was introduced from South Africa.

10. Guernsey’s tidal range is 33 ft, one of the largest in the world. This is due to the island’s location in the Bay of St Malo, which has the highest tides in Europe.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

17 April: American Samoa

Today is Flag Day in American Samoa. The day celebrates the first raising of the American Flag there in 1900. 10 things you might not know about American Samoa.

1. It is an unincorporated territory of the United States in the Polynesia region of the South Pacific Ocean, and the southernmost territory of the USA, situated 2,200 miles (3,500 km) southwest of Hawaii. It’s actually closer to New Zealand than it is to the continental U.S. It is one of two U.S. territories south of the Equator, along with Jarvis Island, which is uninhabited.

2. It consists of inhabited volcanic islands: Tutuila, Aunuʻu, Ofu, Olosega and Taʻū and the uninhabited Rose Atoll and Swains Island, a remote Coral atoll. The territory is 117,500 square miles (30,400 square km) in total, about the size of New Zealand. However, most of that is ocean; only 76.1 square miles (197 square km), or 0.1% of the territory, is dry land.

3. The waters were used in the 60s and 70s as the splash landing area for the astronauts who had been to the Moon, A small American Samoa flag was taken to the moon on one mission, and later presented, with three moon rocks, to American Samoa by Richard Nixon.

4. The capital is Pago Pago, which is located on the island of Tutuila.

5. The only mammals native to these islands are Bats. They are two species of fruit bat and one species of bat which eats insects.

6. The highest point in American Samoa is 3,056 feet at Olamatimu.

7. Since 2013, fares on Samoa Air are determined by how much the passenger and their luggage weigh. The fatter you are, the more expensive it is to fly.

8. The islands are nicknamed "Football Island," as the islands produce more American football players than anywhere else in the world. A young man from here is 56 times more likely to play in the NFL than the average young man in the USA.

9. The main industry here is Tuna canneries. These employ 80% of the working population and make up 93% of the exports. All the tuna canned here is exported to the US.

10. American Samoa is slowly moving towards China. The Pacific plate moves about 3 inches nearer to China each year. 

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

20 December: Alderney

The Flag of Alderney was officially adopted on this date in 1993. 10 facts about Alderney:

1. It is the third largest of the Channel Islands after Jersey and Guernsey. It’s 3 miles (5 km) long and 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) wide. Its area is 3 square miles (8 km2).

2. It is the most northerly of the Channel Islands, 60 miles (100 km) from the south coast of Great Britain. It’s also the closest to France at 10 miles (15 km) to the west of the cape of La Hague on the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which is 20 miles (30 km) away.

3. It has one parish and one town, Saint Anne, which is referred to as 'The Town' by the locals. There is just one school, and no Traffic Lights or Roundabouts.

4. The Romans used Alderney as a staging post-en-route from Brittany to Great Britain using Longis Bay as their harbour. They called it Riduna.

5. The name Alderney or Aurigny (the French name for it) may be a corruption of Adreni or Alrene, which is probably derived from an Old Norse word meaning "island near the coast". Residents (around 2,141 of them in March 2021) are sometimes nicknamed vaques after the Cows, or lapins after the many Rabbits on the island.

6. As well as rabbits, the island is home to many Hedgehogs. Unlike in the rest of the UK, they have no natural predators here and are thriving. There is also a larger than usual number of blonde hedgehogs. Their colouring is caused by a recessive gene and they are rare elsewhere because they’re more easily spotted by predators. Legend has it that the first blonde hedgehogs arrived on the island in a Harrods carrier bag.

7. Alderney airport is the smallest in the Channel Islands. There are several flights each day from Southampton and Guernsey. If you need to pass the time waiting for a flight, you can help yourself from a box of unfinished Knitting projects which has been left at the airport.

8. During the second world war, knowing a German invasion was imminent and that defending the island wasn’t going to be possible, pretty much the entire population (1,400 at the time) was evacuated to Weymouth in the south of England official evacuation boats. German troops arrived to find a deserted island and proceeded to turn it into a fortress. It became part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall and was the location of two work camps and two concentration camps. At the end of the war when the residents came back, the Germans and the prisoners of war had all gone, but the fortifications and buildings remained as evidence of what had gone on during the occupation.

9. For centuries Alderney had its own dialect of the Norman language called Auregnais, which is now extinct. It was primarily a spoken language, so only a few known poems and written works using it exist.

10. The residents have a reputation for liking a drink, as do the tourists who visit, so natives of other Channel Islands sometimes call Alderney 'two thousand alcoholics, clinging to a rock.’

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.

Themes 

Christmas; superheroes; reunions; parties; life choices; shocking surprises; mistaken identity; kidnap and rescue.

Reasons not to read it

• It's a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
• Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
• It's all about Christmas but there doesn't seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
• There are a couple of babies and some small children in it - and one nearly gets eaten.
• Santa appears in it, but he isn't really Santa.
• Superheroes. Again.
• Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

26 October: Tahiti

On this date in 1788, HMS Bounty landed in Tahiti. Their mission? To take Tahitan breadfruit trees to the Caribbean as cheap food for plantation workers. The crew remained in Tahiti for about five months, the time needed to transplant the seedlings of the trees. Three weeks after they left, the famous mutiny happened. A group of mutineers went back to settle in Tahiti. 10 things you might not know about Tahiti:

1. It’s the largest of the Îles du Vent (Windward Islands) in French Polynesia, situated in the central South Pacific Ocean. Its nearest neighbour is Moorea, 12 miles (20 km) away. The nearest major landmass is Australia, which is 5,700 km (3,078 nautical miles) away.

2. The area is 403 square miles (1,043 square km) and it’s 33 miles (53 km) long. Tahiti consists of two ancient eroded volcanic cones, Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti (the Taiarapu Peninsula), connected by the narrow Isthmus of Taravao.

3. The island was part of the Kingdom of Tahiti until it was annexed by France in 1880, and made a colony of France. The inhabitants, therefore, became French citizens. As part of France, the Tahitian village of Teahupo’o was the site of the Surfing competition in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

4. Papeete, on Tahiti’s northwestern coast, is the capital of French Polynesia.

5. The Tahitian alphabet consists only of 13 letters: the vowels a, e, i, o, u and the consonants f, h, m, n, p, r, t and v.

6. The Tahitan language gave us the word “tattoo”, from the Tahitian word “tatau”. However, there is no word for “please” because traditionally everything was shared.

7. Archery was a sacred sport in ancient times. Only the nobility could participate, and bows and arrows were never used in war. Today, however, Tahiti’s national sport is outrigger Canoe racing.

8. The national symbol is the Tiare flower, which is worn by both men and women on Tahiti. It’s used as a way to tell if a person is in a relationship or not. Worn behind the right ear, it means you’re free, and behind the left means you’re spoken for.

9. The French painter Paul Gauguin lived on Tahiti in the 1890s. Papeari has a small Gauguin museum.

10. As a holiday destination, it’s quite exclusive. Hawaii receives more tourists in a day than Tahiti does in a year.

NEW!!

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

29 September: St Michael's Mount

On the feast day of St Michael, here are 10 facts about St Michael’s Mount, a tidal island in Mount’s Bay off the coast of Marazion, Cornwall.

1. The Mount is named for the Archangel (or Saint) Michael. He is the patron saint of fishermen, and there are legends dating back to the fifth century in which apparitions of St Michael guided fishermen to safety past the Mermaids trying to lure them onto the rocks. From there, the island became a place of pilgrimage and by the 11^th century there was a monastery there.

2. Before Christianity, the island was called Karrek Loos yn Koos, which means, in Cornish, "the Grey rock in a wood". In even more ancient times, it might have been known as Ictis, and been a centre for trading Cornish Tin with the ancient Greeks.

3. After the English Civil War, John St Aubyn was appointed as Captain of the Mount. In 1659, he bought the island and his descendants have lived there ever since. At time of writing it is in the hands of Lord St Levan (family name St Aubyn) who inherited it in 2013 from his uncle. There are about 30 other residents, mostly people who work in and around the island. In Victorian times, there were more than 300 islanders.

4. Queen Victoria visited in 1846 with Prince Albert. In commemoration of the event, a brass footprint where she stepped was cast, which is still there today.

5. In 1588, it was from the Mount that the Spanish Armada was first spotted, and the first beacon lit in the chain to warn England of the threat.

6. There is a tropical garden. The warm air from the Gulf Stream and rocks and walls which release the sun’s heat late in the evening mean exotic plants and flowers can be grown here. The gardens are designed to be admired from above and are arranged in vertical terraces. Hence, if you want to work as a gardener here, you’ll need to learn to abseil first.

7. The legend of Jack the Giant Killer began here. According to Cornish legend, the Mount was built by the giant Cormoran, who would terrorise locals and steal their livestock. Until a boy called Jack who lived in Marazion set a trap. He dug a big hole and lured the giant into it by blowing a horn. After that it’s said that Jack joined King Arthur’s court and carried on killing giants.

8. Watching House of the Dragon? St Michael’s Mount is the location for Driftmark.

9. There are similarities between St Michael’s Mount and another tidal island across the Channel, Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy. Both are pyramid shaped tidal islands with abbeys on top. Legend has it that when the Normans conquered England in 1066, they were struck by the island's resemblance to their own Mont-Saint-Michel, and so they asked the Benedictine monks to build an equivalent abbey on it. However, it’s more likely that the abbey was already there, with the island having been given to the Benedictines by Edward the Confessor.

10. Most of the island was given to the National Trust by the St Aubyn family in 1954.

NEW!!

The Gingerbread Man

A short story collection including aliens, princes and princesses, dragons, superhero origin stories and of course, a gingerbread man.

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10 May: Sark

It was on this date in 1945 that the Channel Island of Sark was liberated from German occupation after several earlier attempts by British Commandos which failed. 10 things you might not know about the island of Sark:

1. Cars are banned. Only tractors, Bicycles and Horse-drawn vehicles are allowed. There’s no airport, either.

2. The name probably derives from the Proto-Semitic śrq, meaning to redden or the rise of the Sun. It’s one of the most easterly Channel Islands which lends credence to this theory.

3. It’s part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, but has its own parliament and its own laws based on Norman law. The population is around 500, only about 15 of which speak Sercquiais, Sark’s own language.

4. It consists of two main parts, Greater Sark and Little Sark, which are connected by a narrow isthmus called La Coupée, which is 300 feet (91 m) long and has a drop of 330 feet (100 m) on each side. Before protective railings were installed in 1900, children would have to crawl across on their hands and knees to avoid being blown off by sudden gusts of wind. Although nobody has met a sticky end there since a man carrying sheaves of corn was caught in an unexpected gale about 200 years ago, stories of hauntings abound including headless horsemen, levitating coffins and a black hound called the ‘Tchico’. There’s also a privately owned island called Brecqhou, just off the west coast of Greater Sark.

5. The highest point is 374 feet (114 m) above sea level, and is named Le Moulin, after the Windmill which is there, dating back to 1571.

6. Crime is rare, but there is a prison, said to be the smallest in the world. It was built from stone in the 19^th century and has no windows. It can hold two prisoners. There are two unpaid policemen – the Constable and the Vingtenier (his assistant), which seems to be enough. Even in 1990 when a French physicist called Andre Gardes tried to invade Sark. Dressed in army fatigues and wielding an automatic weapon, he rowed to the island and posted signs announcing that he was the rightful heir to the Seigneurship. He was, the story goes, stopped by a punch in the face from one of the unpaid policemen.

7. In 2011, Sark was designated as a Dark Sky Community and the first Dark Sky Island in the world. Enya’s 2015 album, Dark Sky Island was inspired by this.

8. She’s not the only artist to be inspired by the place. Writer Mervyn Peake lived here while he was writing Gormenghast. His novel Mr Pye is also set on Sark, about an eccentric evangelist who settles on the island. When Channel 4 decided to make a TV series of Mr Pye, they were almost scuppered when the film crew were told there was no way they could drive their car on the island for tracking shots. In the end, they disconnected the engine of the car and have it towed by a tractor.

9. In 1859, when Queen Victoria sailed to Jersey, the inhabitants of Sark fully expected her to make a stop at Sark so they prepared a lavish banquet and decorated the harbour with flowers, flags and a red carpet. However, Queen Victoria and her crew hadn’t been informed about this so they simply sailed past. It turned out they couldn’t even enjoy the banquet themselves as when they returned to it, the dining room had been trashed by peacocks. Perhaps it was just as well Victoria didn’t stop then, as she would probably not have been amused by that.

10. There’s a lot of folklore. For example, it’s said that the island was once occupied by a Lilliputian race called the ‘pouquelayes’, mischievous pixies with detachable heads. None have been spotted since the early 20^th century however. There’s also a legend that at midnight on St John’s Eve, the Cows kneel and are briefly able to speak.

New!!!

The first in a new series! It has invading aliens, gladiator-style contests, rivalry and romance.

The six richest people in Britain decide to hold a contest to settle the question of which of them is most successful. It will be a gladiator style contest with each entrant fielding a team of ten super-powered combatants. Entrepreneur Llew Powell sets out to put together his team, which includes his former lover, an employee of his company with a fascinating hobby, two refugees from another dimension (a lonely giant and a drunken sailor), two sisters bound together by a promise, a diminutive doctor, a former Tibetan monk initiate and two androids with a history. As the team train together, alliances form, friendships and more develop, while others find the past is not easy to leave behind.

Meanwhile, a ruthless race of aliens has its eyes on the Earth. Already abducting and enslaving humans, they work towards the final invasion which would destroy life on Earth as we know it. Powell’s group, Combat Team Alpha, stumble upon one of the wormholes the aliens use to travel to Earth and witness for themselves the horrors in store if the aliens aren’t stopped. Barely escaping with their lives, they realise there are more important things to worry about than a fighting competition.

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