This week, we finally managed to install our new (not new ) item of furniture - a mid-18th Century grandfather clock. It's not bright and shiny like more modern ones, but a dark oak with a warm patina which the beeswax polish is drawing out. In order to set it up, we had to do a certain amount of research - how to hang the pendulum, where the weight went on the endless chain - and it got me thinking... where and when did certain divisions of time come from? The time periods which I have written either had household clocks or didn't, I have not written novels from the time of their invention. Clocks have been around for a long time, and the obsession with measuring time in an ordered fashion dates back to at least the ancient Sumerians. It was they who established a circular reading of time and, I imagine, the sixty seconds/minutes came about as much because it was an easy way to divide a circle as anything else. But it wasn't until much later that the precision of seconds ...
Today's #IndieHero is a little bit different...she works at an independent bookshop! It important to support indie bookshops, and I can't quite put my finger on why an independent shop gives you that special feeling of satisfaction! Perhaps it's the personal touch...perhaps it's because the people who work there share your love of reading... Ryan works at Gibson's Bookstore in Concord. It was very exciting writing the questions and sending them all the way across the ocean! I love the Internet because it enables us to do this and, what's more...! Gibson's has a fantastic website so please check out the link at the bottom of this page! Picture from Facebook...check out the link after the interview Interview 1. I hear that Gibson’s Bookstore is the largest independent bookshop in New Hampshire. What is the best thing about working there? Gibson’s is the best! It feels like the heart of Concord, NH - a total staple of the communit...