James Essinger

A comedy thriller set in 1979

Based on detailed historical research, this lively, witty, dramatic and highly entertaining libretto, with accompanying lyrics, tells the story of Lord Byron's daughter Ada Byron - subsequently Ada, Countess of Lovelace. Ada was born into privilege and wealth, but her only dream was to become an inventor and a woman of science and to have a life of the mind. Blessed with talent, energy and a remarkable scientific imagination, Ada does all she can to try to make her dreams come true.

The partnership of Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace was one that would change science forever. They were an unlikely pair – one the professor son of a banker, the other the only child of an acclaimed poet and a social-reforming mathematician – but perhaps that is why their work was so revolutionary. They were the pioneers of computer science, creating plans for what could have been the first computer. They each saw things the other did not: it may have been Charles who designed the machines, but it was Ada who could see their potential. But what were they like? And how did they work together? Using previously unpublished correspondence between them, Charles and Ada explores the relationship between two remarkable people who shared dreams far ahead of their time.

`I am sure this slim volume will constitute an invaluable aide to anyone seeking to set out on our stony path' - Frederick Forsyth CBE, author of 'The Day of the Jackal' and many other international bestsellers `Writing Fiction is a little pot of gold... Screenplay by Syd Field for film, Writing Fiction by James Essinger for fiction. It's that simple.' William Osborne, novelist and screenwriter Writing Fiction - a user-friendly guide is a must-read if you want to write stories to a professional standard. It draws on the author's more than thirty years of experience as a professional writer, and on the work and ideas of writers including: * Anthony Burgess * Joseph Conrad * George Eliot * Ken Follett * Frederick Forsyth * Dan Harmon * Ernest Hemingway * David Lodge * Norman Mailer * John Milton * Ben Parker * J. K. Rowling * William Shakespeare * Martin Cruz Smith * J. R. R. Tolkien The twenty-four chapters cover every important matter you need to know about, including: devising a compelling story, creating and developing characters, plotting, `plants', backstory, suspense, dialogue, `show' and `tell', and how to make your novel more real than reality. Also featuring special guest advice from legendary screenwriter Bob Gale, who wrote the three immortal `Back to the Future' movies (1985, 1989 and 1990), and novelist and screenwriter William Osborne, whose many screen credits include the co-writing of the blockbuster `Twins' (1988), this highly entertaining book gives you all the advice and practical guidance you need to make your dream of becoming a published fiction writer come true.

So what are you saying, Josh?' Lindsay asked me, `that there's a secret Roman town down here where people speak Latin and which nobody knows about in the world we come from?' This extraordinary, highly imaginative, hugely entertaining novel tells the story of fifteen-year-old Josh Moonford, his younger twin brother and sister Sam and Dora, Cornish girl Lindsay Penhaligon, warm-hearted gang leader Troy Wilson and arrogant sixth-former (and self-proclaimed genius) Declan Jacques, and their mind-blowing adventure in the underground high-tech Roman world of Cantia, located beneath the famous cathedral city of Canterbury. Can Josh and his friends - aided by the world-famous movie star Carlo Clancy - end the brutal Cantian revolution that could lead to disaster for our world?

Thalidomide: patented in Germany as a non-toxic cure-all for sleeplessness and morning sickness. A wonder drug with no side effects. We know differently now. Today, thalidomide is a byword for tragedy and drug reform – a sign of what happens when things aren’t done ‘the right way’. But when it was released in the 1950s, it was the best thing since penicillin – something that doctors were encouraged to prescribe to all of their patients. Nobody could anticipate what it actually did: induce sleeping, prevent morning sickness, and drastically harm unborn children. But, whilst thalidomide rampaged and ravaged throughout most of the West, it never reached the United States. It landed on the desk of Dr Frances Kelsey, and there it stayed as she battled bureaucracy, patriarchy, and the Establishment in an effort to prove that it was dangerous. Frankie is her story.

Now, in this first ever biography, the fascinating and unlikely hero is portrayed in full detail. Read about the quiet, matter-of-fact woman who stood up to a major pharmaceutical company, did her job in the face of enormous pressure, and when presented with the highest civic honors, credited her whole team with the accomplishment. It's an incredible story of integrity in the moment of truth, of the power of humble courage, and of hundreds of thousands of lives saved by an ordinary woman.

A romantic thriller set in the world of chess and featuring a heavy erotic element.

Through the infamous divorce of her parents, Ada Lovelace became the most talked-about child in Georgian Britain. This riveting biography tells the extraordinary yet little known story of her life and times-when mathematics was as fashionable as knitting among women and Ada became the world's first computer programmer. But for her era's view on gender, Ada would single-handedly have started the digital age more than two centuries ago.

Welcome to the illogical, idiosyncratic, outrageous linguistic phenomenon known as the English language. The story of how this ragtag collection of words evolved is a winding tale replete with intriguing accidents and bizarre twists of fate. In this eye-opening, fabulously entertaining book, James Essinger unlocks the mysteries that have confounded linguists and scholars for millennia. From the sophisticated writing systems of the ancient Sumerians through the tongue twisters of Middle English, the popular National Spelling Bee, and the mobile phone text-messaging of today, Spellbound chronicles the fascinating history of English spelling, including insights about the vast number of words English has borrowed from other languages ("orange," "vanilla," and "ketchup," to name a few), and how their meanings differ from country to country. Featuring a lively cast of characters ranging from the fictional to the historically noteworthy (Chaucer, Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, Shakespeare, Bill Gates), this affectionate tribute to English spelling shows why our whimsical, capricious common language continues to hold us spellbound.

Jacquard's Web is the story of some of the most ingenious inventors the world has ever known, a fascinating account of how a hand-loom invented in Napoleonic France led to the development of the modern information age. James Essinger, a master story-teller, shows through a series of remarkable and meticulously researched historical connections (spanning two centuries and never investigated before) that the Jacquard loom kick-started a process of scientific evolution which would lead directly to the development of the modern computer. The invention of Jacquard's loom in 1804 enabled the master silk-weavers of Lyons to weave fabrics 25 times faster than had previously been possible. The device used punched cards, which stored instructions for weaving whatever pattern or design was required; it proved an outstanding success. These cards can very reasonably be described as the world's first computer programmes. In this engaging and delightful book, James Essinger reveals a plethora of extraordinary links between the nineteenth-century world of weaving and today's computer age: to give just one example, modern computer graphics displays are based on exactly the same principles as those employed in Jacquard's special woven tableaux. Jacquard's Web also introduces some of the most colourful and interesting characters in the history of science and technology: the modest but exceptionally dedicated Jacquard himself, the brilliant but temperamental Victorian polymath Charles Babbage, who dreamt of a cogwheel computer operated using Jacquard cards, and the imaginative and perceptive Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's only legitimate daughter.