From Geraldine's Desk: "I am a British writer, born in London, England, and brought up on a south London Council estate, the youngest of four children of Irish Catholic working class parents. Alas, one of life's late developers, and, at that time, more interested in playing marbles than studying for, and taking exams, I failed the 11+ examination, which was the exam that decided the standard of the rest of your education (and usually the standard of the rest of your Iife...). Like my older siblings, I left school in my mid-teens and started work - mostly a series of tedious dead-end jobs. Though, funnily enough, the first job I had, when I left school at sixteen, was as an assistant in a public library, with the perks (at that time, I don't know if such perks still exist) of being able to borrow as many books as I liked and never having to pay any fines. Ye Gods! Couldn't I do with such perks now! My fines from the library are awe-inspiring! You know what it's like - you take books out for research, keep them for months and always forget to renew them. Even though, nowadays, I do some of my research on the internet, nothing really replaces the book held in the hand, with all the bibliographic information at the rear. (Read more on Geraldine's website at www.geraldineevans.com)"