PicoBlog

If you don’t want to read this post, I’ll save you some time, because the answer is ‘as long as it takes’. But I also kind of hate that answer, so let me go into a bit more detail. With my first novel, My Name is Monster, I first had the idea for the book in 2011. At least, I say I had the idea for the book – but maybe it would be more accurate to say I had an idea which then developed into the idea behind the book, over the course of about six years.

The apostles of Jesus Christ spent time with the Lord and saw Him with their own eyes. How many apostles did Jesus have? What were their names? What do we know about Jesus’ apostles? The original group of twelve apostles was chosen by Jesus Himself, and the Lord gave them power. And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Everyone loves an end of year list. That’s why we have so many of them (and perhaps why I’ve stayed away from doing one). My old friends at Variety recently published such a list, one of the greatest TV shows ever (from a US lens; one suspects UK folks would add at least Doctor Who to the list*). *I am a Brit, well now Americano-Brit, who never cared for Doctor Who.

Since Substack includes polls these days, let’s kick off this edition with a low-stakes pop quiz, just for fun. Loading... Loading... Years ago, when I gave my high school students an assignment (in French) to learn about the origins of the Olympic Movement, they were flabbergasted by the revelation that the Olympic rings represent “les cinq continents habités.” They had always been taught that there are seven continents, of which six are inhabited—but their French-language sources, along with the United Nations, were insisting that there were merely six continents, of which five were inhabited.

Ah, the classic all-time question that has probably caused more arguments than it has resolved. The answer is, of course, it depends. However, there are some guidelines that can help you make the right decision, both for yourself and for your team. Let’s explore. The number of direct reports that a manager has is most commonly referred to as their span of control. It’s a bit of a strange-sounding term, but it’s what we have.

If you’re a Bible-movie buff and a space-movie buff like me, you can’t help but notice how the two genres overlap sometimes. Sometimes the overlaps are eerily coincidental: just six months after Pernilla August co-starred in The Phantom Menace as Shmi Skywalker (the woman who conceived Anakin Skywalker, the future Darth Vader, without a father), August played the title role in Mary, Mother of Jesus, another movie about a miraculous conception.

In 1970 the rising superstar and soon to become Hollywood martial arts legend Bruce Lee suffered a catastrophic injury that really should have ended his career. Lee was working out with barbells performing a manoeuvre with a weight across his shoulders, a particular stress-bearing exercise called ‘good mornings’, a kind of straight-legged hinge. Most trainers would advise against this exercise unless you really know what you are doing, the potential for back injury is notoriously high.

On a semi-regular basis, I interview authors about their writing processes and craft—you can find previous entries here—and today I’m really excited to publish this interview with Martin Riker, whose excellent novel The Guest Lecture came out this week. The Guest Lecture was one of those magical books I plucked at random from my review copy pile and was instantly taken with. We follow Abby, an economics professor lying awake at night in a hotel room and anxiously thinking about the guest lecture she has to give the following day.

While higher-end toy offerings have been available for fans of larger-scale, adult-oriented action figures, Hasbro’s sunsetting of the Lightning Collection and kid-centric toy line — marred by a miniscule wave of Power Rangers Cosmic Fury toys in fall 2023 — left fans wondering, What’s up? On Monday, Hasbro answered that with an announcement that it’s entering a “strategic relationship” with Playmates Toys to create and distribute new Power Rangers products, beginning with a kid-focused Mighty Morphin Power Rangers line set to debut in 2025.