often seen in the street without a hat

I read about half of each of the SA books in Waterstones before the disapproving looks of the security guards forced me to move on and didn't really take to them. They didn't seem to have the same humour. And none of the characters were recognisable to me in the way the Conroys are. But perhaps I didn't give them enough of a chance.

I love Naomi best too. She would be a superb pirate. On the subject of random children-pirate connections, have you read High Wind in Jamaica?

Have you seen Ginger Snaps? It would, of course, be very wrong to write a crossover in which Ruth and Ginger and Brigitte and Naomi pair off for a summer of sexual awakening in America. Very wrong.