I got an email from a female reader this week that really delighted me. She mailed to tell me that her husband had just said ‘I really love that virginity book. And my husband is not a man given to expressing his feelings’ she continued. I was amazed. I thought this was a women’s book. What moved him to say this I asked? ‘The stories aren’t just about virginity’, he replied, ‘they are an insight into people’s lives’.

Indeed they are. This isn’t just a book about our first sexual encounters; it is a book about the ways in which our lives have changed over the last 80 years. It is also a book about the way that we really feel about our intimate lives, no holds barred and no attempts to big ourselves up. Everyone in this book had a pseudonym so they could say exactly what they wanted. I was only ever interested in the truth.

In the meantime, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that men like it as I communicate with them on a daily basis via my blog and the fabulous stories that they tell. I went to lengths to ensure that the book cover wasn’t exclusively ‘female’ too. Ok, so it has flowers on it but the first version had a pink background which I felt was misleading. The inky blue that you see below projects mystery and intrigue…much like virginity loss as it happens.

 

 

One does turn into something of a nutter once one’s book comes out. I can’t deny that I harbour thoughts of re-arranging the shelves of my local Waterstones and WH Smiths so that my book is always at the front of the selection. But I haven’t done it…yet. In other news, my book and me will be doing our first ever television appearance tomorrow on The Vanessa Show on Channel 5, which I am molto excited about. Not least because it also features the legendary Arlene Phillips…..I might just bust some moves whilst I am there.