A Philistine woman of Timnah

At the moment, the Philistines are ruling Israel, and one of the young Philistine women becomes the object of devotion of a young Israelite called Samson (Judges 14-15:6). We don't know what she thinks of the match, but that's beside the point; a wedding is arranged.

During the festivities, a bunch of guys confront her with a dilemma: her groom has wagered that they can't guess his riddle, and as he happens to be right they've decided to cheat: they demand that she coax the answer out of him, or else they'll burn her and her father's household to death.

Caring more for her and her family's lives than her groom's pride, she goes to do what they say. She's not exactly subtle -- "If you loved me you'd tell me the answer!" -- but then Samson isn't exactly bright. He points out that he hasn't even told his parents; but, weeping desperately, she perseveres and eventually wears him down. He explains it to her, she explains it to the extortionists, they gloatingly explain it to Samson, and in a fit of rage he storms out of the wedding.

This public abandonment leaves her in some disgrace, so her father gives her to Samson's friend instead. She doesn't get much chance to live a happy married life. After a few months Samson comes back for her and discovers her already married. In another fit of rage he goes and razes some fields belonging to the Philistines. The Philistines inquire as to the background of the arson and, on hearing the whole story, decide that the thing to do is clearly to burn the woman and her father to death.

This inspires Samson to a third fit of rage in which he slaughters a whole bundle of Philistines. In a sidenote, an early verse assures us that "this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines". Sheer bad luck, it seems, that this particular young woman got embroiled in it.

In which she does the latest writerly meme

Age when I decided I wanted to be a writer: somewhere in primary school
Age when I wrote my first story: 3 if dictating to Mum counts; otherwise 4
Age when I got my hands on a typewriter: about 4 - it's how my parents found out my previous scribbling was actually meant to be writing

Age when I first submitted a short story to a magazine: 20. (Well, 12 for that newspaper competition for kids. Forgot about that one.)
Age when I sold my first short story: 12 (prize in newspaper competition); 22 (first semi-pro); 27 (first semi-pro where the editors weren't known to me); not yet professionally
Thickness of file of rejection slips prior to first story sale: <looks at database> Can't be bothered manipulating data. About 0, a dozen, a couple dozen, 5 dozen respectively for the four categories above.
Approximate number of short stories sold for cash money: 3 if you include that newspaper competition...

Age when I wrote my first novel: started at 17, finished at... oh, 25? About that.
Novels written to date: 4

<snips a whole lot of stuff on the to-do list>

Age now: almost 31