What is it like to be seventeen? And why that’s the age of my heroine.
Seventeen is a wonderful age, so is eighteen. Why? Because you’re ready and rearing for action. You have the freshness of youth but you’re mature enough to know you’re alive and make your own decisions, (if your parents let you). You have the security of a home and money, (unless you’ve already left home) but should have enough freedom to go forth from that base and try new adult-type things. You’re about to leave school (which most of you are over by then), have your whole life ahead of you (provided you don’t crash your car tomorrow) and almost everything is possible, at least in your mind. Even if you don’t have the grades to be a rocket scientist, you can visualize what it might be like. In your mind, you can try your options out for size to help you decide which direction you want to go in. Once…
Young Adult??? Diving into the ‘what’s appropriate’ debate
A while ago, I bought a book from a YA shelf and found two fairly explicit and incredibly cruel and demeaning rape scenes where pain was inflicted as part of the act. The scenes really disturbed me. I took it back to the shop and complained – I don’t even want to read that sort of things in adult books.