23 August: William Wallace

On this date in 1305 Scottish patriot William Wallace was hanged, beheaded, and quartered in London. Here are 10 things you might not know about the inspiration for the movie Braveheart.

1. Nobody knows for sure when or where he was born, or even who his father was. He was born sometime in the 1270s in a place called Elderslie in Renfrewshire, or possibly Ayrshire. Some documents say his father was Malcolm Wallace, but Wallace's own seal states his father's name was Alan.
2. Most of what we think we know about William Wallace comes from an epic poem written in 1488 by a minstrel called Blind Harry. It was called The Acts and Deeds of the Illustrious and Valiant Champion Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie. Harry claimed his poem was historically accurate, but he got some dates wrong which suggests there was a certain amount of artistic licence going on. Nevertheless, it was a very popular book in Scotland where they nicknamed it The Wallace. Only the Bible was more popular north of the border. Mel Gibson's film, Braveheart, was based on Blind Harry's book.
3. William was a younger son, which in those times would dictate that his career would be in the church. Hence he was educated by his uncle, the priest of Dunnipace. His uncle allegedly had strong feelings about oppression and it's said that's where William learned how to fight and how to hate.
4. He was a giant of a man – 6' 7” inches tall at a time when the average height of a man was 5' 6”. He was also described as big-boned, broad shouldered and “cheerful in appearance.” However, he never had his portrait painted so we can't know what he actually looked like.
5. The first recorded action of William Wallace was in 1297, when he got 30 men together, went to Lanark Castle and killed the English High Sheriff of Lanark, William Heselrig. We don't know for sure why he did it, although the most popular theory is that William Heselrig had killed Wallace's wife, Marion Braidfute.
6. However, historians aren't sure Marion actually existed. She isn't mentioned anywhere until 1570, when she appears in a revised edition of Blind Harry's poem. Wallace expert Ed Archer has a theory that Marion was made up by the Baillies of Lamington, a wealthy family from Lanmark who paid for her to be included in the revision so they could claim they were descended from Wallace through his and Marion's daughter.
7. The stories we have portray Wallace as quite a bloodthirsty character. He's said to have had his uncle, Sir Ronald Crauford, hanged; to have locked an English garrison in a building and burnt them all alive; skinning an English leader named Hugh Cressingham and making a baldrick, or sword belt, out of his skin.
8. The trouble really kicked off when King Alexander III of Scotland died, causing a succession crisis. King Edward I of England saw this as an opportunity to conquer Scotland. This he did at the Battle of Dumbar and had himself declared king of Scotland in 1296. William's father was killed in a skirmish with the English around this time, giving William even more reason to hate them. In 1297 he joined forces with Andrew Moray and the two men formed an army of landowners and commoners which defeated the larger English army led by John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Moray was killed, but Wallace led his army into England to ravage Northumberland and Cumberland. When he got home, he was knighted and appointed “Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its armies” on behalf of John Balliol, the deposed king of Scotland. King Edward wasn't going to take this lying down – the following year, he returned to Scotland with his army, meeting Wallace's at the Battle of Falkirk, which the English won. Wallace escaped but resigned as Guardian of Scotland and became a fugitive with a price on his head as Edward was offering a large reward to anyone who killed or captured him.
9. Wallace had an ally and supposed friend called John de Menteith, who tricked Wallace into going to Dumbarton, where he handed him over to the English in exchange for an earldom. Wallace was put on trial for treason. His response to the charge against him was to say “I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject.” Which was true enough but cut no ice with the bloodthirsty English who found him guilty and had him hung, drawn, quartered and beheaded. His head was placed on London Bridge, and his limbs displayed in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling and Perth.
10. In the nineteenth century a tower, the National Wallace Monument was built on the Abbey Craig from which Wallace was said to have watched the gathering of the English army before the Battle of Stirling Bridge. It is possible to visit the monument and climb over 240 steps to look at the view. Visitors can also see some of Wallace's possessions on display, including his sword which is 5 feet 4 inches long and weighs about 3 kilograms.

NEW!!

Over the Rainbow

'We're not in Trinity anymore,' says Leonard Marx, quoting a line from an old Innovian  movie. The moon is different; the planes flying overhead are different. Nobody has any idea where they are or if it's possible to get home. 

In this strange new world, people from the highly technical Innovia and the less advanced Classica must co-operate in order to survive. In addition, travel through the inter-dimensional wormhole has given some people unusual and unexpected powers.

Innovia mourns the loss of its superhero, Power Blaster, last seen carrying a nuclear bomb to the upper atmosphere away from the inhabited Bird Island. They don't believe he could possibly have survived.  Power Blaster has survived, but is close to death and stranded in the new dimension. He is nursed back to health by a Classican woman, Elena. She has no idea who he is, only that she is falling in love with the handsome stranger.  

Shanna sets out to discover what happened to Nathan Tate, who didn't return from his hiking holiday, not knowing her life is about to be turned inside out and upside down. 

Meanwhile, Desi Troyes, the man responsible for the catastrophe, is at large on the new world, plotting how he can transfer his plans for world domination to the planet he now finds himself on - Earth. 

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

22 August: Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy, the French composer best known for Clair de Lune was born on this date in 1862. Here are some things you might not know about him.

1. He was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, and was named Achille Claude Debussy (He dropped the “Achille” in the 1890s). His father owned a china shop, and his mother was a seamstress.
2. He started Piano lessons when he was seven and by the age of ten was a student at the Paris Conservatoire.
3. One of his early jobs was teaching piano to Tchaikovsky’s wealthy patroness, Nadezhda von Meck. While she was unimpressed with the fact Debussy wanted to marry one of her daughters, and wouldn't give consent, she liked his music enough to send some of his music to Tchaikovsky - Danse Bohémienne. Tchaikovsky didn't like it. His verdict: “It is a very pretty piece, but it is much too short. Not a single idea is expressed fully, the form is terribly shrivelled, and it lacks unity.”
4. Probably his best known piece is Clair de Lune, which is actually part of a suite of music called The Suite Bergamasque. It is the third movement of this suite. The others are Prélude, Menuet and Passepied. He started writing it in 1890, but didn't publish it until 1905. The piece was inspired by Paul Verlaine's poetry.
5. He only ever completed one opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, a five act love story which premiered in 1902. He did work on some other operas, but didn't finish them. Two of his unfinished operas were based on Edgar Allen Poe stories.
6. His music wasn't always well received. One critic wrote, after the premiere of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un Faune - “The faun must have had a terrible afternoon!” His music was often described as “impressionist”, a label Debussy didn't like. His reaction: “I am trying to do 'something different'...what the imbeciles call 'impressionism', a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by the critics.”
7. His love life was complicated. After having an eight year affair with one of his singing pupils, who was married to his patron, he moved in with a tailor's daughter called Gabrielle Dupont (not the done thing at the time). He cheated on her with Therese Roger, to whom he got engaged, but he cheated on her as well with Rosalie Texier. He married Rosalie but cheated on her, too, with Emma Bardac. He got Emma pregnant and was forced to leave Paris because of the scandal. They lived in Jersey for a while and then moved to Eastbourne in England. Gabrielle threatened to commit suicide and Rosalie attempted suicide by shooting herself in the chest in La Place de la Concorde in Paris. She survived, but lived for 28 years with a bullet lodged in her spine.
8. Another of Debussy's best known works is La Mer. Some say he wrote this while living with Emma in the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, which overlooked the English Channel. That wasn't the case – he'd already written it, but he did bring the publisher's proofs with him and made the final corrections there.
9. He died of cancer in 1918. The streets of Paris were deserted during his funeral because the city had been under attack by the Germans. He was buried in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, but the cemetery was damaged by German bombs, so he was re-interred in the Passy Cemetery after the war.
10. His favourite piano is still used in performances of his music today. He rented it originally from a piano store in Eastbourne but liked it so much that he bought it.

NEW!!

Over the Rainbow

'We're not in Trinity anymore,' says Leonard Marx, quoting a line from an old Innovian  movie. The moon is different; the planes flying overhead are different. Nobody has any idea where they are or if it's possible to get home. 

In this strange new world, people from the highly technical Innovia and the less advanced Classica must co-operate in order to survive. In addition, travel through the inter-dimensional wormhole has given some people unusual and unexpected powers.

Innovia mourns the loss of its superhero, Power Blaster, last seen carrying a nuclear bomb to the upper atmosphere away from the inhabited Bird Island. They don't believe he could possibly have survived.  Power Blaster has survived, but is close to death and stranded in the new dimension. He is nursed back to health by a Classican woman, Elena. She has no idea who he is, only that she is falling in love with the handsome stranger.  

Shanna sets out to discover what happened to Nathan Tate, who didn't return from his hiking holiday, not knowing her life is about to be turned inside out and upside down. 

Meanwhile, Desi Troyes, the man responsible for the catastrophe, is at large on the new world, plotting how he can transfer his plans for world domination to the planet he now finds himself on - Earth. 

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

August 21: Corsica

On this date in 1794, France surrendered the island of Corsica to the British. Here are ten things you might not know about Corsica.

1. The island had been sold to France in 1768 after a period of independence. The man considered to be the hero of independent Corsica, Pasquale Paoli, was exiled to Britain. After the French Revolution, Paoli encouraged the British to free Corsica from French rule, which they did, but their union with Britain only lasted two years before the French took it back.
2. While Corsica was independent, Pascale Paoli wrote a constitution, the first democratic constitution of modern times. It included separation of powers, sovereignty of the people, courts of justice, and even votes for women. It was applied from 1755 to 1769. After that, it became the inspiration for the US Constitution.
3. The population of Corsica was estimated at 322,120 in 2013. The most widely spoken language is French and the second most widely spoken language is Corsican, a minority language that is closely related to medieval Tuscan.
4. Corsica's main towns are Ajaccio, also known by its Latin name of Ajax, Corte, Bastia and Sartene.
5. Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio (Ajax). His ancestral home, Maison Bonaparte, is now a visitor attraction and museum. Another Corsican, Angelo Mariani, is credited with inventing Coca Cola. His tonic wine made of coca leaves was so successful that he sold it in the United States. It was the non alcoholic version of his recipe, invented by Doctor Pemberton in Atlanta, which we know as Coca Cola today.
6. Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Cyprus, Sardinia and Sicily. It is also the most mountainous. It was formed about 250 million years ago with the uplift of a granite backbone on the western side. Monte Cinto is the highest peak at 2,706m, which is about twice the height of Ben Nevis. There are 20 other summits of more than 2,000m. Corsica's 1,000km of coastline has 200 beaches.
7. Lariccio pine trees, or Corsican pines, are unique to the island. Some of these trees are over 500 years old.
8. Corsica has a Flag and an unofficial National Anthem. The flag depicts the head of a Moor wearing a white bandana above his eyes. It was based on a traditional flag in which the Moor was blindfolded, but Pascale Paoli changed it to represent Corsica's independence. The song Dio vi salvi Regina (Italian for "God save you Queen") is a folk song is sung at the end of any concert of Corsican folk music.
9. Corsica once had a king. His name was Baron Theodor Von Neuhoff, and he was born in Cologne in 1694. While working as a diplomat, he met some exiled Corsican rebels and told them he would help free their island from the Republic of Genoa. He went to Corsica and was crowned King Theodore I. His reign only lasted about eight months before the Genoese sent a large army, defeated him and threw him out.
10. Wine is made in Corsica, but isn't exported. They make red wine from niellucciu and sciaccarellu grapes.

NEW!!

Over the Rainbow

'We're not in Trinity anymore,' says Leonard Marx, quoting a line from an old Innovian  movie. The moon is different; the planes flying overhead are different. Nobody has any idea where they are or if it's possible to get home. 

In this strange new world, people from the highly technical Innovia and the less advanced Classica must co-operate in order to survive. In addition, travel through the inter-dimensional wormhole has given some people unusual and unexpected powers.

Innovia mourns the loss of its superhero, Power Blaster, last seen carrying a nuclear bomb to the upper atmosphere away from the inhabited Bird Island. They don't believe he could possibly have survived.  Power Blaster has survived, but is close to death and stranded in the new dimension. He is nursed back to health by a Classican woman, Elena. She has no idea who he is, only that she is falling in love with the handsome stranger.  

Shanna sets out to discover what happened to Nathan Tate, who didn't return from his hiking holiday, not knowing her life is about to be turned inside out and upside down. 

Meanwhile, Desi Troyes, the man responsible for the catastrophe, is at large on the new world, plotting how he can transfer his plans for world domination to the planet he now finds himself on - Earth. 

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

August 20: Bamboo Day

Today is Bamboo Day so here are 10 facts about bamboo.

1. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet. There is a variety which grows 35 inches a day, or 1.5 inches an hour. It would be possible to sit and actually watch the stuff grow. Human beings, nasty, vindictive things that they are, have used this as a means of torture – tying an enemy onto a patch of growing bamboo so it grows through them.
2. Bamboo also grows very tall. It can reach up to 130 feet in height.
3. It's stronger than steel. In fact, it's one of the strongest materials on Earth, because it bends rather than breaks. In Hong Kong, scaffolding is made out of bamboo, not metal. It has been used to make Bicycle frames, and even trains (in Cambodia, some people made trains from bamboo when regular services stopped running). There's also a bridge in Kampong Cham made from bamboo. It gets washed away in the floods each year and is simply rebuilt again afterwards. Archaeologists believe that the reason they don't find remains of ancient stone tools in eastern Asia may be because the people there used bamboo to make tools instead.
4. It's also renewable. Once harvested, it starts growing again very quickly, and it's not long before it can be harvested again. It also produces 35% more Oxygen than hardwood trees and can absorb up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide per 2.5 acres in a single year. Bamboo also helps to prevent soil erosion and flooding, due to its extensive, strong root system. It's possibly the most environmentally friendly thing we can grow.
5. Bamboo plants don't flower very often. They only flower once in several decades. What's more, when it does flower, every single plant in that variety flowers at the same time the world over, in every location, regardless of the climate. Scientists have no idea why.
6. Bamboo has antibacterial properties which means its fibres can be used to make fabric which naturally kills germs. Ideal for bandages. It is also a natural deodoriser, another useful property for textiles.
7. Regular readers of this blog will know that Thomas Edison used Cotton to make filaments for his early light bulbs. Bamboo was another substance he used. A bamboo filament could last over 1,200 hours, making it the best substance to use. It was the bamboo filament which led to mass produced light bulbs.
8. Other things which might only exist thanks to bamboo are: firecrackers (because bamboo grows so fast, air pockets can get stuck in it so if it burned, it would explode with a loud bang); silk (in the west anyway, thanks to a couple of monks who smuggled silkworms out of China in hollow bamboo tubes); and Music (after Emperor Huang Ti asked Ling Lun to cut bamboo poles that would produce a sound like the call of a Phoenix bird).
9. You can even eat the stuff. It's not very nutritious but has little fat and few calories, and is rich in fibre. Bamboo shoots are a common food in Asia and can be used to bulk up food. Animals such as Pandas, Red Pandas and Madagascar's bamboo lemur eat nothing else. Mountain gorillas eat it for fun, because bamboo ferments in their stomachs and gets them drunk.
10. Ernest Hemingway's brother once made a bamboo raft and declared it an independent country called New Atlantis. It vanished during a storm in 1966.

NEW!!

Over the Rainbow

'We're not in Trinity anymore,' says Leonard Marx, quoting a line from an old Innovian  movie. The moon is different; the planes flying overhead are different. Nobody has any idea where they are or if it's possible to get home. 

In this strange new world, people from the highly technical Innovia and the less advanced Classica must co-operate in order to survive. In addition, travel through the inter-dimensional wormhole has given some people unusual and unexpected powers.

Innovia mourns the loss of its superhero, Power Blaster, last seen carrying a nuclear bomb to the upper atmosphere away from the inhabited Bird Island. They don't believe he could possibly have survived.  Power Blaster has survived, but is close to death and stranded in the new dimension. He is nursed back to health by a Classican woman, Elena. She has no idea who he is, only that she is falling in love with the handsome stranger.  

Shanna sets out to discover what happened to Nathan Tate, who didn't return from his hiking holiday, not knowing her life is about to be turned inside out and upside down. 

Meanwhile, Desi Troyes, the man responsible for the catastrophe, is at large on the new world, plotting how he can transfer his plans for world domination to the planet he now finds himself on - Earth. 

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

19th August: Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer, was born on this date in 1883. Some quotes from her:

1. A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.
2. In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.
3. The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.
4. To achieve great things, we must first dream.
5. A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.
6. Since everything is in our heads, we had better not lose them.
7. There are people who have money and people who are rich.
8. Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.
9. It is always better to be slightly underdressed.
10. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time!

See Also:

10 Facts about Coco Chanel

NEW!!

Over the Rainbow

'We're not in Trinity anymore,' says Leonard Marx, quoting a line from an old Innovian  movie. The moon is different; the planes flying overhead are different. Nobody has any idea where they are or if it's possible to get home. 

In this strange new world, people from the highly technical Innovia and the less advanced Classica must co-operate in order to survive. In addition, travel through the inter-dimensional wormhole has given some people unusual and unexpected powers.

Innovia mourns the loss of its superhero, Power Blaster, last seen carrying a nuclear bomb to the upper atmosphere away from the inhabited Bird Island. They don't believe he could possibly have survived.  Power Blaster has survived, but is close to death and stranded in the new dimension. He is nursed back to health by a Classican woman, Elena. She has no idea who he is, only that she is falling in love with the handsome stranger.  

Shanna sets out to discover what happened to Nathan Tate, who didn't return from his hiking holiday, not knowing her life is about to be turned inside out and upside down. 

Meanwhile, Desi Troyes, the man responsible for the catastrophe, is at large on the new world, plotting how he can transfer his plans for world domination to the planet he now finds himself on - Earth. 

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

18 August: Camels

Camels have been in the news on this date a couple of times. In 1997 in Berlin. Europe’s first camel races with women jockeys took place. In 2007 a 60 year old woman in Australia died when her pet camel tried to mate with her. Here are 10 more facts about camels.

1. The word camel comes from the Arabic word “gml” which means beauty. A dromedary is a camel which has one hump, and a camel with two is called a Bactrian camel. About 90% of the world’s camels are dromedaries. The Arabic language has over 160 words for camel.
2. Many people believe a camel's hump stores Water. It doesn't. It stores fat. A camel can carry up to 36 kilograms (80 pounds) worth of fat on its back at a time. The fat can be converted by the camel into either food or water.
3. Camels are adapted to live in areas where water is scarce. They can drink 145 litres or 32 gallons of water in one go, and can survive losing up to 40% of their weight from dehydration. Their urine is like thick syrup, and their faeces are so dry that Beduins can use it for fuel without having to dry it out first. Even their red blood cells are different. They are oval rather than circular which helps them flow when the animal is dehydrated.
4. Another hazard camels have to deal with is sandstorms. They have special adaptations to deal with those, too. They have an extra, clear eyelid which protects their eyes from the sand while letting in enough light for them to see. They have two rows of very long eyelashes and can close their nostrils. Hairs in their ears help keep the sand out.
5. Then there's the heat. That's one reason for their long legs – they keep the camel's body away from the hot sand. When they need to rest, the camel has a thick pad of skin on its chest and knees so it can sit on the hot sand. Their coats also reflect sunlight to help keep them cool.
6. An adult camel is about 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) tall at the shoulder and 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) tall at the hump. They can run at up to 65 km/h (40 mph) in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h (25 mph). The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years.
7. Camels are descended from a prehistoric animal called a Protylopus, which lived in North America 40 to 50 million years ago. This creature was about the size of a Rabbit.
8. Like Cows, camels are ruminants and chew cud. They have thick lips which enable them to eat thorny plants other animals can't. Camels are famous for being bad tempered and spitting at people. Spitting is a defence mechanism used when they feel threatened. It's not just saliva, either. As if that's not disgusting enough, they also bring up some of their stomach contents to spit at whatever is threatening them.
9. A camel's growl is one of the noises used to create Chewbacca’s voice in the Star Wars films.
10. Camels were domesticated more than 3,000 years ago and desert based societies depend on them for many things. Transport is one – a camel can carry 90 kilograms (200 pounds) of extra weight. They can carry goods and also people. Cavalries made up of camels are a thing in Africa, even today (although they are gradually being replaced with vehicles). Horses are said to be afraid of the scent of camels which makes them particularly useful when fighting an army on horseback. A more peaceful use has been found in Kenya, where camels are used as a mobile library to carry books to remote areas. Their hair is used to make clothing, tents and bedding, and they can be eaten – a camel's hump is a delicacy in some desert societies. Their milk is also good for you. It has more Iron and Vitamin C than cow's Milk. Camel milkshake is on sale in Abu Dhabi and in Kazakhstan it's used for medicinal purposes, including as a remedy for tuberculosis. 

NEW!!

Over the Rainbow

'We're not in Trinity anymore,' says Leonard Marx, quoting a line from an old Innovian  movie. The moon is different; the planes flying overhead are different. Nobody has any idea where they are or if it's possible to get home. 

In this strange new world, people from the highly technical Innovia and the less advanced Classica must co-operate in order to survive. In addition, travel through the inter-dimensional wormhole has given some people unusual and unexpected powers.

Innovia mourns the loss of its superhero, Power Blaster, last seen carrying a nuclear bomb to the upper atmosphere away from the inhabited Bird Island. They don't believe he could possibly have survived.  Power Blaster has survived, but is close to death and stranded in the new dimension. He is nursed back to health by a Classican woman, Elena. She has no idea who he is, only that she is falling in love with the handsome stranger.  

Shanna sets out to discover what happened to Nathan Tate, who didn't return from his hiking holiday, not knowing her life is about to be turned inside out and upside down. 

Meanwhile, Desi Troyes, the man responsible for the catastrophe, is at large on the new world, plotting how he can transfer his plans for world domination to the planet he now finds himself on - Earth. 

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

17 August: Mae West

The actress Mae West was born on this date in 1893. Here are 10 things you might not know about her.

1. Her real name was Mary Jane West and she was born in New York. Her father was a prizefighter known as "Battlin' Jack West", who later ran a private detective agency.
2. Mae West's first performance was at a church social when she was five, and by the age of seven she was appearing in stage shows. At 14, she was a vaudeville stage actress using the name Baby Mae.
3. She was more than just an actress. She wrote, directed and produced plays as well, using the name Jane Mast. In her 20s, she wrote and produced a play called Sex, which did well on Broadway but religious groups didn't like it and complained. The theatre was raided and Mae West was arrested.
4. She could have simply paid a fine, but she chose to go to prison for ten days, because she would get more publicity for that. In the end, she served eight days (two days off for good behaviour) and while she was in there, she dined with the warden and his wife and continued to wear silk underwear.
5. She didn't get a film contract until she was 38. Her first film role was a small part in Night After Night. She didn't like the part at first, but she was allowed to re-write her scenes, which stole the show. She went on to write nine of the thirteen films she starred in.
6. She was married at the age of 17 to Frank Szatkus, a fellow vaudevillian. They only lived together for a few weeks. Mae tried to keep the marriage secret from the press, but a filing clerk discovered the marriage certificate in 1935 and told the press. She didn't divorce him until 1942.
7. In 1935, she was the highest paid star in Hollywood and the highest paid person in the USA. The only person with a bigger salary than her was the newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst.
8. She was a recording star as well. The songs from her films were released on 78rpm records in the 1930s. In 1955, she recorded her first album, The Fabulous Mae West. Her songs included Am I Too Young and He's Good For Me. In 1966 she released a Christmas song, Santa, Come Up to See Me.
9. When The Beatles asked if they could include her picture on the cover of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, she quipped, "What would I be doing in a lonely hearts club?” Nevertheless, she did give her permission and appears on the cover.
10. She inspired several designers and artists. Elsa Schiaparelli released a perfume in 1937 called Shocking that came in a bottle shaped like West's torso. Talking of bottles, the Coca Cola bottle is rumoured to have been based on her figure as well. Salvador Dali painted a picture, Il volto di Mae West, in which he turns her face into a room in an apartment. Her Lips are the sofa, and he later designed the sofa for real, naming it Mae West Lips.

NEW!!

Over the Rainbow

'We're not in Trinity anymore,' says Leonard Marx, quoting a line from an old Innovian  movie. The moon is different; the planes flying overhead are different. Nobody has any idea where they are or if it's possible to get home. 

In this strange new world, people from the highly technical Innovia and the less advanced Classica must co-operate in order to survive. In addition, travel through the inter-dimensional wormhole has given some people unusual and unexpected powers.

Innovia mourns the loss of its superhero, Power Blaster, last seen carrying a nuclear bomb to the upper atmosphere away from the inhabited Bird Island. They don't believe he could possibly have survived.  Power Blaster has survived, but is close to death and stranded in the new dimension. He is nursed back to health by a Classican woman, Elena. She has no idea who he is, only that she is falling in love with the handsome stranger.  

Shanna sets out to discover what happened to Nathan Tate, who didn't return from his hiking holiday, not knowing her life is about to be turned inside out and upside down. 

Meanwhile, Desi Troyes, the man responsible for the catastrophe, is at large on the new world, plotting how he can transfer his plans for world domination to the planet he now finds himself on - Earth. 

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle