What would you think of a man who did this?

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Wrote a book with a gratuitous solo sex scene in it of an underage teenage girl? Fwiw, man is middle aged and it's his only book.

I couldn’t say without reading the book. Lots of books include really awful and unpleasant scenes and it doesn’t mean that the author is awful and unpleasant.

That said, if the scene is entirely irrelevant to the plot and doesn’t illustrate something useful about the characters and is written in an uncomfortable way, I might wonder at the motivation behind it.

But like I say - it’s not possible to judge without having read the book.

I'd be grossed out and think he was a creep.

Julie Burchill wrote "Sugar Rush" with lots of underage girl-on-girl action

She's a creep, though.

Rean - the book won't get noticed - it's a steaming pile of shit!! I'm not saying what genré of book it is (it's just a little bit too specific) but it's not crime. The scene is shoehorned in - it's really got no useful reason to be included. He's a friend of a friend.

I'm not a huge fan of Burchill either, but I have a feeling she wrote that as a bit of an antidote to the idea that teenage girls are 'innocent' and completely devoid of sexual feeling until Mr Right 'awakens' them. Which is no bad thing. I am 100% in the camp that writers should write what they want, that no topic should be off-limits: that some writers will make a dreadful mess of portraying sensitive subjects doesn't necessarily mean they are dreadful people.

Have you ever encountered the man himself, OP? Or are you revving up to denouncing him to the police/newpapers/his employer as a danger to young people because he wrote an ill-judged scene in an amateurish novel?

Rean - er, no, not revving up to do any such thing. What a strange suggestion. Yes, I've met him a handful of times.

Based on what you’ve said, I’d think he was a creep. I don’t think all underage sexual scenes mean the author is a creep though, and don’t necessarily think all erotic books aimed at young teens are a bad thing - they tend to be a damn sight healthier than the porn they’d find on the internet.

I read some dark arse books and watch some horrifically dark films so I personally wouldn’t think a thing of it. In absolutely no way does it make me think the guys a pervert

It’s clearly dodgy. YANBU. He’s not even a serious writer, he’s a fantasist. I bet he wouldn’t be so quick to narrate a young boy in a sex scene, as it wouldn’t get him excited.

Well I can see some instances where it would be relevant but in the example you describe he’s either a peeve or really really bad at writing and thinks that he is being edgy (no pun intended).

I bet he wouldn’t be so quick to narrate a young boy in a sex scene, as it wouldn’t get him excited

Yes and interestingly Julie Burchill is gay!

Julie Burchill is married to a man these days, so I don't think she'd class herself as 'gay' per se.

She has been quite vocal about her preference for young women though. That's why I think she's a bit creepy.

I wouldn’t want to speak to or hang out with him socially ever again, and if he was in a position in his work, volunteering or personal life with any scope for access to DC I would raise safeguarding concerns with the appropriate organisation.

Would you send a PM with the name of the book? Really can't make a decision on the level of appropriateness without seeing the actual context.

Loopytiles: really? Would you also run screaming to the law if you found out that someone you knew wrote murder mysteries? If not, then you need to get over yourself.

Running screaming?

It’s OP’a wannabe writer sleazy acquaintance who should “get over himself”.

There's a lot of pearl clutching on this thread and an interesting mix of snobbery about genres and publishers. Lots of authors (both male and female) write poor/bad sex scenes and describe incidents that may be considered inappropriate.
It's not a book's job to make you feel comfortable or to make you 'like' the author. That expectation speaks to limited reading experience.
If his book was one of a series published by a mainstream publisher, would it be ok?

The responses on this thread are unbelievable, I feel as if I've just stumbled into a Victorian time warp. I wonder if they'd be the same if the scene described a boy? No, thought not.

There are some books ive read which describe things I find deeply unpleasant, uncomfortable and "not appropriate". But they are appropriate in a book; that's what books are for. Drawing out an extreme reaction is one if the things a book should do, if it works with the plot and the characters. The rape scene from The Death of Bunny Munroe still creeps me out years after reading it. Told from the perspective of the rapist, who thought he was being loving and caring, it's deep uncomfortable to read. But it absolutely suited that character, and the scene added what it needed to add. It's not a fantastic book, but that scene wasn't our of place. Sometimes horrible things happen in stories; it doesn't make the author a deviant.

If you only want to read warm, rainbow stories then stick to mass churned out chick lit.