February 8: Jules Verne Quotes

On his birthday, ten Jules Verne quotes.

1. There are no impossible obstacles; there are just stronger and weaker wills, that’s all!
2. Anything you can imagine you can make real.
3. How many things have been denied one day, only to become realities the next!
4. Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.
5. Well, I feel that we should always put a little art into what we do. It's better that way.
6. Anything capable of being imagined will one day be made reality.
7. Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.
8. It seems wisest to assume the worst from the beginning...and let anything better come as a surprise.
9. Before all masters, necessity is the one most listened to, and who teaches the best.
10. I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through.

NEW!

Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

Available on Amazon:
Paperback            E-book


A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

Available on Amazon
Paperback

E-book

7 February: Wear Red Day

The first Friday in February is Wear Red Day in the USA, to promote 

awareness of heart disease. Red what we see when light of a wavelength

 of approximately 625-740nm hits our eyes. Here are 10 facts about 

the colour red.

1. The phrase, "like a red rag to a bull" should really read, "like a moving rag to a bull." Bulls can't actually see the colour red. It's the motion, not the colour, that they charge. Dogs cannot see the colour red, either, but primates are able to perceive it. It's thought that the ability to see the colour red evolved in primates because it enabled them to tell the difference between ripe and unripe fruit.
2. What makes things red? Mars is called the Red Planet because of Iron oxide on its surface; it's the same stuff that makes the Grand Canyon appear red. Blood is red because of haemoglobin, the protein which carries Oxygen through the body, which also contains iron. Red Apples and Strawberries get their red colour from anthocyanins.
3. The first red dyes for fabrics were made from insects. Kermes was a dye made from female insects called Kermes vermilio that live in the Mediterranean area, while cochineal was made from insects that live off cacti in South America - hence this dye was used by the Aztecs and Mayans.
4. The Romans were fond of red in the murals in their villas. They used a pigment called vermillion, which came from cinnabar, an ore of Mercury. Although the colours lasted well - many are still vibrant today - the mineral was highly toxic. Being sent to the cinnabar mines was as good as a death sentence.
5. The term "red herring" comes from the salting and smoking process used to cure the fish, which would not only turn it reddish brown but result in a strong scent, so if a smoked herring was dragged across a trail it destroyed the original scent and led hunters astray.
6. Red hair in humans is caused by a pigment called pheomelanin, and is most common among the Celtic peoples of northern Europe. In Ireland, 10% of people have red hair and in Scotland, 6%. In Italy, just 0.57% of people have red hair. Today there is a stereotype of red haired people, that they have fiery tempers to match their hair. In medieval times, red hair was a sign of at best moral degeneration and at worst, a sign that a person was a Witch or a Vampire.
7. Because it is the colour of blood, red is associated with courage and sacrifice. It's also one of the most common colours to appear on national Flags, often representing the blood and sacrifice of those who defended a country.
8. Red is associated with love - think hearts and red roses on Valentine's Day. It is considered a lucky colour in China, where it is traditionally the colour of wedding dresses. Yet, at the same time, red is associated with the opposite - hatred, anger and war. "Seeing red" is an expression meaning to be angry, and the Red Planet, Mars, was so named because red was the colour of the Roman god of war.
9. Red certainly causes a reaction in people, which is why it has been internationally adopted as the colour of warning signs and flags. A red alert is the highest level of warning. Not only that, but it is the colour that stands out most in daylight.
10. Red is one of the most popular colours for sports teams. In fact, this has been the case since Roman times, when chariot races would be between two drivers, one in white and the other in red.

NEW!

Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

Available on Amazon:
Paperback            E-book


A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

Available on Amazon
Paperback

E-book

6 February: Reggae Day/Bob Marley

Today is Reggae Day, a day to recognise musicians in this genre, but in particular, Bob Marley, who was born on this date in 1945. It's also Bob Marley Day in Jamaica. Here are ten things you might not know about Bob Marley.

1. His real name was Nesta Robert Marley and he was born in St Anne's Parish, Jamaica. However, when people pointed out that Nesta sounded like a girl's name, the two names were switched so Nesta became his middle name.
2. His father was a white sea captain called Norval Sinclair Marley who was 40 years older than his mother, Cedella. Because his father was white, he was bullied at school and nicknamed "White Boy". He would later say that this experience led him to the philosophy that he wasn't on either the black man's side or the white man's side, but on God's side.
3. As a child, he showed some talent at palm reading and fortune telling, but gave that up completely when he realised his destiny lay in Music.
4. He married Sunday school teacher Rita Anderson when he was 21. She had a daughter from a previous relationship who Marley adopted. As well as the four children he had with Rita, he had eight more, with eight different women. Rumour has it there were even more illegitimate children he never officially claimed.
5. He was a big Football fan and would play soccer with his band and crew between soundchecks. He was, by all accounts, as good at football as some professional players. He once described football as "Freedom, a whole universe".
6. He not only earned an Order of Merit from his home country, Jamaica (given to citizens who achieve eminent international distinction in any field) but also a United Nations Peace Medal for his advocacy for "disenfranchised blacks around the world".
7. His mother raised him as a Catholic, but as he grew up he turned to the Rastafarian faith instead. That religion forbids the cutting of hair, which led to Marley's famous dreadlock style. His faith also influenced his music.
8. It was no secret that he smoked cannabis, but he didn't do so just to get high. To him, it was a tool to use in meditation to help achieve enlightenment and self-awareness.
9. He died in 1981, aged just 36, from cancer. He was buried with a soccer ball, some weed, and a ring given to him by the Crown Prince of Ethiopia.
10. His music, however, lives on and still sells - in 2016 he was the sixth highest-earning dead celebrity according to Forbes, and as recently as 2014, his album Legend reached the top ten when Google Play made it available for 99 cents.

NEW!

Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

Available on Amazon:
Paperback            E-book


A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

Available on Amazon
Paperback

E-book

5 February: Aquarius

We're currently in the astrological sign of Aquarius. 10 facts about this sign:

1. The Water carrier depicted as representing this sign is Ganymede, the beautiful son of the king of Troy. Zeus fell in love with him and whisked him away to heaven to become cup bearer to the gods.
2. The Greeks tell a different story. They associate Aquarius with Deucalion, son of Prometheus who built a ship to escape a flood with his wife, Pyrrha.
3. The word Aquarius comes from the Latin for water carrier or cup bearer.
4. Other Astronomical systems frequently associate the constellation of Aquarius with water. The Ancient Egyptians connected it to the annual flooding of the Nile. The Babylonians associated it with the destructive floods that happened from time to time. The Greeks represented the constellation as a vase pouring water, as do the Chinese, and in Hindu astrology, it's given the name Kumbha, meaning water pitcher.
5. Despite all that, Aquarius is an air sign, not a water sign.
6. Astrologers speak of astrological ages, related to the procession of the Earth, which proceeds through the zodiac signs in reverse order. Each age lasts about 2,160 years. Hence the Age of Aquarius follows the Age of Pisces. Astrologers claim that each age represents a shift in the development of humankind in terms of culture and society. Our current age is somewhere on the cusp of Pisces and Aquarius. Astrologers disagree about when the Age of Aquarius will begin, or indeed, whether it might have started already. Since the sign of Aquarius is associated with things like computers, flight, electricity, feminism, freedom, rebellion and democracy you can see why they might think that. While some give it a fixed start date (4 February 1962 being one) others say it's a gradual change. The best-known cultural reference to this is of course, the song Aquarius from the musical Hair, including the line, "This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius."
7. The ruling planet of Aquarius is Uranus.
8. Aquarius birthstones are Amethyst, Garnet, Hematite, Sugilte and Amber.
9. So what are people born under this sign like? Their characteristics include being fiercely independent and hating restrictions of any kind, which can be at odds with their warm and compassionate natures. They are intelligent and will tend to judge situations based on the facts rather than their feelings.
10. Famous people born under this sign include Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Thomas Edison, James Spader, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Bob Marley, Ed Sheeran, Ellen De Generes, Harry Styles, John Travolta and Oprah Winfrey.

NEW!

Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

Available on Amazon:
Paperback            E-book


A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

Available on Amazon
Paperback

E-book

4 February: Rosa Parks Quotes

Rosa Parks celebrated her birthday on 4 February. Here are some quotes by Rosa Parks.

1. Each person must live their life as a model for others.
2. I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.
3. I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free.
4. Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.
5. Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.
6. You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.
7. I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.
8. Time begins the healing process of wounds cut deeply by oppression. We soothe ourselves with the salve of attempted indifference.
9. There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take… The line between reason and madness grows thinner.
10. As far back as I can remember, I knew there was something wrong with our way of life when people could be mistreated because of the colour of their skin.

NEW!

Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

Available on Amazon:
Paperback            E-book


A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

Available on Amazon
Paperback

E-book

3 February: Carrot Cake Day

February 3rd is Carrot Cake Day. Here are ten things you may not know about carrot cake.

1. Carrot cake isn't a modern invention. People put Carrots in puddings in medieval times. This was because sugar and sweeteners were rare and expensive back then, and carrots have more sugar in them than any other vegetable apart from sugar beet.
2. In those times they wouldn't have added the icing, which is usually made from icing sugar, Butter and cream cheese. This addition originated in the 1960s.
3. There is a recipe dating back to 1591 for "Pudding in a Carret Root". While it's basically a stuffed carrot, the recipe does call for shortening, Eggs, raisins, spices, scraped carrot and breadcrumbs, so it may have been an early precursor to carrot cake as we know it.
4. In the 16th and 17th centuries, carrot puddings were served as both a savoury dish and as a dessert served with custard. Sometimes it was baked in a Pastry tart, and sometimes steamed, like a plum pudding.
5. Louis XVI's chef, Antoine Beauvillers, published a carrot cake recipe in 1814 ("Gateau de carrottes"). Other cookery writers of the time copied it into their own cook books and in 1824 Beauvilliers had his recipe book translated into English and published in London, bringing carrot cake to the UK.
6. Carrot cake came into its own again during the second world war, when sugar was rationed.
7. Carrot cake is denser than ordinary cake.
8. It's common to decorate carrot cakes with little sugar carrots. While cakes are often garnished with their main ingredient (Strawberry cake with strawberries, and so on) you can hardly stick a real carrot on top of a cake, so the sugar version is used instead.
9. George Washington is said to have eaten a carrot tea cake on 25 November 1783 at a tavern in Manhattan, while celebrating British Evacuation Day.
10. In 2011, a Radio Times survey found that carrot cake was the most popular cake in Britain.

NEW!

Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

Available on Amazon:
Paperback            E-book


A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

Available on Amazon
Paperback

E-book

2 February: The number 2

On the second day of the second month, ten things you might not know about the number two.

1. The glyph for the number two evolved from Brahmic script, where they expressed the number as two horizontal lines. Somewhere along the line the lines got rotated by 45 degrees and one line curved towards the other, eventually resulting in 2.
2. If a number is divisible by two, it is called an even number. You can tell if any number is even or not by looking at its last digit. If that digit is even, the whole number is.
3. 2 is the only prime number which is even.
4. 2 is the atomic number of Helium.
5. In the Bible, two of each animal went into the ark, and the Ten Commandments were written on two tablets.
6. In China, they believe that "good things come in pairs", so it's common for brand names there to begin with "double", eg "Double Happiness".
7. Words meaning "two" include: pair, couple, Twin, brace, deuce, twosome, duo, duet, dyad, couplet, yoke and distitch.
8. In games of Dice, if two dice are thrown and both come up showing one spot, it's called craps or snake eyes.
9. Deuce is a word for the two of any suit in a pack of Playing cards.
10. In numerology, two is seen as a feminine number. It represents duality, balance, peace, diplomacy, harmony, emotion and nurturing. People with twos in their birth dates are said to be interested in partnerships and co-operation. They are able to see things from all angles and have an awareness of what other people need. They can be shy, sensitive, indecisive and lack self esteem, but are loyal and supportive to those they love.

NEW!

Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

Available on Amazon:
Paperback            E-book


A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

Available on Amazon
Paperback

E-book