Author Graham Brown

The Chainsmokers on feuding with Mark Ronson and writing 2016s biggest hit

After a disastrous start on American Idol and pastings from Deadmau5, the US dance duo have had the last laugh with Closers chart success In 2014, American Idol hosted a performance by the Chainsmokers, a duo who had appeared, apparently from nowhere, with a preposterous, internationally successful novelty dance hit called American Idol, get in our selfie! The camera angle was unforgiving: at that moment the duo were being watched by precisely five members of the studio audience. Everybody else was still staring at the judges. DeadMau5 on Twitter), but one of the more even-handed responses came from DJ Laidback…

Building an Author Platform – And Why You Need One

By Mari Selby Before you have even finished writing your book, you need to build your author platform as part of your marketing efforts. Today, all authors, whether they are published by traditional publishers, co-op publishers, or have created their own imprint, have to market themselves to generate awareness of their books. Platform is more […]

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Health anxiety may increase risk of heart disease, research finds

Study suggests worried well who fret over non-existent illnesses are 70% more likely to develop heart diseases Fit and healthy people who worry about developing an illness may be increasing their risk of heart disease by unnecessarily fretting over their health, research suggests. A study of more than 7,000 people over 12 years found that those with health anxiety at the start of the study were about 70% more likely to develop heart disease than those without that state of mind. Additionally, the researchers found that the higher the reported anxiety, the higher the risk of heart disease. Anxiety is…

A decade of deadlock over Alzheimer’s treatment may be drawing to a close

The next phase of trials for a new Alzheimers drug will answer the real question: are brain plaques the root cause of the disease, or just a symptom? When Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimers he recalled his wifes relief that he hadnt got a brain tumour. All I could think then was, I know three people who have got better after having a brain tumour. I havent heard of anyone whos got better from Alzheimers, the latest trial results from Merck,

Oil drilling caused killer earthquake in boomtime California, scientists suspect

Long Beach quake of 1933 in which up to 120 people died is among several possibly linked with early extraction methods Several damaging Los Angeles-area earthquakes of the 1920s and 1930s, including the deadliest ever in southern California, may have been brought on by oil production during the regions drilling boom of that era, US government scientists have reported. The findings of a possible link between oil extraction and seismic events in the LA basin do not apply to modern industry practices but suggest the natural rate of quake occurrences in the region may be lower than previously calculated, the…

Tuck Everlasting author Natalie Babbitt dies at 84

The award-winning author and illustrator, who was suffering from lung cancer, is remembered as a remarkable woman The author of the beloved childrens novel Tuck Everlasting has died in the United States after battling lung cancer. Natalie Babbitt was 84 years old. Babbitt was an author and illustrator. Her husband, Samuel Fisher Babbitt, said she died at home in Hamden, Connecticut, on Monday. He said she had been recently diagnosed with lung cancer. He described her as a remarkable and loving and wonderful woman who left her mark in the world with her writing. Babbitt wrote and illustrated dozens of…

Les Liaisons Dangereuses review Janet McTeer brings fire and ice to Broadway

The tale of love and revenge takes an intellectually provocative approach to the 1782 French novel but doesnt always serve the rather more salacious script When the poet Charles Baudelaire read Les Liaisons Dangereuses, he wrote that Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 novel burns as only ice can burn. The fire is rather more lukewarm in Josie Rourkes revival of Christopher Hamptons adaptation, which

The reality of being black in todays Britain | David Olusoga

David Olusoga grew up amid racism in Britain in the 70s and 80s. Now, in a groundbreaking new book and TV series, he argues that the story of black Britons, from Afro-Roman times to the present, is key to showing the depth of their Britishness. And, while we exult in black Britons success in culture, fashion and sport, discrimination still blights their lives When I was a child, growing up on a council estate in the northeast of England, I imbibed enough of the background racial tensions of the late 1970s and 1980s to feel profoundly unwelcome in Britain. My…

Is this the email that hacked John Podesta’s account?

(CNN)A phishing email sent to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta may have been so sophisticated that it fooled the campaign’s own IT staffers, who at one point advised him it was a legitimate warning to change his password. The stolen email thread, released by WikiLeaks Friday, also provides the most direct evidence yet that the Russian government was behind the damaging hack into the Clinton campaign, according to a private cybersecurity company.

How the Big Bang changed the City of London forever – BBC News

Media captionThirty years ago today the City changed forever after radical new rules were introduced. “I was used to the hustle and bustle, the crowd on the floor,” says Alasdair Haynes. “And on the Monday there was no one there. There was a complete hush, it was extraordinary,” says Mr Haynes who used to work on the floor of the London Stock Exchange, and is now chief executive of the trading venue Aquis Exchange. The Monday he’s referring to was 30 years ago. It was the day of the Big Bang – when, in one fell swoop, the City of…