Today has been a rather frustrating day. I had set it as the launch day for Serpent’s Teeth, the fifth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. I had everything set up with a scheduled publication of 1st November. So when I went online this morning to check that it...

The word chancellor has a surprisingly humble origin. Today, it conjures up images of powerful politicians, senior judges and university dignitaries. Yet its ancestry can be traced to a Latin word meaning a lattice, grating or barrier. The Latin cancelli referred to...

The word curfew has a fascinating history stretching back nearly a thousand years, to medieval Europe. Today, we associate it with restrictions on movement, particularly during wartime, civil unrest or the disciplining of children. Originally, however, it had a much...

In an earlier post about education I mentioned how an ability for maths and sciences, physics in particular, helped me achieve an exhibition to Oxford. Physics is actually quite an interesting word. The word physics has a history stretching back more than two thousand...

Since I mentioned Strictly Come Dancing yesterday, let’s make strict today’s word of the day. But before I do that, I have just realised that tracing the roots of words to Latin and other languages is exactly the teaching device that Sir Anthony Standen is using in...

We were supposed to be going on holiday to Sicily last month, but an eruption of Mount Etna closed the airport and scuppered our holiday. I had been trying to learn Italian using Babbel (other apps are available), and I am continuing to do so. In my lesson today...

It’s the season of Strictly Come Dancing and The Celebrity Traitors for TV viewing in our household. What on earth was Richard E Grant thinking? The word traitor has a history stretching back more than two thousand years, with its origins in Latin and a fascinating...

As I choose my word for the day, riots are taking place in France against hardship in schools and the cost of living. I like to be a few days ahead of myself for when I may not have the time to write a post. So whilst I sincerely hope the disorder in France will have...

Although my genre is specifically historical crime fiction, my Sir Anthony Standen Adventures can more generally be described as mystery novels. Which gives me an excellent opportunity to plug (again) the publication of Serpent’s Teeth on the 1st of November. The...

Today has been a rather frustrating day. I had set it as the launch day for Serpent’s Teeth, the fifth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. I had everything set up with a scheduled publication of 1st November. So when I went online this morning to check that it...

The word chancellor has a surprisingly humble origin. Today, it conjures up images of powerful politicians, senior judges and university dignitaries. Yet its ancestry can be traced to a Latin word meaning a lattice, grating or barrier. The Latin cancelli referred to...

The word curfew has a fascinating history stretching back nearly a thousand years, to medieval Europe. Today, we associate it with restrictions on movement, particularly during wartime, civil unrest or the disciplining of children. Originally, however, it had a much...

In an earlier post about education I mentioned how an ability for maths and sciences, physics in particular, helped me achieve an exhibition to Oxford. Physics is actually quite an interesting word. The word physics has a history stretching back more than two thousand...

Since I mentioned Strictly Come Dancing yesterday, let’s make strict today’s word of the day. But before I do that, I have just realised that tracing the roots of words to Latin and other languages is exactly the teaching device that Sir Anthony Standen is using in...

We were supposed to be going on holiday to Sicily last month, but an eruption of Mount Etna closed the airport and scuppered our holiday. I had been trying to learn Italian using Babbel (other apps are available), and I am continuing to do so. In my lesson today...

It’s the season of Strictly Come Dancing and The Celebrity Traitors for TV viewing in our household. What on earth was Richard E Grant thinking? The word traitor has a history stretching back more than two thousand years, with its origins in Latin and a fascinating...

As I choose my word for the day, riots are taking place in France against hardship in schools and the cost of living. I like to be a few days ahead of myself for when I may not have the time to write a post. So whilst I sincerely hope the disorder in France will have...

Although my genre is specifically historical crime fiction, my Sir Anthony Standen Adventures can more generally be described as mystery novels. Which gives me an excellent opportunity to plug (again) the publication of Serpent’s Teeth on the 1st of November. The...