Jacqueline has answered a big wodge of your questions in advance, so I'm posting these now to give everyone a chance to look through before the discussion starts at 9pm.
cocolepew: I want to know where does Jacqueline get her rings from, and was the magazine Jackie really named after her? DD is a big fan.
Jacqueline: Hi cocolepew, I'm so glad you like my rings - they all come from a wonderful shop called The Great Frog in Ganton St in the West End.
ahundredtimes: How exciting. (DS1 ran the gamut of ridicule by reading 'pink, girls' books at school because he loved them so, he used to say 'well, who said they were girls books?' ) Actually, that's my question: do you think it's a shame that your books seem to be primarily targeted at girls or is that right, are they written for girls?
Jacqueline: Hi ahundredtimes. I feel my books are for anyone who wants to read them, male or female. However, my publishers always seem to want my jackets to be bright pink and I agree it's a bit off-putting for boys, and indeed some girls too. I've just published a fourth Tracy Beaker book, for Comic Relief. It's called Tracy Beaker's Thumping Heart, and Comic Relief gets £2 for every book that's sold.
GumsNRoses: Dd is a massive fan, she would like to know what age you were when you first started writing, and are some of your characters based on people you know in real life. Thank you from Abbie (12).
Jacqueline: Hello Abbie at gumsnroses. I started writing very small stories at six and seven. I make up all my characters (though obviously my two autobiographical books, Jacky Daydream, and My Secret Diary are about real people).
QOD: More of a statement than a question - Jaccqueline, my 10-year-old old daughter had not read a book before from choice. She would read a couple of pages of her school reader under duress. She then received the Tracy Beaker trilogy for Christmas and read it voraciously. She has since read two more of your books and five other random books. Thanks! Whatever you are doing, you are getting it right!
Jacqueline: Hi QOD, I am so pleased that your daughter enjoys reading now. It means so much to me to help introduce another child to the joys of reading! I try hard to make my books very easy to read, even though they might be about complex matters. The print on the page is clear, and Nick Sharratt's delightful illustrations help add interest to the page.
roisin: Hi Jacqueline! Reading, and encouraging children/young people to read, is my passion. I run two popular and successful reading clubs at secondary school, and constantly try and raise the profile of reading for pleasure. But students regularly get teased for coming to reading club or even admitting to being keen readers! It's such a shame. Do you think it's possible to make reading 'cool' amongst teenagers? Most of my keenest readers are boys, rather than girls. Over-generalisation, but the girls tend to want to stick with one genre or even one author (guess who?) and are less willing to branch out and try something new. Why do you think this is?
Jacqueline: Hello roisin. Good for you with the reading clubs! I know some girls get a bit 'locked-on' reading one particular author. I can't help being glad when it's me! However, I make frequent reference to other authors in my books and try to encourage some branching out.
FrannyandZooey: Jacqueline, I would like to ask several questions. First, is Cam gay? At the end of Clean Break, does the dad really come back? Can the family forgive him? Will it work out, or are they doomed to further troubles? Do any of your characters haunt you? I feel particularly distressed by Mary and her mother in The Diamond Girls In Midnight, it seems to me there are some S+M sexual undertones to Will's games. Was this deliberate? Finally, who is your favourite character from your books? I am quite taken with the saucy, curvy Miranda from Kiss at the moment I also love Beauty - her vulnerability is very charming. And really I would just like to gush about how wonderful I think your books are I particularly like The Illustrated Mum, and Kiss. Thank you very much
Jacqueline: Hi FrannyandZooey. Presumably you're a Sallinger fan...me too. Interesting questions. I don't spell things in my books. I like readers to make up their own minds. However, Cam could be gay: I certainly feel her friends are in The Dare Game. Dad DOES come back at the end of Clean Break - but I'm not entirely sure everything will end happily ever after. Will is a slightly sinister brother, but I'm not sure he's into S&M! My favourite character hasn't been published yet - she's a Victorian Foundling, called Hetty Feather. You'll be able to read about her in October.
Starbear: If books are then televised, do you think children would then not bother reading the book? Do you think councils should design and maintain children's libraries with better buildings and resources than adults library? Our local is being renovated but I fear it will just be a lick of paint.
Jacqueline: Hi Starbear. I think television adaptations frequently encourage children (and adults) to read the book. I wish libraries weren't so strapped for cash. So many great and dedicated children's librarians have been shunted out of their jobs, and the world is a poorer place.
Unicorn: DD (age9) has read all your books and has always been a fan but finds them depressing. I know you deal with many important 'issues'. But aren't these issues too heavy for children? Does childrens' literature really have to reflect real life? What about escapism? Fun? You have said that as a society we expose kids to adult ideas before they are ready. Do you accept any responsibility for your part in this?
Jacqueline: Dear unicorn, I appreciate your concern and I'm sad if your daughter finds my books depressing. I try very hard to make my books reassuring and even uplifting, though I agree several teenage titles could be seen as a little bleak. I have an enormous postbag from children, and over a hundred thousand members of my website send me emails. Many of these children confide their fears and worries, and frequently these are far more troubling than anything I could invent. I try hard to reassure children, and often stay up late writing postcards in response. I also hope I have a light touch in my books for younger readers and try to make the stories as lively and funny as possible. I hope I don't introduce children to 'adult' ideas before they are ready - but I suppose I can't please everybody all of the time.
SimpleAsABC: Just wanted to say that i've always been a big fan and that one of the reasons I think this may have been is the presence of real life "issues" in the books. I'm 21 now, but can remember the day we got Vicky Angel into our secondary school library, I was there first to make sure I didn't have to wait a week for it! Well done for tackling sensitive and important issues in a way which is accessible to children and adults alike.
Jacqueline: Dear SimpleasABC, your message means so much to me - I'm so pleased that enjoyed reading my books.
iamnotimpressed: Some of your books tackle fostering and care issues in a very understanding way. Were these issues important to you personally? By the way, our six year old is called Lola Rose!
Jacqueline: Hi, Iamnotimpressed. I don't have any direct experience of fostering or adopting, but since writing The Story of Tracy Beaker - many years ago - I have become involved with the Fostering Network and similar organisations and met many children in these circumstances. I think Lola Rose is a great name!
pointydog: questions from dd2 (10). 1. What is your favourite book that you have written? 2. What was your first ever prize?
Jacqueline: Hello pointydog. My favourite book is perhaps The Illustrated Mum. I think my first prize was The Children's Book Award organised by the Federation of Children's Book Groups, for The Suitcase Kid.
RoseOfTheOrient: My DD, Maya, (11) loves your books - she reads them in Japanese, and I read the English versions to her. Her absolute favourite is Lola Rose (waves to iamnotimpressed's DD). Her question for Jacqueline is "If you won the lottery (like in Lola Rose), what would you spend the money on?" Thanks!!
Jacqueline: Dear RoseOfThe Orient, I am so glad Maya likes Lola Rose. I wonder if she has found any difference between the English and Japanese versions - not something I can check! I have a lovely translator there though, called Yumiko Kikawe. If I won the lottery I'd be tempted to fund our children's libraries. So much money seems to go into IT now, rather than actual books.
Squonk: I have a question from dd1 (15). She would like to know if you are planning to revisit any of your younger characters so we can see how they have grown up, perhaps into early adulthood?
Jacqueline: Dear Squonk, and teenage daughter. I've already thought of doing this, I think it would be fun. I shall ponder.....I get a lot of letters on this topic. People are particularly keen to find out what happens next to the Diamond Girls.
TheButterflyEffect: My daughter loves your books. She was hoping to see you last year at the Edinburgh Book Festival and would like to know if there will be any opportunities to see you speak in the future.
Jacqueline: Hi ButterflyEffect. I was devastated when I had to cancel the Edinburgh Festival last summer, along with several other major festivals. This was because I was diagnosed with heart failure and had not long been out of hospital after an operation. I am feeling much better now, though I can't do quite as much - but will definitely be at the Edinburgh Festival this year, and hope to meet up with your daughter then.
Blondilocks: DD (aged 10) loves your books and was very excited to hear that you would be doing the mumsnet livechat. She wanted to say/ask the following: I loved the Cheltenham literary festival when I heard you talk about the new book Cookie and you said about My Secret Diary and I have been looking forward to reading it and now I can! I am very glad that I got Cookie signed - I will treasure it forever! Are you going to publish more books about when you are growing up or have you already put all of that into the latest book? Do you have any tips for people who want to be an author because I would really like to write books when I am older.
Jacqueline: Hi Blondilocks. I'm so glad your daughter liked Cookie. I've been thinking about writing a third volume of autobiography, but it won't be for a while yet.
Squirrell: We saw a production of Secrets at Polka theatre about 18 months ago, it was fantastic for both children and adults. Are there any plans for any more productions of your work on stage in the near future - please say yes! My daughter can't get enough of your books.
Jacqueline: Hello Squirrell. I was very happy with Vicky Ireland's adaptation of Secrets. I very much hope we will be able to work together in the future. It's exciting for an author to see their work transformed on stage - or on the television - I absolutely loved the TV film of Dustbin Baby shown just before Christmas.
bundle: My eldest daughter who's 8 and a half is reading a lot about Anne Frank and I understand you're a big fan too (it's the lovely book with all the family photos and reproductions of pages of her diary in it). Last night my husband read the end of it with her and she was in tears and couldn't sleep, because of Anne's death - so I cuddled her and read the first chapter of What Katy Did (!!) to distract her. Obviously I'll be doing more careful selection of bedtime reading tonight - but do you think that we expect too much of our children in terms of the subject matter they read about (her peers seem to be reading similar books)? We live in London, so life is a bit more complex than where I grew up in a quietish town in the north west.) Other recent favourites have been Tom's Midnight Garden, lots of your books smile, some Roald Dahl - though I've banned dh from getting a copy of the tearjerker, Froggy's Little Brother...)
Jacqueline: Hello bundle, it sounds as if you have a very sensitive and lovely daughter - though I think most eight year olds would find Anne Frank's story harrowing. It's difficult to give any guidelines about giving our children truthful information - they vary so in their responses. I think parents know best.
MayorNaze: Welcome to MN! Will think of a really deep and meaningful question before the chat but until then... I am a huge fan of all the books (am waiting for Beauty for me for ds on library reservation) but one thing that really bugged me about Midnight is that the dad is such a baddy - and is a Mason? On the whole freemasons are goodies, my dh is anyway! Sorry - couldn't not take the opportunity to say that but apart from that I am a big big fan...honest...
Jacqueline: Hello MayorNaze. The dad in Midnight is certainly a bit of a bully, though not all bad. Of course I don't think all masons, or indeed policemen, are baddies - just this particular fictional one!
Pollyanna: Hello Jacqueline, my dd1 (aged 8) has the following question: when you were young what did you think were going to be when you were older? ds1 (aged 10) would like to know where you get your ideas from? I would like to know whether, in your opinion, an 8 year old can read all of your books. I must confess to not letting her read some as I think the subject matter is too "real" for her (she can read very well, but in my view her reading age is way above her emotional age).
Jacqueline: Dear Pollyanna, please tell your daughters I wanted to be a writer from when I was six years old. I don't really know where I get my ideas from, they just seem to pop into my head. I feel some of my books might be a little disturbing for most eight year olds but it's very hard to generalise. I think Love Lessons and Kiss, for instance, are definitely for teenagers.
magsnags: I just want to thankyou for the personalised message you kindly wrote to my daughter Abigail in the book Cookie - it was the highlight of her Christmas, in particular the kind comments you wrote about her own efforts at writing. Small things like this from someone like yourself mean so much to youngsters and can make a real difference in their lives. She was 10 last Tuesday and had a sleepover on Friday and the 4 of them were up very late discussing your books!
Jacqueline: Hi magsnags. I'm so glad Abigail liked her book, and is enjoying writing!
KingRolo: In Love Lessons you write about a relationship between a teacher and teenage student. It?s written from the girl?s perspective but it is clear that the teacher is tempted by her. As an adult reader I can see that Rax is an emotionally immature guy with a few (ahem) issues but I don't think I'd have seen it like that when I was 13. Do you think you are encouraging impressionable girls to believe that the teachers they have crushes on could really have feelings for them too? And if so, is this a good idea??
Thanks! I'm looking forward to reading My Secret Diary. DD is too young for your books at the moment but I love them.
Jacqueline: Dear KingRolo - I appreciate your point about Love Lessons. I try to make it very clear in the book that Prudence is a very vulnerable girl and yes, Rax is in some ways intoxicated by her feelings for him - but I truly don't think it will encourage girls to believe that teachers might reciprocate their feelings. I've talked to lots of girls about Love Lessons and they certainly get engrossed in the story. Some are disappointed that Rax and Prue don't walk off into the sunset together. However they all shriek with derisive laughter at the idea of falling in love with any of their teachers!
UnquietDad: I don't have a question, but I just want to say that DD has loved Jacqueline's books for ages, although she was unhappy with the ending of Double Trouble, to the extent that she took the time to write an "extra page" giving it a happy ending...
Jacqueline: Hi UnquietDad, I wonder if you mean my book Double Act? I tried to give it a happy and satisfying ending, but obviously your daughter disagrees!
Shitemum: Posted on behalf of: traceycpn: I'm employed by the NHS. I work on the campus on the Isle Of Bute, children (ages 5-18). My role is as a counseller. Another aspect of my job is to prevent mental illness by "normalising" stress. I feel very strongly that the books you write, help these children to normalise the trauma in their life. Nick Sharratt has visited our school in the past, a beautiful wee island, just off the West coast of Scotland. Would you please come and present a book reading of your new book to them? You are inspirational to many of these children, we would pay your expenses, the school role is approx 1,000, a great oppertunity to see a fantastic part of Scotland and be the catalyst for change in a young person's life. Kind regards, Tracey
Jacqueline: Dear Tracey, it sounds as if you're doing a great job on the Isle of Bute. I know how beautiful it is - I once stayed for a week in Kilcartin (?) Bay. I wish I could come again, but I'm afraid my travelling days are largely over as I have heart failure and have to take it as easy as possible now.