50 shades of ballet? Hamrick on her novel that makes 'Black Swan' seem tame

Melanie Hamrick poses for a portrait in New York to promote her book 'First Position.' Photo: AP

Melanie Hamrick, who knows her way around a quick pirouette, had to move fast when her six-year-old son Deveraux recently picked up a copy of her new novel, First Position, as she was signing books.

"I didn’t realise how well he was reading,” the former ballerina and first-time author says of her first-grader, whom she shares with partner Mick Jagger. "He opened it and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, give me that book!’”