Spy in Plain Sight
Watching QIXL recently I learnt about a number of very famous spies. I don’t mean a spy like Kim Philby or Anthony Blunt, I mean a spy like Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn or Josephine Baker. The advantage of these famous stars in espionage terms, was...
Luck
On 1st March 1579 Francis Drake captured the Spanish treasure ship, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción off the coast of Peru. This was during his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard his ship the Golden Hind in...
TikTok
It’s that time of the month again when Red Herrings, the CWA’s bulletin, drops through the letterbox. Our chair, Vaseem Khan, tells a hilarious story about an American writer’s use of TikTok. The writer shall remain nameless but apparently a member of his (I’m...
Joe Todd Awards
On Friday I was in Oxford at the annual Joe Todd Dinner in my old college, St. Edmund Hall. Joe was a wonderful man and an inspiring tutor in engineering science. To honour his legacy, his students contributed to a fund which annually helps fund research projects...
Essex and Elizabeth
On 25th February 1601 Robert Devereux 2nd Earl of Essex was executed for treason. The story is told in the 1939 film, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. The story is also told in The Spy who Sank the Armada, my first novel...
Villanelle
The villanelle is a poetic form comprising five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two repeating, rhyming refrains which run through the poem and form the final two lines. These refrains are supported by a supporting rhyme. This will all become clear if you...
Russia
On the 18th of February 1884 Russian police seized all copies of Leo Tolstoy’s book, What I Believe In. Tolstoy was born to an aristocratic family. In 1844 he began studying law and oriental languages at Kazan University, where his teachers described him as unable and...
Abraham Lincoln’s Beard
On the 16th February 1861 the president-elect, Abraham Lincoln, stopped his train in Westfield to thank an 11 year-old girl, Grace Bedell. Grace had written to Lincoln encouraging him to grow a beard in order to improve his appearance and win the election. Lincoln had...
Valentine’s Day
On Saint Valentine’s Day our minds turn to thoughts of love, but why? When I went to the On This Day webpage, I was expecting to find the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. I’d already asked ChatGBT to paint a picture of it for me. I don’t recognize Al Capone in there,...
Spy in Plain Sight
Watching QIXL recently I learnt about a number of very famous spies. I don’t mean a spy like Kim Philby or Anthony Blunt, I mean a spy like Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn or Josephine Baker. The advantage of these famous stars in espionage terms, was...
Luck
On 1st March 1579 Francis Drake captured the Spanish treasure ship, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción off the coast of Peru. This was during his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard his ship the Golden Hind in...
TikTok
It’s that time of the month again when Red Herrings, the CWA’s bulletin, drops through the letterbox. Our chair, Vaseem Khan, tells a hilarious story about an American writer’s use of TikTok. The writer shall remain nameless but apparently a member of his (I’m...
Joe Todd Awards
On Friday I was in Oxford at the annual Joe Todd Dinner in my old college, St. Edmund Hall. Joe was a wonderful man and an inspiring tutor in engineering science. To honour his legacy, his students contributed to a fund which annually helps fund research projects...
Essex and Elizabeth
On 25th February 1601 Robert Devereux 2nd Earl of Essex was executed for treason. The story is told in the 1939 film, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. The story is also told in The Spy who Sank the Armada, my first novel...
Villanelle
The villanelle is a poetic form comprising five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two repeating, rhyming refrains which run through the poem and form the final two lines. These refrains are supported by a supporting rhyme. This will all become clear if you...
Russia
On the 18th of February 1884 Russian police seized all copies of Leo Tolstoy’s book, What I Believe In. Tolstoy was born to an aristocratic family. In 1844 he began studying law and oriental languages at Kazan University, where his teachers described him as unable and...
Abraham Lincoln’s Beard
On the 16th February 1861 the president-elect, Abraham Lincoln, stopped his train in Westfield to thank an 11 year-old girl, Grace Bedell. Grace had written to Lincoln encouraging him to grow a beard in order to improve his appearance and win the election. Lincoln had...
Valentine’s Day
On Saint Valentine’s Day our minds turn to thoughts of love, but why? When I went to the On This Day webpage, I was expecting to find the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. I’d already asked ChatGBT to paint a picture of it for me. I don’t recognize Al Capone in there,...