29 January 1892, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND GIRLS BILL Clause 4 – Defilement of girls under 14 years of age: THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Hon S. Burt) said that upon a reconsideration of the question of fixing the age of consent at fourteen, the...
My editor recently sent me the draft blurb for Chess Nuts, which will contain something like: Julia Lawrinson isn’t a chess nut herself, but she is the mother of one and married to another. In fact, Julia’s husband might be a little like Mr F, and Julia’s ferociously...
… was my daughter’s first reaction to the beginning of the virginity novel. ‘They’re doing it on the first page!’ she spluttered. ‘Is this book going to be in my school?’ Fortunately, her second, third and forth reactions included laughing and giggling, as she kept...
… it should be Kirsty Eagar’s Raw Blue. I am not a reviewer, and I don’t normally comment on fellow YA writers’ work, but Raw Blue is one of those kept-me-up-all-night novels that stays in your bones and sings in your ears long after you’ve finished it. It wouldn’t...
I have had a spectacularly crappy couple of weeks – my dog was almost killed by two off-lead Ridgeback crosses (see above, taken after surgery); I worked hours that made sleep impossible; and in between I have had to finish edits of various projects. I hate editing...
Famous! has finally come into the world. It’s been a long ride, which has involved, acceptances, rejections, company takeovers, sitting-in-drawer-ness, a chance conversation over dinner, and a massive re-write. But she’s here now, and I’m proud...
