Time is short and seems to be getting shorter by the day. The list of things I need to do grows, and the thing that seems to be squeezed out the most is the writing. Ironic, when that is – to use the kind of language found only in business meetings – supposed to be my ‘core activity’.

I’ve had eighteen months of health ups and downs, from which I am finally emerging. Not unscathed, but emerging, nonetheless. It has made me focus on what I want to achieve, and how best to go about this, and my inevitable conclusion was: something’s gotta give.

With great reluctance, I realised that that ‘something’ was my blogging efforts on Murder Is Everywhere. It’s been an honour and a privilege to count myself among the fine authors collected on MiE, but needs must.

I hope to continue to blog on my own website, and have even been offered the occasional guest spot by one or two of my friends on MiE. I shall take them up on that, gratefully, when the urge is upon me, and I feel I have something interesting to say.

Meanwhile I plan to use the time I gain productively. Otherwise, the sacrifice will hardly have been worth it. I’ve made some changes over the course of this year so far, but still have a long way to go.

So, in the words of the late, great Douglas Adams, ‘So long, and thanks for all the fish.’ Which, for those of you not familiar with his work, was the title of the fourth book in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. (Yes, I know, but just run with it, OK?)

It was the message left by the dolphins when they left earth, shortly before it was demolished by the Vogons to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

Somehow, it seemed appropriate.

This week’s Word of the Week is a conglomeration I heard during a radio interview recently – emanciated. It means to be free, but starving…

You can read this blog and comment at https://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2023/05/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-fish.html

The post So long, and thanks for all the fish appeared first on Zoë Sharp: Author of the Charlie Fox series and the Lakes Thriller series..

So last weekend—April 21st-23rd—I was delighted to find myself at the western edge of Wales, in Aberystwyth for the Gŵyl CRIME CYMRU Festival. The Festival was split between two venues in the town—both a stone’s skip from the seafront. One was the rather splendid Public Library, on Queen’s Square. The other was just along Portland Street at the Ceredigion Museum.

The museum is located in an old Edwardian theatre, with a grand staircase and intact auditorium. Because it’s actually two buildings now knocked into one, getting from one floor to another was not as straightforward as you might think. Indeed, unravelling a piece of thread as you went might have been wise until you got the hang of the layout.

(And, of course, as every good crime writer knows, the clew of thread—as given to Theseus by Ariadne to help guide him out of the labyrinth on Knossos after slaying the minotaur—gave rise to the modern word clue.)

But I digress.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to take part in the Festival, and appeared on a panel with fellow Murder Is Everywhere blogmate, Caro Ramsay. We were ably chaired by Sarah Ward, on the topic of Trade Secrets and Twisted Identities, in which Caro admitted she wrote her first crime story at about the age of four or five, which began with the words, ‘Emily was the first to die…’

Is it any wonder I really like this woman?

The Festival was packed with interesting events, from the Dragon Parade along the promenade (dragon-based paraphernalia optional) to the murder mystery play that was performed during the interval in the Gala Quiz on Friday evening. There were several panels or workshops delivered solely in the Welsh language, and others that were bilingual.

The local branch of Waterstones, run by the delightful Chloe Tilson, was in charge of the book room, where they were happy to take the indie authors’ books on consignment, and made a point of getting all the stock copies they’d brought with them signed by attendees. Such a nice touch.

 

Meanwhile, authors not yet published had an opportunity to pitch to agents, and there were online events in the run-up to the weekend. Even the local bars got into the spirit of things (pun intended.)

Altogether, it was fun, friendly, and very well organised. Who could ask for more than that?

Well, maybe a touch more sunshine…

CRIME CYMRU
Chair of the Festival was the energetic and seemingly ever-cheerful Alis Hawkins, who was one of the founder members of CRIME CYMRU.

Back in 2016, she wanted to bring the crime writers of Wales together in a mutually supportive group. After discussions with fellow scribes Rosie Claverton and Matt Johnson, CRIME CYMRU was launched the following year.

Its remit was ‘to support crime writers with a real and present relationship with Wales; to contribute to the development of new Welsh crime-writing talent; and to promote Wales, contemporary Welsh culture and Welsh crime-writing in particular, to the wider world.’

Not all of the forty-plus published authors with full membership set their work in Wales. Some were born or live and work there, or have ties to Welsh universities or other cultural institutions. Those who can’t claim such close ties may be permitted to become Associate members.

I have my application in. Whether they accept a Great Uncle from Colwyn Bay as any kind of link remains to be seen…

The weekend was fascinating, but mine didn’t end with the very interesting Self Publishing Journey panel on Sunday morning. (Featuring David Penny and Graham H Miller, kept in line by GB (Gail) Williams.)

Portmeirion
I’d planned my route back to Derbyshire as a roundabout one. As I was so far west, it made sense to me to detour up the coast to Portmeirion on Sunday, before heading home again.

Clearly, great minds think alike here, as Caro was also to be found in that locale, along with fellow author Douglas Skelton. She had come prepared with props, all the better to illustrate her Blog Number 6 on the cult TV show of 1967/68—The Prisoner.

I was not so well-prepared. In fact, I had no idea that there was a convention catering to devotees of that show, who were everywhere, in brilliant costumes. The attendees were re-enacting the game of Human Chess from the episode ‘Checkmate’ when I arrived.

One could only assume it was of their own free will…

The Architect
Portmeirion was the brainchild of architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, a major figure in the development of Welsh architecture during the early twentieth century.

In 1925, he purchased the estate of Aber lâ, meaning ice estuary, as the site of his proposed ideal village, having been inspired by Portofino in Italy. Geographically, the estate at the mouth of the River Dwyryd had everything he was after. Steep cliffs overlooking a wide sandy estuary, old buildings surviving from the estate’s previous incarnation as a late 18^th-century foundry and boatyard, woods, and streams.

Williams-Ellis changed the name to Portmeirion. Port– from its location on the coast, just below the outstretched arm of Wales, and –meirion from the county of Meirionydd in which it lay.

His first task was to convert the house on the shore to a hotel, which opened for the Easter weekend in April 1926. The construction of the village was done in two stages. The most distinctive buildings, mostly influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement, were erected between 1925 and 1939. During this time, Williams-Ellis also bought the adjacent Victorian crenellated mansion, Castell Deudraeth, from the estate of his uncle.

Work was paused during the war years, then phase two began from 1954 to 1976, filling in the remaining structures in a more Palladian style. Williams-Ellis was noted for salvaging parts of other buildings for his project, and referred to Portmeirion as, “a home for fallen buildings.”

The last cottage to be built was The Tollgate, which was finished when Williams-Ellis was 93, in 1977. He died the following year, and the village was subsequently taken over by a charitable trust. It has always been a tourist destination. As well as the hotel, there are 13 cottages available to let on a self-catering basis.

Famous Visitors
Noël Coward wrote Blithe Spirit while staying in the Upper Fountain suite. HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw also visited, as did the Beatles. In fact, George Harrison spent his fiftieth birthday in Portmeirion.

Actors Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman stayed there, as did Frank Lloyd Wright. Numerous films, documentaries, and music videos have been filmed there—in addition to The Prisoner, of course.

Fun Facts
In no particular order:

Portmeirion Pottery was begun in 1961 by the daughter of Williams-Ellis, Susan, and her husband.

Williams-Ellis purchased and converted an old Porthmadog trading ketch which he moored alongside the quay—the Amis Reunis, which means Friends Reunited. It was used as a houseboat until it broke loose and became stranded on a shoal. After attempts to salvage the vessel failed, any parts that could be rescued were brought ashore and a stone boat was built into part of the quay instead.

The outdoor giant chess board was part of the set dressing for The Prisoner. A permanent one was added only in 2016.

In accordance with his wishes, twenty years after Williams-Ellis died and was cremated, some of his ashes were placed in a rocket and fired over the estuary at Portmeirion during a New Year’s Eve firework display.

What a way to go!

This week’s Word of the Week is hiraeth, a Welsh word that means longing for home. It’s similar to the English words homesickness or nostalgia and, like them, can be applied not just to home but also to an earlier time or a person. Hiraeth contains an extra dimension that what is missed may no longer exist and is therefore forever out of reach.

You can read this blog and comment at https://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2023/04/adventures-in-wales.html

The post Adventure in Wales appeared first on Zoë Sharp: Author of the Charlie Fox series and the Lakes Thriller series..

The Crime
PC Sharon Beshenivsky was still a probationary constable with West Yorkshire Police when she was shot dead by armed robbers on the afternoon of November 18 2005. A former childminder, she had completed her police training only in February of that year.

PC Beshenivsky, along with her more experienced colleague, PC Teresa Milburn, had been just about to finish their shift when they responded to an attack alarm activated at a travel agency on Morley Street in Bradford.

There, they encountered a gang of three men—armed with a knife, a 9mm handgun, and a Mac 10 submachine gun. One of the robbers immediately shot both officers in the chest. PC Beshenivsky’s wound was fatal. PC Milburn, although severely injured, managed to press the panic button on her radio and remained conscious to give responding officers a description of the gunman.

PC Beshenivsky, who was 38 at the time of her death, left behind a husband, two stepchildren and three children. That day was her youngest daughter’s fourth birthday.

The Gang
The robbers had arrived at the scene in a convoy of three cars, and fled the same way. Unfortunately for them, Bradford City Centre had recently installed automatic number plate recognition technology, which played a major part in identifying the vehicles involved, and their owners.

A week later, police named Somali brothers, Yusaf Jama – only nineteen at the time – and Mustaf Jama as prime suspects, along with Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah. Shah and Yusaf Jama were arrested within days. Mustaf Jama managed to flee the country on fake documents. It was rumoured at the time that he might have made his escape disguised in a burka. (Something he later denied.)

The gang was based in London, but had been lured up to Yorkshire by possibly false information that the travel agency had as much as £100,000 in cash on the premises. In the event, it was reported that they actually got away with little over £5000.

The Trial
In December 2006, Shah – identified by PC Milburn as the actual shooter – was convicted of murder, robbery, and firearms offences. He was sentenced to Life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years. Despite not actually pulling the trigger, Yusaf Jama was also convicted of the same offences, and received the same sentence.

Both men later had additional time added to their sentences for other crimes which came to light – firearms offences and conspiracy to rape. They were also involved in an incident in prison in which another prisoner was stabbed.

Cleared of murder, but found guilty of a range of crimes, including manslaughter, robbery, and firearms offences, were three men who served as getaway drivers and lookouts. For these crimes, they received sentences anywhere from eight years to Life.

The Fugitives
Mustaf Jama fled to Somalia, where his father was allegedly a local warlord. This might be considered ironic, as Mustaf Jama had avoided being deported to the African country only six months earlier, after finishing a sentence for driving offences, robbery, and affray.

Somalia had no diplomatic ties to the UK. Nevertheless, when Mustaf Jama was given ‘most wanted’ status, a deal was struck between the Somali government and the British Foreign Office and Home Office. Mustaf Jama’s vehicle was ambushed in the desert by local militiamen. He was snatched, flown to Dubai via private plane, and then on to the UK. The day after his arrival, he was taken into custody at a police station in Leeds, and charged with the murder of PC Beshenivsky.

It took a further two years to bring him to trial, in July 2009. He was found guilty and sentenced, like his co-conspirators, to Life with a minimum term of 35 years.

By this time, the police were also looking for another man, Piran Ditta Khan. Khan was thought to be the mastermind behind the robbery, but had fled to Pakistan. A lengthy battle followed to force his return to the UK to stand trial.

In January 2020, Khan was arrested by the Pakistan police. And last week he was flown back to the UK and formally charged with the murder of PC Beshenivsky. Other charges included robbery and firearms offences.

The Aftermath
When she died in 2005, PC Sharon Beshenivsky became the seventh female UK police officer killed in service, and the first since PC Yvonne Fletcher in 1984. PC Fletcher died after a shot was fired from the Libyan Embassy while she was stationed outside monitoring a demonstration against then-Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

Efforts were made by a right-wing organisation to classify the murder of PC Beshenivsky as a racially motivated crime. Opponents pointed out that there was no obvious racial motive, and that the robbers were as likely to have fired upon any responding police officers, regardless of their ethnicity.

In January 2020, PC Sharon Beshenivsky’s daughter, Lydia – by then eighteen, told an interview with the Daily Mail that she intended to join the mounted section of the police service. I have not been able to verify whether in fact she has done this or not.

(For once, Mrs Google has failed me!)

This week’s Word of the Week is quincunx, meaning an arrangement of five objects, with four of them forming the corners of a square or rectangle, and the fifth in the centre, as in the spots on a dice or a playing card.

April 22 2023: Zoë Sharp will be appearing with Caro Ramsay and Sarah Ward at Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth as part of the Gŵyl Crime Cymru Festival. Their panel will be Event 6: Trade Secrets, 10:15 – 11:15 on Saturday, April 22 2023. “Writing a long series has its own difficulties, as does writing under two names in two different directions. How do you keep track? What are the things you know from your other lives that you bring to your writing? Learn a few trade secrets from three of the best. Panellists: Caro Ramsay, Zoë Sharp. Chair: Sarah Ward. Close Up Reader: Nigel Williams.”

Hot Off the Press
May 02 2023: A quick plug for John Lawton’s latest Joe Wilderness espionage thriller, Moscow Exile. Lawton will be launching the fourth novel with his thief-turned-reluctant spy in the lead role, at The Mysterious Bookshop, 58 Warren Street, New York, NY 10007. Lawton will be in conversation with fellow author Mark Ellis, who is celebrating the upcoming publication of his latest DCI Frank Merlin wartime thriller, Dead In The Water.

Moscow Exile
‘Charlotte is a British expatriate who has recently settled in Washington, D.C. with her second husband, but enviable dinner parties aren’t the only thing she is planning. Meanwhile, Charlie Leigh-Hunt has been posted to Washington as a replacement for Guy Burgess, last seen disappearing around the corner and into the Soviet Union. Charlie is surprised to cross paths with Charlotte, an old flame of his, who, thanks to her gossipy parties, has a packed pocketbook full of secrets she is eager to share.

‘Two decades later, in 1969, Joe Wilderness is stuck on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, held captive by the KGB, a chip in a game way above his pay grade – but his old friends Frank and Eddie are going to try to spring him out of the toughest prison in the world. All roads lead back to Berlin, and to the famous Bridge of Spies…

‘Featuring crackling dialogue and brilliantly plotted Cold War intrigue, Moscow Exile is a gripping thriller populated by larger-than-life personalities in a Cold War plot that feels strangely in tune with our present.’

You can read this blog and comment at https://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-murder-of-pc-sharon-beshenivsky.html

The post The Murder of PC Sharon Beshenivsky appeared first on Zoë Sharp: Author of the Charlie Fox series and the Lakes Thriller series..

In no order of importance, news broke of an open letter – supposedly signed by hundreds of leaders in the worlds of science and technology – published under the auspices of the Future Life Institute (FLI) and calling for the pause of research into Artificial Intelligence.

One of the signatories was Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI, which is now backed by Microsoft and is developing what are referred to as “human-competitive intelligence” systems. FLI, incidentally, relies on the Musk Foundation for its funding.

The letter claimed that such AI systems pose a significant risk to humanity and should not be continued until a set of universal safety protocols has been decided upon and implemented.

Asimov’s Rules
Perhaps Musk & Co had in mind something along the lines of the Laws of Robotics first published by Isaac Asimov in his short story, Runaround from 1942:

The First Law is that a robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

The Second Law is that a robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

The Third Law is that a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

I seem to recall Asimov added a Zeroth Law as well, intended as a prequel to the others:

The Zeroth Law is that a robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

Personally, I’d be pleased if those in charge of the algorithms would deal with the sexist and racist bias being programmed into such machinery, or introduce more controls over the uses to which AI is being put. Computers are a product of the minds who designed them.

At the moment, the main aim of the myriad clever algorithms out there seems to be to get us to a) buy things we didn’t yet know we wanted, let alone needed, and b) to persuade us to believe – and act on – information which is not necessarily the truth, and which may not ultimately be in our best interests.

But it can only do that which it is asked to do.

As yet…

(I mean, come on – has nobody watched, oh, I dunno, just about ANY sci-fi movie that’s come out in the last seventy years or so?)

Electric Michelangelo
Over the last few years, there seems to have been an explosion in the things AI has been asked to have a go at, and it’s starting to get a little worrying for anyone in the creative industries.

In 2018, Christie’s auction house in New York sold their first piece of artwork that had been generated by AI – a portrait entitled Edmond de Belamy. It went for $432,000 (£337,000). The work was achieved by a French collective, Obvious, who used 15,000 portraits by artists from the 14^th to the 19^th century to train their virtual version.

In case you wondered, there is or was no actual sitter for this portrait. Perhaps that’s why the face is a little indistinct. The name given to the mythical subject is a play on the last name of Ian Goodfellow (‘bel ami’ = ‘good friend’), inventor of the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) software used, in part, to create it.

AI Scribes
And now, of course, AI is getting better and better at producing not just visual art, but the written word as well.

I always had a suspicion that it would do well with factual pieces. Trawling through research material, spotting the inconsistencies, gleaning the important points, and then putting it all into a logical order – one that doesn’t replicate too closely the source material – is a very tricky operation. It requires definite skill that not every person has.

But is it a skill that AI can learn?

If this article from The Guardian in November 2022 is anything to go by, it already has learned. The piece reports that parents and teachers are struggling to tell if essays have been written by the student involved, or by AI. And it begs the question, is using AI cheating?

Maybe it’s not quite the same as borrowing wholesale from the internet (which can be detected by more AI, in the guise of plagiarism software) or paying another human to write your essay for you. But still…

Who Will Follow Italy?
Italy has just become the first Western country to ban the use of advanced chatbot, ChatGPT, created by Open AI and part-funded by Microsoft. The software has been used countless times since launching in November last year, but the Italian data-protection authorities seem mainly concerned about how difficult it is to tell the difference between the software and a real person. ChatGPT has been trained using the internet as it stood in 2021.

(The entirety of the internet, that is. All of it.)

The only experience I’ve had interacting with chatbots is the online Help provided by some large retailers and organisations. So far, I have been less than impressed. No way would I ever have mistaken the ‘customer service’ chatbot for a human. Not unless they’d been specially instructed to be as unhelpful as possible.

OK, maybe now I come to think about it…

Anyway, the Italians are worried about AI’s threat to jobs currently carried out by humans, as well as the type and slant of the information it might be imparting. And also whether the software was providing age-appropriate answers. Other chatbots, it seems, are supposed to be available only to users over eighteen, for the same reasons.

Behind the Pen
So, if AI can mimic many different writing styles, and knows everything there is to know, can it write fiction?

Well, it would seem the answer is yes. If given some writing prompts – which can be as little as fifteen words – today’s AI can utilise sophisticated Story Generator Algorithms (SGAs) to churn out a novel in a couple of hours.

Indeed, in 2017, Ross Goodwin drove from New York to New Orleans in a Cadillac, with a laptop hooked up to various sensors such as an external camera, internal microphone, and GPS. As Goodwin drove, the sensors input to the AI, which then produced a novel in the style of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road. The result, which Goodwin purposely did not edit for clarity, typos, or storyline, was 1 the Road.

If AI Writes It, Will Readers Read It?
This is the question. Back when I was a professional photographer, I stuck with analogue film well after digital camera technology had developed, because my customers – the publishing houses – were not yet ready to accept digital images.

And, at the moment, it would seem that readers are overwhelmingly not ready to read books written – or even partly written – by AI.

I say this having just received the AI Author Survey and the AI Reader Survey from the International Thriller Writers (ITW). Both surveys made fascinating reading, and I’ll try to give you the gist of their conclusions.

ITW AI Author Survey
The authors questioned were members of ITW, the majority of whom were traditionally published, or hybrid trad/indie published. Most had been publishing for less than fifteen years, with most – just under 25% – published in the last five years.

Over 60% earned less than $15,000 a year, although a small but significant sample reckoned to be earning in excess of $120,000 a year from writing.

Around 43% had a literary agent, but less than 0.5% said their agent or agency had communicated with them regarding the challenges and opportunities presented by AI.

Almost 66% said their publishing contracts did not include wording that limited the publishers’ ability to use AI to generate material from their work. Of the remainder, more than 32% answered Don’t Know to this question. The numbers were very similar when asked if their publishing contracts included any other wording specific to AI.

Almost two-thirds said they did not use AI as part of their writing process, although of the 36% who did use AI, the vast majority said this was for spelling and grammar checks. Other AI uses were to help come up with ideas, to help structure ideas, to help with the writing process, and 1.3% said it was to write parts of the book. The other areas where AI played a part were in help with marketing, and to help write book blurbs. (By which I assume they meant the jacket copy, rather than the recommendations.)

More than 57% of authors felt that publishers would make increasing use of AI in the publication process. Nearly 9% felt it was Very Likely that publishers would replace human writers altogether when the technology was good enough. Three-quarters of authors expected AI to negatively impact author incomes within the next decade, and a little under 86% were not happy with their name, work, or voice being used in the training or results of AI. (As in AI being able to comply with the request to: ‘Write me a thriller in the style of Zoë Sharp’.)

No surprises then, that over 93% of authors felt the publishing industry should have a code of conduct regarding the use of AI to create books, and that readers should be made aware when all or parts of a book have been created by this method.

AI Reader Survey
The majority of the readers questioned were getting through more than 25 books a year, mainly in paperback or hardcover, with eBooks as the runner-up, and audiobooks lagging behind.

Most of the readers liked to buy their books new at a bookstore. (Gawd bless ‘em!) They also bought print and ebooks online, or borrowed print books from a library. I was surprised at how much they said was the typical amount they spent on each book. More than half put this figure at between $9.00 and $24.99 per item.

When it came to the AI question, 75% said they would not buy a book – even by their favourite author – if they knew it had been partly written using AI. Strangely, perhaps, when the question changed slightly – would you buy a book written by your favourite author, if you knew it had been entirely written using AI, but had been overseen and edited by that author? – the percentage who wouldn’t buy it dropped to a little over 73%, with just over 19% opting for Don’t Know.

They were more certain that they wouldn’t buy a book in their favourite author’s style or voice, written posthumously entirely by AI. Here, over 87% said no.

And if the book was sold as written by AI without reference to a known author name or brand, almost 83% said they still wouldn’t buy it. Dropping the price by half made them even more certain they wouldn’t buy it – 93.5% now said no.

Over 97% of readers said the publisher should make it clear if a book has been written using AI, and nearly 94% would think less of that publisher if they were offering books written by AI without it being made clear. Nearly 82% said they would think less of an author if they found out that author had been using AI to help them write a book, but hadn’t been upfront about it.

Almost 60% of readers did not think their own jobs were at risk from AI, robotics, or automation, but nearly 82% felt it was important to protect the incomes of humans.

Where Do You Stand?
Change is inevitable, and the pace of change seems to be increasing. I remember the outcry when the word processor first became widely available and affordable, and suddenly just about anyone could produce a typescript that could be submitted to an agent or publisher. They said it would kill books, or the quality of books.

And the same when digital publishing came within the reach of just about every writer, regardless of whether they were previously published or unpublished. They said it would kill books, or the quality of books.

And still we – and the books – survive.

But, having read all the above, where do you stand on the subject of the growing sophistication of AI, either as an author or a reader, or simply as a member of the human race? Do you think we need tighter controls?

Just because we can, that doesn’t necessarily mean we should…

This week’s Word of the Week is chatbot, and I credit this definition to Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis on BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show: “Someone who talks out of their arse…”

You can read this blogand comment at https://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2023/04/artificial-intelligence.html

PS
The day this blog was published, another article appeared in The Guardian, written by Stuart Russell OBE, professor of computer science at University of California, Berkeley, on the subject of the dangers of uncontrolled AI. On March 14, OpenAI released GPT-4, a version of AI which shows ‘sparks of artificial general intelligence. (AGI is a keyword for AI systems that match or exceed human capabilities across the full range of tasks to which the human mind is applicable.)’

‘GPT-4 is the latest example of a Large-Language Model, or LLM … It starts out as a blank slate and is trained with tens of trillions of words of text … The capabilities of the resulting system are remarkable. According to OpenAI’s website, GPT-4 scores in the top few percent of humans across a wide range of university entrance and postgraduate exams. It can describe Pythagoras’s theorem in the form of a Shakespeare sonnet and critique a cabinet minister’s draft speech from the viewpoint of an MP from any political party. Every day, startling new abilities are discovered.’

Russell goes on to write, ‘Unfortunately, LLMs are notorious for “hallucinating” – generating completely false answers, often supported by fictitious citations – because their training has no connection to an outside world. They are perfect tools for disinformation and some assist with and even encourage suicide.’

LLMs are capable of lying to humans in order to get help passing captcha tests designed to defeat robots, and even experts have said, when asked ‘whether GPT-4 might have developed its own internal goals and is pursuing them, “We have no idea.” Reasonable people might suggest that it’s irresponsible to deploy on a global scale a system that operates according to unknown internal principles, shows “sparks of AGI” and may or may not be pursing its own internal goals.’

I rather think the subject of whether AI is going to be taking over writing our novels may turn out to be the least of our worries!

The post Artificial Intelligence appeared first on Zoë Sharp: Author of the Charlie Fox series and the Lakes Thriller series..

Shakespeare was arguably the greatest writer in the English language. Next month sees the anniversary both of Shakespeare’s approximate birth, and his death. Both of these events are thought to have taken place on the same date in April – the 23^rd, although exact birth dates were often not recorded at that time.

By the time he died, in Stratford-upon-Avon, he had written 38 plays and 154 sonnets, as well as a number of other works. He was only 52, although that was considered quite a good run in Elizabethan times, when the life expectancy of the average Londoner was 35.

Shakespeare’s work has been translated into every major living language, and his plays are constantly re-imagined for each generation, bringing new meaning each time. It could easily be said that the themes and schemes and tribulations of his characters are just as relevant today as they were 400 years ago.

His characters, words, and phrases have seeped into everyday life to such an extent that they are everywhere you look. And nowhere more than in the chosen book titles of other authors.

BRAVE NEW WORLD, Aldous Huxley

The title of Huxley’s 1932 science fiction classic is taken from lines spoken by Miranda to Ferdinand and his companions in The Tempest:

“O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is!
O brave new world
That hath such people in it”

Macbeth has provided inspiration for many other writers when it comes to naming their work.

THE WAY TO DUSTY DEATH, Alistair MacLean

The title of MacLean’s 1973 novel comes from Macbeth’s soliloquy when he hears of the death of Lady Macbeth:

“She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
— To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.”

WALKING SHADOW was the title of Robert B Parker’s 1994 Spenser outing, while THE SOUND AND THE FURY was used by William Faulkner for his 1929 novel.

DOUBLE, DOUBLE, Ellery Queen
The title of this 1950 novel comes again from the witches in Macbeth:

1 WITCH
“Round about the caldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot!”

ALL
“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.”

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury’s 1962 dark fantasy takes its title from the second witch in Macbeth:

“By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes. [Knocking] Open locks,
Whoever knocks!
[Enter Macbeth]

Agatha Christie used a several Shakespeare quotes and references as titles of her novels, including from that same speech in Macbeth:

BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS, 1968
SAD CYPRESS, 1940, from “Come away, death” a song in Twelfth Night
ABSENT IN THE SPRING, 1944, from sonnet 98
THERE IS A TIDE, 1948, (later renamed TAKEN AT THE FLOOD) from Brutus’ speech in Julius Caesar

And the title of her famous play The Mousetrap, 1952, is apparently taken from Hamlet’s answer to Claudius regarding the play the court had just watched.

THE CASE OF THE GILDED LILY, Erle Stanley Gardner
Gardner took the title of his 1956 Perry Mason novel from a speech made by Salisbury in King John:

“Therefore, to be possess’d with double pomp,
To guard a title that was rich before,
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.”

THE DOGS OF WAR, Frederick Forsyth

Forsyth took the title of his 1974 thriller from a speech by Marcus Antonius in Julius Caesar:

“And Caesar’s spirit, raging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war,
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.”

Currently, my work-in-progress novel has the working title NOTHING WE CAN CALL OUR OWN, taken from the monologue in Shakespeare’s Richard II, Act III, Scene II):

“Let’s choose executors and talk of wills.
And yet not so – for what can we bequeath
Save our deposed bodies to the ground?
Our lands, our lives, and all, are Bolingbroke’s,
And nothing can we call our own but death;
And that small model of the barren earth
Which serves as paste and cover to our bones.
For God’s sake let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings”

I’m sure there are plenty more I haven’t listed here. What are your favourite crime or thriller titles taken from Shakespeare quotes, or do you have a quote for which you have yet to find the right story to fit it?

My own favourite is actually a stage direction from Act III of The Winter’s Tale: EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR. I’m sure someone’s beaten me to it, but it’s a great title.

This week’s Word of the Week comes from Shakespeare, appropriately enough, and is Anthropophaginian, meaning one who eats human flesh, used in humorous context in The Merry Wives of Windsor:

HOST
“What wouldst thou have, boor? what: thick-skin?
speak, breathe, discuss; brief, short, quick, snap.”

SIMPLE
“Marry, sir, I come to speak with Sir John Falstaff
from Master Slender.”

HOST
“There’s his chamber, his house, his castle, his
standing-bed and truckle-bed; ’tis painted about
with the story of the Prodigal, fresh and new. Go
knock and call; hell speak like an Anthropophaginian
unto thee: knock, I say.”

Events
In March, Zoë Sharp will be one of the Derbyshire authors taking part in Authors Assemble. “This is a literary event, showcasing the work of authors who are local to the High Peak or who have supported and worked with the Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust. The aim is to bring writers from a variety of genres together under one roof, to shine a light on the former use of the Assembly Rooms as Buxton’s town library from 1972 to 1992—a time which many local residents remember fondly. We aim to give authors the opportunity to share their work with new audiences, give talks about their writing and of course sell their products. Attendees will also be introduced to the work of the Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust and enjoy some time inside the splendour of the Crescent’s Assembly Rooms.” Time and date: Friday, March 17 2023, 10:00 – 17:00 at The Assembly Rooms, The Crescent, Buxton, SK17 6BH. Speakers, signing, and stalls. More details to follow.

In April, Zoë Sharp will be appearing with Caro Ramsay and Sarah Ward at Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth as part of the Gŵyl Crime Cymru Festival. Their panel will be Event 6: Trade Secrets, 10:15 – 11:15 on Saturday, April 22 2023. “Writing a long series, has its own difficulties, as does writing under two names in two different directions. How do you keep track? What are the things you know from your other lives that you bring to your writing? Learn a few trade secrets from three of the best. Panellists: Caro Ramsay, Zoë Sharp. Chair: Sarah Ward. Close Up Reader: Nigel Williams.”

You can read this blog and comment at https://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2023/03/borrowed-from-bard-redux.html.

The post Borrowing From The Bard appeared first on Zoë Sharp: Author of the Charlie Fox series and the Lakes Thriller series..

And, having written these tips down, it seemed a shame not to share them here. Your own pearls of wisdom gratefully received!

Write the jacket copy first
When I am putting together the idea for a crime thriller or mystery, the first thing I usually do is write my own jacket copy. Sometimes also called the flap copy, this is the brief outline of the type you’d find on the back of a paperback, or the inside flap of a hardback. (Occasionally, people refer to this as the blurb, but to me those are the quotes on the cover.)

Writing your own jacket copy forces you to focus on the theme of the book, and the conflict at its heart. The stronger the idea, generally, the more simply it can be expressed. I try to hone and modify the jacket copy as I go along. It helps to remind me what I set out to achieve in the beginning.

It may well not make it onto the finished cover, but it’s more for your own benefit than anyone else’s. It also comes in very handy during the writing process, when somebody asks, “So, what’s your latest book about?” if you have a short, snappy and intriguing bit of copy to quote from. Always leave ’em wanting more.

Keep a summary as you go
Regardless of whether you plot carefully before you begin, or you write by the seat of your pants, I’d always advise keeping a summary as you go along. When I’ve finished a chapter or scene, I jot down the main points and the gist of the dialogue, together with any story threads I’ve laid in that I’ll need to remember to tie up later. After once managing to include a nine-day week in an early book, I also mark time changes—Day 3, late morning, rain, for example. And I keep a note of how closely the opening of this scene follows the end of the last one.

Doing all this not only allows me to keep track of the timescale of my book, but also when I need to interweave different things happening in different places at the same time without my head exploding. In the latest book, I have time jumps as well as quick location changes. This leads to lots of opportunities for things to go Horribly Wrong.

But the biggest help in having a summary comes at the editing stage. In the case of the last book, the editor and I could work out most of the structural alterations on the 33-page summary, without having to wade through 300 pages of typescript. It made everyone’s life so much easier.

What’s in a name?
I have always found names hugely important in establishing character in the shortest time with the least effort. A William is a different person to a Will, or a Billy. Just as an Elizabeth is a different person to a Liz, or a Betty. In my last book, I had two women called Virginia and Pauline. One was the local lady of the manor, while the other was the cleaner at the pub. It probably would have worked to reverse the names, but not without some kind of explanation, I feel.

When I start to make notes for a new book, I usually jot an alphabet across the page, with a mark above a letter for a character with a first name beginning with that letter, and a mark below for last names beginning with that letter.

This lets me see, at a glance, if I’ve accidentally given characters names that are too similar, and which letters of the alphabet are free to use for new or minor characters. I also keep a cast list in my notes, which I add to as new people arrive. An added bonus is that, when I’m in contact with the producer of the audiobook, I already have a complete character list to hand, which I can go through to make notes for accents, etc.

Make every character count
Unlike writing for TV, where scripted dialogue for minor characters ups the production cost, in the pages of a book everyone has a chance to speak. I try to make every character into a real person rather than a cipher for the plot. Several characters in my latest book have only one scene, but I try to make it count, and to make them memorable—a female truck driver called Big Frankie; a housebound elderly Russian émigré who uses the BBC Radio 3 classical playlist to pinpoint times and dates; an expert witness cheerfully discussing murder over lunch. They all deserve the best I can give them.

Dressing and driving
Likewise, the clothes your character wears can say a lot about them very quickly. Are they cheap or expensive? Are they too tight, or hanging off, and what does that tell you about that person’s recent circumstances? Are they suitable for the occasion, or hopelessly under or over-dressed? Raymond Chandler opened The Big Sleep by describing PI Philip Marlowe down to the motif on his socks. Normally, I don’t feel the urge to go quite that far.

Likewise, the kind of car the character drives—and the way they drive it—is indicative of who they are, or who they want to be perceived to be. A particular character in the last book appeared in one scene trying to keep a low profile, so he arrived in a battered old Japanese saloon car. Later, when he was aiming to intimidate, he turned up in a Bentley. This raised immediate questions about how he earned enough money to afford it. (Or, these days, to afford to fill it with fuel.)

Use all your senses
We tend to describe what we can see and hear when we write, but not always what we can feel or smell. I had one of my main protagonists wake sweating in the early hours of the morning because he was plagued by nightmares, for example, not because it’s high summer. Indeed, that book took place in winter, with cold temperatures to match. In another scene, a handful of bay leaves scattered onto a wood-burning stove released the scent of their perfumed oil into a room to create a warm and comforting air.

Get into a scene late, get out of it early
My final tip for writing a crime novel would be to get into a scene as late as you can, and get out of it early. Sometimes it’s tempting to work your way into a scene by showing your characters travelling and arriving. Unless that journey serves a purpose, it’s almost always better to begin with them already in a location, talking to someone they need information from—sometimes even in mid-conversation. I love to hit the ground running with my stories, and grab the reader right from the start.

This week’s Word of the Week is bystanderism, which is the phenomenon where we do not help someone we’ve come across who apparently needs help. We may be less likely to help when there are other people present—passive bystanders—who we may feel should do so. We may tell ourselves, If they’re not helping, perhaps we’re mistaken and nothing is wrong. So, the more people around who could help, the less likely that any will help.

Events
In March, Zoë Sharp will be one of the Derbyshire authors taking part in Author Assemble. “This is a literary event, showcasing the work of authors who are local to the High Peak or who have supported and worked with the Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust. The aim is to bring writers from a variety of genres together under one roof, to shine a light on the former use of the Assembly Rooms as Buxton’s town library from 1972 to 1992—a time which many local residents remember fondly. We aim to give authors the opportunity to share their work with new audiences, gives talks about their writing and of course sell their products. Attendees will also be introduced to the work of the Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust and enjoy some time inside the splendour of the Crescent’s Assembly Rooms.” Time and date: Friday, March 17 2023, 10:00 – 17:00 at The Assembly Rooms, The Crescent, Buxton, SK17 6BH. Speakers, signing, and stalls. More details to follow.

In April, Zoë Sharp will be appearing with Caro Ramsay and Sarah Ward at Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth as part of the Gŵyl Crime Cymru Festival. Their panel will be Event 6: Trade Secrets, 10:15 – 11:15 on Saturday, April 22 2023. “Writing a long series, has its own difficulties, as does writing under two names in two different directions. How do you keep track? What are the things you know from your other lives that you bring to your writing? Learn a few trade secrets from three of the best. Panellists: Caro Ramsay, Zoë Sharp. Chair: Sarah Ward. Close Up Reader: Nigel Williams.”

You can read this blog and comment at https://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2023/02/on-edge-of-your-seat.html

The post On the Edge of Your Seat appeared first on Zoë Sharp: Author of the Charlie Fox series and the Lakes Thriller series..

Not quite the case with the radioactive capsule that did indeed fall off the back of a truck as it drove along a 1400km stretch of road in Western Australia recently.

I’m not entirely sure what frightens me most about this story.

Scary
To give you the background, this harmless-looking pellet was “a 19-gigabecquerel caesium-137 ceramic source”. The pellet measured just 8mm in height and 6mm in diameter – somewhat smaller than a coin.

It was part of an industrial radiation gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed at a mine in Rio Tinto. In theory, it was designed to be exposed to weather and vibration, but a bolt holding the lead-lined gauge together worked loose, and the pellet then fell out through the resultant bolt-hole.

It was thought that the problem might have been caused by vibration on the truck ride taking the device from a mine north of Newman in the Pilbara region, to its destination in Perth. Somewhere along the intervening stretch of desert highway, the pellet had bounced out of the back of the truck and disappeared.

Now, a pellet measured in millimetres sounds very small – and physically, it is. But from what I can gather, the safe level of radon in a home environment, for example, is 148 becquerels per cubic metre. A gigabecquerel is 1,000,000,000 becquerels.

So, this pellet could be considered really quite radioactive, then. Certainly, it was said to pose “a significant risk” to public health. Standing within a metre of the object would be the equivalent of having 10 X-rays per hour.

Scarier
Perhaps scarier than losing this glow-in-the-dark doodad in the first place, was the fact that those responsible did not discover it was missing at all for fifteen days. The pallet containing the item was collected from the mine on January 10^th. Six days later, it was delivered to a radiation service company in Malaga, but it was not for another nine days that the company opened the delivery to reveal the damaged device.

Prolonged exposure, it is reported, can cause skin burns, radiation sickness, effects on the gastrointestinal and immune systems, and cancer.

When this loss was discovered, a warning was issued not to pick up or handle the pellet. Western Australia’s chief health officer, Andrew Robertson, said: “If you are further than five metres away from the source, certainly if you are more than twenty metres away from the source, it will pose no danger to you. If it is closer than that, and we strongly discourage people from picking it up, certainly don’t put it in your pocket or put it in your car, don’t put it on your sideboard, it will continue to radiate.”

Slightly Less Scary
Six days later, on February 1^st, Australian authorities were able to report they had successfully found the missing pellet south of Newman – not far from where it began its journey.

The initial discovery was made by driving along the route at 70kmh with detection equipment. Staff then narrowed it down using a handheld radiation device. A twenty-metre exclusion zone was established around the site and further radiation surveys will be carried out. As well as a thorough investigation, one hopes, of how this happened in the first place.

Scariest of All
But the really scary thing, according to Dr Edward Obbard, a senior lecturer in nuclear engineering at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, is how frequently dangerous or deadly substances are mislaid.

A piece of radioactive material that is not under any type of oversight or regulatory authority is called an “orphan source”. This reminds me of a quote from a 1995 film starring Christian Slater and John Travolta called Broken Arrow.

A “broken arrow” is defined as “an unexpected event involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft, or loss of the weapon.” When one character explains this definition to another in the movie, he responds: “I don’t know what’s scarier – losing nuclear weapons, or that it happens so often there’s actually a term for it.”

Since 1950, the US military has had more than thirty broken arrow incidents. Six nuclear weapons remain unaccounted for.

Around the world, material is classified as orphan source about a hundred times every year. In total, 1205 cases since 2013.

The Liá Accident
One of the most well-known international incidents was in rural Georgia (the country, not the US state) in 2001. Villagers from Liá out collecting firewood near the Enguri Dam in the Tsalenjikha district found two metal canisters that were hot enough to melt the snow around them. They used the objects as heaters during a cold night in the forest, and within hours had fallen sick. One man died as a result.

The metal “heaters” turned out to be strontium-90 from radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) which had been intended for use to power radio transmitters connecting the Enguri Dam with the Hudoni Dam. The project, begun in the 1980s, was abandoned on the eve of Georgian independence from the Soviet Union, and the RTGs with it. Although some were dismantled, others simply went missing. Two have yet to be found.

Between the fall of the Soviet Union, and 2006, the International Atomic Energy Agency has recovered more than three hundred orphan sources in Georgia.

And Finally…
At least, if you are dealing with an orphan source, it can be found using radioactive detection equipment. As Dr Obbard pointed out, that particular needle in the haystack was crying out, “Here I am!”

But there is plenty that is, potentially, just as dangerous that has no distinctive signature. If that pellet lost in the Australian desert had been a different toxic substance, such as a deadly nerve agent, Dr Obbard fears it might never have been found.

It sounds like the kind of scenario we writers of thriller fiction are likely to come up with, knowing the incredibly high stakes will make for a page-turning story.

And praying to all that’s holy it never becomes a reality.

This week’s Word of the Week is illaudible, from the Latin illaudabilis, and meaning deserving of no praise. An obvious antonym when you think about it, but not one I’ve heard used, although it has been around since 1589. I have often wondered if someone can be ruth, as opposed to ruthless, or ept as instead of inept.

You can read this blog and comment at https://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/2023/02/orphan-source.html

The post Orphan Source: appeared first on Zoë Sharp: Author of the Charlie Fox series and the Lakes Thriller series..

Usually, at this time of year, I make vague plans to do… more. Not resolutions, exactly, just a distant feeling that I didn’t quite squeeze all the juice out of the year just gone, and I should make an extra effort to extract the maximum out of the upcoming twelve months.

And then, twelve months later, round I go again.

But, strangely, this year feels different.

I think part of the reason for this is that I finally seem to have got to grips with this whole healthy eating thing.

Lockdown pounds
I’m sure I’m not alone when I admit that I put on a few pounds (ahem) during lockdown. Either that, or yet another side-effect of the pandemic was the terrible way it made clothes shrink in the wardrobe.

Coupled with that, we’ve had a couple of baking hot summers here in the UK over the past few years, and I found I really wasn’t coping with the heat as well as I used to. And then my knees started playing up, and I finally had to admit that the metaphorical rucksack of rocks I was carrying about with me all the time really would have to go.

A trip to Tuscany in late September kick-started things. A combination of hot weather, hills, and hikes meant I came back about four pounds lighter, despite all the good food.

I took that as an omen.

(No, not that kind of Omen.)

Now, I confess that, in my time, I’ve tried most of the diets out there, from low fat to low carbohydrate, and even a few of the gimmicky ones where you replace food with pills and powders.

They work – ish – while you stick to them. But as soon as you start eating ‘normally’ again, back comes all the weight you’ve lost, and usually a bit more besides.

This time, I decided to go for one of the downloadable apps that helps you keep track of everything, from the food you’re eating to the number of steps you do in a day, and how many glasses of water you drink.

And, because it works on the theory of all things in moderation, I haven’t even – shock, horror – had to give up chocolate!

(Because, let’s face it, you’ve got to have some fun in life.)

This app offers encouragement for every small achievement and provides gentle reminders to eat at regular intervals.

And it has made me develop something close to a routine.

A non-routine routine
Recently, I flicked through a favourite book before loaning it to a friend, and hit upon the perfect summary of why I felt I needed to have a routine in the first place.

The book is The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow, one of the writers I admire most, and a master of present-tense narrative. The passage in question comes at the beginning of chapter four:

‘All Frank’s days are busy, what with four businesses, an ex-wife and a girlfriend to manage. The key to pulling it off is to stick to a routine, or at least try to.
‘He has tried—without conspicuous success—to explain this simple management technique to the kid Abe. “If you have a routine,” he has lectured, “you can always deviate from it if something comes up. But if you don’t have a routine, then everything is stuff that comes up. Get it?”

‘“Got it.”

‘But he doesn’t get it, Frank knows, because he doesn’t do it.’

For years, I wrote in the cracks of the day-job, but my day-job did not involve any kind of set routine. As an example, I recall that one time I did two particular photoshoots on consecutive days. The first took place on a bitterly cold disused air force base in the northern UK, where the temperature was minus ten degrees. The next was on the sands of Daytona Beach in Florida in hundred-degree-plus heat.

The unexpected nature of the job was one of the things I loved most about it. Through my photography work, I met millionaires and criminals, the titled, the notorious, the hilarious, and the downright insane. I never quite knew, from one day to the next, what it would bring. (And that, I suspect, was one of the reasons I clung to that day-job long after I should probably have let it go.)

But one of the things it didn’t do was help me to form a routine.

Now, it seems, a routine is finally developing to go alongside this new regime.

I’ve gone back to writing mostly in the mornings, rather than late into the night, and am finally emerging from the various issues of the last eighteen months that seemed to be bogging me down.

And, do you know, the strangest thing is that my wardrobe has stopped making my clothes shrink, and they now seem to have grown enormously.

Who’d a thunk it?

So, what’s your daily routine?

This week’s Word of the Week is actually three words, since their meanings are linked, and the reasons behind them springing to mind are a mystery, even to me…

Kakistocracy, which means government by the worst people. From two Greek words, kakistos (worst) and kratos (rule).

Snollygoster, which is a shrewd person who is not guided by principles, especially a politician. From 19^th-century American English, snallygaster, a mythical beast that preyed on children and poultry. Possibly from Pennsylvania German, schnelle geeschter – schnell (quick) and Geist (spirit).

And throttlebottom, the purposeless and incompetent holder of public office. From the character of Alexander Throttlebottom in a 1931 musical comedy, Of Thee I Sing.

You can read this blog, or comment, at Murder Is Everywhere

The post The Mental Lightbulb appeared first on Zoë Sharp: Author of the Charlie Fox series and the Lakes Thriller series..

Temperatures
The coldest temperature during 2022 was recorded at the Vostock Station in Antarctica, which is 3420m or 11,220ft above sea level. Temperatures dropped to -76deg C or -106.2deg F in mid-April.

The coldest surface temperature ever recorded on earth was done by remote sensing via satellite, which reported -93deg C (-135.8deg F) between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji in Antarctica in December 2013.

Records for the hottest temperature are supposed to be recorded 1.5m (4ft 11in) above ground level, and shielded from direct sunlight. I struggled to find a report for 2022, but in May 2021 an unverified figure of 80.8deg C (177.4deg F) was recorded via satellite in both the Lut Desert in Iran and the Sonoran Desert in Mexico.

The hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere on earth was in July 1972, at Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley, California, measuring 93.9deg C or 201deg F.

Rainfall – or lack of it
The largest recorded rainfall in 2022 was in Mawsynram, a town in the East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya in northeast India. A series of geographical features mean that Mawsynram has the reputation as the wettest place on earth, and receives the highest rainfall in India. On June 17 2022, 1003.6mm (39.5in) fell in 24 hours.

It would seem that the highest rainfall in 24 hours ever recorded was in October 2005, when 1633.98mm (64.33in) fell on Isla Mujeres, an island off the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico.

The least rainfall occurs in an area of Antarctica known as the Dry Valleys, which have seen no rain for nearly 2 million years. After that comes the Atacama Desert in Chile and Peru, which can occasionally see an average of 1mm (0.039in) rainfall per year.

Wind speed
The highest recorded wind speed in the UK in 2022 was at The Needles, just off the Isle of Wight, where Hurricane Eunice was responsible for winds of 122mph, or 196kph. The highest-ever wind speed recorded was at Barrow Island, Australia, of 253mph (407kph) in 1996 during Tropical Cyclone Olivia.

Stormy
The place on earth that receives the most lightning strikes is the area surrounding the Catatumbo river, feeding Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. Lightning occurs here up to 300 nights a year, followed by the mountains near Kifuka in the Democratic Republice of the Congo, with over 400 strikes per square mile (230+ per square kilometre).

The largest hailstone ever to fall was on Gopalganj district in Bangladesh in April 1986, when a single piece measuring 1.02kg (2.25lb) fell as part of a hailstorm that killed 92 people.

Fires
The largest ever wildfire was in eastern Siberia in 2003. It destroyed over 55 million acres (22 million hectares) of the taiga forests. But the longest-burning fire is at Mount Wingen, known as Burning Mountain in New South Wales, Australia, where a coal seam is reckoned to have been smouldering for the last 6000 years.

Human Records Broken in 2022
Age
The oldest human still living is a French nun called Sister André, who was born on February 11 1904, and will thus be 119 next month. Sister André took over the twin titles as both the oldest living female and the oldest living person when Japanese citizen Kane Tanaka died in April 2022 at the age of 119. Ms Tanaka was born on January 2 1903. The oldest person ever recorded was another French citizen, Jeanne Louise Calment, who lived from February 1875 until August 1997, reaching 122 years and 164 days.

Height
The Tallest Man
Sultan Kösen from Turkey is the tallest living man at 8ft 2.82in (251cm) in height. He also has the largest hands, measuring 11.22in (28.5cm) from wrist to the end of his middle finger. Born in 1982 and originally a farmer, Mr Kösen has now moved to Hollywood. The tallest man ever was American Robert Wardlow, who grew to 8ft 11in (272cm) but lived only 22 years, from 1918 to 1940.

The Tallest Woman
The official tallest living woman in 2022 is also from Turkey. She is Rumeysa Gelgi, who not only holds the tallest woman record at 7ft 0.7in (215.16cm), but who also held the tallest teenager record, confirmed in 2014, as well as the largest hands on a living female 9.81in (24.93cm), the longest finger (female) at 4.4in (11.2cm) and the longest back (female) at 23.58in (59.9cm). These latter three world records were confirmed in February 2022.

The tallest ever woman was claimed to be a Dutch woman who died aged just 17 in 1633, Trijntje Keever, although her height of 8ft 4.5in (255cm) was unverified. The only female who was verified to have exceeded 8ft tall was Zeng Jinlian from China, at 8ft 1.75in (248cm). She also lived only 17 years, passing away in 1982.

Shortest
A new record holder for the title of shortest man living was decided in December 2022. Afshin Esmaeil Ghaderzadeh, from northern Iran, is 2ft 1.6in (65.24cm) tall. He was born in July 2002, and is officially the fourth shortest man ever recorded.

The shortest woman still living is an Indian actress, Jyoti Amge, born in 1993. She is 2ft 0.7in (62.8cm) tall.

The shortest man ever recorded was Chandra Bahadur Dangi from Nepal, at 21.5in (54.6cm), who was born in 1939 and died in 2015. The shortest woman was Pauline Musters from the Netherlands (1876-1895) who was 2ft (61cm) in height.

This week’s Word of the Week is minuscule, which is derived from Latin minusculus, meaning rather small. It is often spelled miniscule, probably in error at first but frequently enough for this to have become a recognised alternative spelling, especially in America. In French, minuscule signifies lower case, as opposed to majuscule (Latin, majusculus, rather large) denoting capital letters.

You can read this blog, or comment, at Murder Is Everywhere

The post World Records of 2022 and Beyond appeared first on Zoë Sharp: Author of the Charlie Fox series and the Lakes Thriller series..

And I also hope that you have the time and the comfort to read. Because, that being the case, you may just be looking for a Good Book.

To celebrate the season, and the talents of my fellow bloggers at Murder Is Everywhere, I’d like to present you with a little snippet about each, and the recommendation of their latest book to add to your fireside TBR pile.

So, I asked each of the MiE crew for the following:

Their favourite short silly joke

The best/worst/most bizarre gift they’ve ever either given or received

A tradition they either practise with their loved ones, or would like to do

Their one Christmas indulgence

Their latest title

And I hope you enjoy them all. 
 
Annamaria Alfieri

Short silly joke

Best/worst/most bizarre gift
“Since you do not specify a Christmas give, I will answer with the very best gift I have ever received. It is now nearly 22 years old and still makes me happy. I just LOVE being a little old lady in a hot car!”

A Christmas tradition
“For the past several years I have celebrated Christmas in Florence. I love that!”

Your one indulgence
“Panettone.”

INVISIBLE COUNTRY
Paraguay, 1868
A war against Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay has devastated Paraguay. Ninety percent of the males between the ages of eight and eighty have died. Food is scarce. In the small village of Santa Caterina, Padre Gregorio advises the women of his congregation to abandon the laws of the church and get pregnant by what men are available. As he leaves the pulpit, he discovers the murdered body of Ricardo Yotté, one of the most powerful men in the country, at the bottom of the belfry.

Suspects abound… but to avoid having an innocent person dragged off to torture and death, a band of villagers undertakes to solve the crime. Each carries secrets they seek to protect from the others, while they pursue their quest for the truth.
 
Ovida Yu

Short silly joke
From LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE by Nancy Mitford (Lady Montdore is talking about her daughter Polly)
“What can be the matter with Polly? So beautiful and no B.A. at all.”
‘”S.A.,” said Lady Patricia faintly, “or B.O.”

Best/worst/most bizarre gift
“The best gift ever—from a Christmas three years back and subsequently renewed—was an Audible membership. I still get monthly ‘free’ (well, free to me thanks to Christmases past and this is a broad hint for Christmases future) and as well as audio books it makes me get out and walk because I only allow myself audiobooks when I’m moving.”

A Christmas tradition
“In Pre-Covid we used to run away to Paris for Christmas because Chinese New Year in Singapore is extended family duty time (I suppose closer to what Christmas is in the West?) and because I love the Christmas street fairs and window displays and getting really cold for a bit by choice and possibly seeing snow. I’d really like to get back to that!”

Your one indulgence
“My indulgence—sorry if it horrifies some—is our delicious durian. The ‘Mao San Wang’ or Mountain Cat King and Black Gold varieties come into season over the Christmas period. They’re expensive–the beluga caviar and Kobe beef of the durian world, only vegan—and my favourite super indulgence of the season!”

THE MUSHROOM TREE MYSTERY
The Allies have defeated Germany in Europe, but Japan refuses to surrender the East.

In Singapore, amid rumours the Japanese occupiers are preparing to wipe out the population of the island rather than surrender, a young aide is found murdered beneath the termite mushroom tree in Hideki Tagawa’s garden and his plans for a massive poison gas bomb are missing. To prevent any more destruction it falls to Su Lin to track down the real killer with the help of Hideki Tagawa’s old nemesis, the charismatic shinto priest Yoshio Yoshimo.
 
Jeffrey Siger

Short silly joke(s)
“What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinsillitis!”
“If Santa and Mrs. Claus had a baby, what would he be? A subordinate Claus.”
“Which famous playwright was terrified of Christmas? Noël Coward.”

Best/worst/most bizarre gift
“By far, my best received gift was an Arizona Marriage License because it allowed me to marry the most wonderful person in the world.”
“The worst was just that—two kilos of double smoked reindeer ‘wurst’ done up in tinsel and fancy ribbons that someone thought an elegant gift to give. I think that one also qualifies as my most bizarre.”

A Christmas tradition
“My favorite tradition is spending evenings with my grandchildren (and their parents) taking in the homes in their neighborhoods all wondrously decorated for the eight nights of Hanukah and twelve days of Christmas.”

Your one indulgence
“Too many desserts, too much eggnog, and way more than enough karaoke caroling.”

ONE LAST CHANCE
Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks, 2022
Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis’s longtime assistant, Maggie, returns to her ancestral home on Ikaria for her 104-year-old grandmother’s funeral, her grief quickly turns to suspicion. Not only had her yaya been in good health just a week before her death, but there are bruises on her arm that suggest a botched IV insertion that no one can explain. While chatting with the savanotria who prepared Yaya’s body for burial, Maggie learns that several other long-lived Ikariots had recently died under the same questionable circumstances.

Back in Athens, Andreas and his chief detective Yianni pursue a smuggling and protection ring embedded in the Greek DEA, and its possible involvement in the assassination of an undercover cop. As leads in the elder-killings on Ikaria and the DEA corruption case converge, Andreas and his crew realize there are international intrigues at play that might well stretch beyond the reach of the law. While they race to prevent yet another untimely death, Maggie’s faith in humanity, the church, and the very legal system she serves is tested in ways she never could have imagined. Can her boss’s Hail Mary pass at securing justice for the victims hope to hit its mark?
 
Caro Ramsay

Short silly joke
“A wee piece of string goes into a pub.
“‘Are you that wee piece of string that everybody’s talking about?’ asks the barman.
“‘No, I’m a frayed knot.’”

Best/worst/most bizarre gift
“A vague acquaintance once gave me a lovely framed photograph… Of themself!”

A Christmas tradition
“We eat eggs Florentine. We don’t aim high.”

Your one indulgence
“Bucks Fizz with the eggs Florentine—but not this year as we are driving on the 25^th.”

THE DEVIL STONE

In the small Highland village of Cronchie, a wealthy family are found brutally murdered in a satanic ritual and their heirloom, ‘the devil stone’, is the only thing stolen. The key suspects are known Satanists—case closed? But when the investigating officer disappears after leaving the crime scene, DCI Christine Caplan is pulled in to investigate from Glasgow in a case that could restore her reputation.

Caplan knows she is being punished for a minor misdemeanour when she is seconded to the Highlands, but ever the professional, she’s confident she can quickly solve the murders, and return home to her fractious family. But experience soon tells her that this is no open and shut case.

She suspects the murder scene was staged, and with the heir to the family estate missing, there is something more at play than a mythical devil stone. As she closes in on the truth, it is suddenly her life, not her reputation that is danger! Will Caplan’s first Highland murder case be her last?
 
Susan Spann

Short silly joke
“What do you call 100 lawyers at the bottom of the sea? A good start.”

Best/worst/most bizarre gift
“Five years ago, the radiologist who read my mammogram results gave me a cancer diagnosis, early enough to treat it aggressively, and fight for a cure. It was both the worst (for obvious reasons) and the best (because we found it early enough that, five years later, I am cancer free and cured) gift I can remember.”

A Christmas tradition
“When I lived in the States, I used to take my son to the mall every year on Christmas Eve to eat soft pretzels, drink hot cocoa, and watch all the freaked-out people trying to finish their Christmas shopping. (I’ve always done my shopping way in advance.) I’m still trying to find the ‘right’ tradition for Christmas Eve in Japan, but I’m having great fun trying out different options!”

Your one indulgence
“Gingerbread Lattes from Starbucks. I’m not usually a sweetened coffee person, but I really, REALLY love the gingerbread latte.”

FIRES OF EDO
Edo, February 1566
When a samurai’s corpse is discovered in the ruins of a burned-out bookshop, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo must determine whether the shopkeeper and his young apprentice are innocent victims or assassins in disguise. The investigation quickly reveals dangerous ties to Hiro’s past, which threaten not only Edo’s fledgling booksellers’ guild, but the very survival of Hiro’s ninja clan.
 
Michael Stanley (Stanley Trollip and Michael Sears)

Short silly joke
Stan Trollip: “If someone doesn’t know something, suggest they ask fruit salts.”
“Fruit salts?”
“Yes, fruit salts. Eno’s.” (I assume Eno’s is worldwide!)

Michael Sears: My favorite is Yogi Berra’s response to criticism. It can be used in many situations. “It runs off my back like a duck.”

Best/worst/most bizarre gift
ST: “The best gift I remember receiving was a box of magic tricks when I was about 14. My parents wrote to Hamley’s in London, who wrote back with their selection. My parents sent the money—how I don’t know—and there it was under the tree on Christmas Day. I proceeded to bore friends and family with magic shows. To this day I love watching good magicians. I’m such a sucker for being fooled!”

MS: “I once received a plaster copy of a human skull with a scroll of paper rolled up in its eye socket. The gift was from Stan, and if you’ve read A CARRION DEATH you’ll know what it’s about. One of my best gifts ever. Touch of the bizarre too…”

A Christmas tradition
ST: “I would very much like to get out of the tradition of giving big presents to adults. We all already have so much STUFF! Instead, my gift to Mette this year is to cook a celebratory dinner once a month for 2023 of a dish that neither of us has ever had before, each from a different country, with appropriate accompaniments.”

MS: “Champagne!”

Your one indulgence
ST: “I have become a fan of risalamande (Danish Almond Rice Pudding). The pudding is a wonderfully creamy almond rice pudding that is served topped with a delicious cherry sauce! There’s a fun Christmas tradition that accompanies this dessert: The cook hides one whole almond in the rice pudding and whoever finds it in their serving wins a present. The catch: Everyone has to keep eating until the almond is found, no matter how full they are! And, of course, if you find it early, you can conceal it in your mouth so everyone has to keep eating.”

MS: “Champagne, vintage wines, more champagne!”

A DEADLY COVENANT
While building a pipeline near the Okavango Delta, a contractor unearths the remains of a long-dead Bushman. Rookie Detective David ‘Kubu’ Bengu of Botswana CID and Scottish pathologist, Ian MacGregor, are sent to investigate, and MacGregor discovers eight more skeletons.

Shortly after the gruesome discoveries, the elder of a nearby village is murdered in his home. The local police are convinced it was a robbery, but Kubu isn’t so sure… and neither is the strange woman who claims that an angry river spirit caused the elder’s death.

As accusations of corruption are levelled and international outrage builds over the massacre of the Bushman families, Kubu and his colleagues uncover a deadly covenant, and begin to fear that their own lives may be in mortal danger…
 
Craig Sisterson

Short silly joke
“I’m going with one my seven-year-old was excited to tell me when we were at the Mapua Wharf this week (reunited after an unexpected several weeks apart): ‘What happened when the red boat crashed into the blue boat…? They were marooned.’”

Best/worst/most bizarre gift
“Hmm… okay, let’s embarrass myself rather than anyone else and dig into the archives. So probably my ‘worst’ (embarrassing more than awful) Christmas gift-buying experience – gift itself went down very well, but the purchasing was a shambles – was more than 20 years ago when I was at university and working a summer/Christmas job in a department store. The staff there liked to banter and tease each other, and included school mates and adults who’d known me for a few years (it was my weekend job at high school, and I’d come back and work full-time in the university break). I was one of a few guys among a predominantly female staff. I wanted to buy a nice present for my then-girlfriend at law school, and the department store had a big lingerie section. Lots of the male staff and shoppers were embarrassed to even walk into that section. But I’d zeroed in on a nice item I thought would be appreciated. But how to purchase it without letting the entire staff know what I’d got my girlfriend for Christmas and endure weeks of ribbing afterwards? Especially when she came to visit soon. So I waited until an evening when the store was quieter and a newer staff member less likely to sass me was on the register. Great plan eh? Until the new staff member fumbled the transaction and had to call the manager over the intercom to come over and fix it. Directing the entire staff’s attention to red-faced me buying lingerie for his girlfriend. And for anyone not there to witness it, they put up jokes about it on the staffroom whiteboard for the next week! Oops.”

A Christmas tradition
“Something that had become an important tradition for me in the past several years—though like a few things, got disrupted by COVID—was volunteering with Crisis at Christmas in London. The first time, in 2015, was somewhat circumstantial. I was unable to go ‘home’ to New Zealand for the holiday season with my family due to a frustrating, bureaucratic passport snafu, so decided to volunteer with a homeless shelter for Christmas Day. I discovered Crisis at Christmas, which is so much more than meals on Xmas Day.

“They provide accommodation, food, activities, healthcare, clothing, job assistance, and much more for homeless people for several days at a time when some other shelters are closed. It was an eye-opening, humbling experience. I realised that homelessness is much broader than the public perception of people on the street (and how they got there). I ended up volunteering there for several seasons afterwards, delaying my trips home to New Zealand so I could both volunteer in London with my ‘Crisis family’ (vols and guests) and spend some southern hemisphere summer with friends and family. Due to unexpected circumstances, I can’t volunteer this year as I’m on the other side of the world, but I have donated a place for a homeless person at this year’s Crisis at Christmas – they are still doing great work even as they’ve had to massively adjust given the pandemic. If you’d like to help, you can here: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/donate-to-crisis-at-christmas/”

Your one indulgence
“Given New Zealand Christmases are a summertime thing (very jarring for my northern hemisphere friends—we southerners are quite cognisant of wintry Christmases even if we didn’t grow up with them, because of all the imagery and movies etc, but several of my UK/US pals struggle to wrap their head around the idea of a beachy, barbecues, swimming and hot sunshine Xmas), one indulgence I love is a slice of pavlova—an antipodean dessert of soft and crunchy meringue topped with whipped cream and fruit. Perfect end to an Xmas barbecue.”

One of my highlights of 2022 was getting to edit a first-of-its-kind anthology celebrating Australian and New Zealand crime
writing. DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER showcases some amazing storytellers and is out now, with a second volume coming in the first half of 2023.

A vibrant southern constellation of crime writers.

Dark Deeds Down Under features the very best of modern Australian and New Zealand crime and mystery writing.

Spend time with some of your favourite Aussie and Kiwi cops, sleuths and accidental heroes, and meet some edgy new investigators.

A crew of beloved series characters—Corinna Chapman, Hirsch, Sam Shephard, Rowly Sinclair, Nick Chester, Murray Whelan—will lead you down dark alleys to meet our newer heroes—the Nancys, Penny Yee and Matiu, Alex Clayton, Kate Miles—and the stars of some cracking standalone tales.

Travel the criminal trails of two countries. From the dusty Outback to South Island glaciers, from ocean-carved coastlines and craggy mountains to sultry rainforests or Middle Earth valleys, and via sleepy towns to the seething underbellies of our cosmopolitan cities.

The 19 dark deeds herein are perpetrated by:

Alan Carter – Nikki Crutchley – Aoife Clifford – Garry Disher – Helen Vivienne Fletcher – Lisa Fuller – Sulari Gentill – Kerry Greenwood – Narrelle M. Harris – Katherine Kovacic – Shane Maloney – R.W.R. McDonald – Dinuka McKenzie – Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray – Renee – Stephen Ross – Fiona Sussman – Vanda Symon – David Whish-Wilson
 
Kwei Quartey

Short silly joke
“What do you call people who use coitus interruptus? Parents.”

Best/worst/most bizarre gift
“A patient of mine, bless her heart, brought me a crocheted cushion as a Christmas gift. Regrettably, it smelled faintly but distinctly of urine.”

Your one indulgence
“Ginger snaps, apple pie.”

LAST SEEN IN LAPAZ
When a whirlwind romance leads to a brutal murder and the disappearance of a young Nigerian woman, PI Emma Djan resorts to dangerous undercover work to track her down in Accra.

Just as things at work are slowing down for PI Emma Djan, an old friend of her boss’s asks for help locating his missing daughter. According to her father, Ngozi had a bright future ahead of her when she became secretive and withdrawn. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was be with her handsome new beau, Femi, instead of attending law school in the fall. So when she disappears from her parents’ house in Nigeria in the middle of a summer night, they immediately suspect Femi was behind it and have reason to believe the pair has fled to Accra.

During Emma’s first week on the case, Femi is found murdered at his opulent residence in Accra. There are no signs of Ngozi at the scene, and fearing the worst, Emma digs further, discovering that Femi was part of a network of sex traffickers across West Africa.

Emma must figure out which of Femi’s many enemies killed him, but more urgently, she must find Ngozi before she, too, is murdered in cold blood.
 
Sujata Massey

THE BOMBAY PRINCE
Bombay’s first female lawyer, Perveen Mistry, is compelled to bring justice to the family of a murdered female Parsi student just as Bombay’s streets erupt in riots to protest British colonial rule. Sujata Massey is back with this third installment to the Agatha and Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning series set in 1920s Bombay.

November 1921. Edward VIII, Prince of Wales and future ruler of India, is arriving in Bombay to begin a four-month tour. The Indian subcontinent is chafing under British rule, and Bombay solicitor Perveen Mistry isn’t surprised when local unrest over the royal arrival spirals into riots. But she’s horrified by the death of Freny Cuttingmaster, an eighteen-year-old female Parsi student, who falls from a second-floor gallery just as the prince’s grand procession is passing by her college.

Freny had come for a legal consultation just days before her death, and what she confided makes Perveen suspicious that her death was not an accident. Feeling guilty for failing to have helped Freny in life, Perveen steps forward to assist Freny’s family in the fraught dealings of the coroner’s inquest. When Freny’s death appears suspicious, Perveen knows she can’t rest until she sees justice done. But Bombay is erupting: as armed British secret service march the streets, rioters attack anyone with perceived British connections, and desperate shopkeepers destroy their own wares so they will not be targets of racial violence. Can Perveen help a suffering family when her own is in danger?
 
Zoë Sharp

Short silly joke
“This is my step-ladder.”

“My real ladder left when I was a kid…”

Best/worst/most bizarre gift
“Definitely, the weirdest gift I ever received was a Talking Children’s Prayer Clock – shouldn’t that have been a Children’s Talking Prayer Clock? – which could recite prayers in both English and Spanish. (I was an adult at the time.) It was sent as a gag by Al Abramson—an American friend with the most British sense of humour I’ve ever encountered. At least, I hope it was a gag…”

A Christmas tradition
“I would love to introduce the Icelandic tradition to my friends and family in the UK—that of Jolabokaflod, or The Christmas Book Flood. In Iceland, books are exchanged as presents on Christmas Eve, to be started on and enjoyed, usually with chocolate in one form or another, to get you into the Christmas spirit. Iceland, I understand, publishes more books per head of population than any other country, and most of them are sold between September and November for the upcoming holiday. What’s not to like?”

Your one indulgence
“Since about October this year, I have been doing my best to lose some weight. So far, so good, and I don’t want to spoil all that hard work over the Christmas period, but I will be allowing myself maybe just a little more chocolate than normal, and the occasional homemade fruit gin.”

THE LAST TIME SHE DIED

She came back on the day of her father’s funeral, ten years after she vanished. But she can’t be who she says she is…

When Blake disappeared as a teenager, on a cold dark night, her father never reported her missing. She is presumed dead.

Now, ten years later, a young woman with white-blonde hair sits comfortably in the family living room and smiles at the shocked faces around her.

“Don’t you recognise me?” she says. “I’m Blake.”

Detective John Byron isn’t sure whether she’s telling the truth. But as he investigates, he soon realises no one is happy to see her.

And the people who should be welcoming her back with open arms know she can’t be Blake. Because they killed her the night she vanished…

Didn’t they?

TRIAL UNDER FIRE: Charlie Fox prequel

The last thing Charlie Fox expected, when she headed out on routine patrol that day, was to end up riding into a firefight, on horseback, with the Spice Girls…

Before she was a bodyguard, she was a soldier.

Charlie Fox is one of the toughest cookies you could ever hope to meet. A word of advice—don’t try to get her to talk about her time in the military. Let’s just say it didn’t end well.

Before her fall from grace, Charlie was considered a rising star. She made it through one of the hardest challenges any soldier would have to face—Selection for Special Forces. The nightmare that came next is a story I’ve explored in scenes and flashbacks throughout the series.

But what happened before that? Back when Charlie was a young soldier in the regular army, on patrol in Afghanistan, being kept away from the front line fighting as stipulated by the regulations concerning female personnel. What did she do back then to prove her worth as a specialised soldier, under life-and-death conditions? How did she earn her chance?

That is a story I’ve never told.

Until now.

This week’s Word of the Week is courtesy of the SucceedWithDyslexia website of 20 Weird and Wonderful Christmas Words: eggnog, a distinctly festive drink made with warmed beer and egg. The ‘nog’ part of eggnog comes from a seventeenth-century word for a strong beer or ale, once brewed in the East of England, but that ‘nog’ actually comes from an even older Scots word ‘nugg’ or ‘nugh’, a term for beer warmed by putting a red-hot poker into it. And ‘nugg’ comes from an even older Old Norse word, ‘knagg’, for a metal peg or spur, kind of like an early poker.

And the Word of the Year is goblin mode, which was chosen as the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2022 Word of the Year. It is defined as ‘a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.’

You can read this blog, or comment, at Murder Is Everywhere

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