Lemondrop

Hold on to your hats, fellow Sweet Valley High lovers, because the year is 2010, Jessica and Elizabeth are 20-something, and ... Diablo Cody is writing the screenplay. No, seriously.

This past weekend we got our hooks into Francine Pascal, the mastermind behind those mirror-image, size-6, teen literary darlings, the Wakefields. We chatted with her by way of email, from the South of France. (Hey, stop that: You create an SVH, and you can have a villa, too.)

Brace yourselves, because they're still a perfect size 6 (though as the FUG Girls dissect, in the 2008 Sweet Valley series reissue, the twins were shaved down to a size 4), Pascal never actually lived in California and, oh, that's enough bubble-bursting for today.

If you crave more, there's a secret chapter of the new book, "Sweet Valley Ten Years Later", which will hit in early 2011, floating around the interwebs. (Along with this Sweet Valley High wiki, for those still nursing a crush on Todd Wilkins.)

But read on, for more universe-reordering revelations, including the details of our Team Jessica and Team Elizabeth T-shirt giveaway.

Lemondrop: Did you grow up in sunny California?
Francine Pascal: I was born and raised in New York, and have lived there my entire life with the exception the time I spend at my home in the south of France. Two of my daughters moved to Los Angeles and I've visited countless times. But that wasn't until after I created the Sweet Valley series. My California came directly from my imagination and the movies.

What (or who) inspired the Wakefield twins, whom we all wanted to be? And, why twins?
Twins are fascinating to everyone. It's the dream of always having someone who understands you and can share everything because she is so much like you. And it's the chance to see the good and the bad of a person by dividing them in half. Additionally, my sister-in-law is a twin and so is my agent.

Jessica and Liz ran with a pretty fast crowd (Lila, we're looking at you), but how do you think 17-year-olds' lives are different today?
I think that young girls are trying to grow up too quickly. Girls seem to be so eager to grow up, not realizing that being seventeen is the age when they have the freedom to explore their world and discover what kind of person they want to be. Being a teenager can be so much fun, but girls today are taking life a bit too seriously. As you'll find out in the book, the twins realize that the issues they dealt with at seventeen were pretty insignificant compared to those they are facing as young adults.

From Star Wars and Star Trek to The Babysitter's Club, we're seeing a lot of prequels these days, but what made you decide to tackle Jessica and Elizabeth's lives as serious, scary grown-ups 10 years later?
I wrote this book for my fans who grew up with Sweet Valley are curious to know what has become of the twins and their friends. I was curious, too. These characters are so close to me, and I wanted to delve into their reality all these years later and discover for myself who they turned out to be. Just like the people we went to high-school with -- there is a curiosity as to where they are now and what their doing. I wanted to give my fans the opportunity to visit Sweet Valley as it is today.

And, God, please tell us they're not still "a perfect size six."
They are both still a size six, but I think that is a real size. Today, it seems like most young girls are striving to be really skinny, so I made sure that the twins didn't succumb to that trend. This is the size they are meant to be, and I think it's pretty standard.

Speaking of which, this sample chapter alludes to Elizabeth as we never thought we'd see her: Sure, not liking a guy who's a bad tipper, we get. But sleeping with the boss? Can you tell us who she's on the rebound from? Is it Todd after all these years?
The answers to these questions are totally confidential! You'll have to read the book to find out!

And Jessica's going through a DIVORCE!? What was it, a starter marriage?
I can't give this away either!

We're a site for women in their 20s. What other types of issues are Liz and Jessica wrestling with as 27-year-olds? Sounds like Liz might be having trouble making friends in a new city. We've written about that ...
Jessica and Elizabeth are characters that are very relatable to women their age. They struggle with the same issues that most women in the real world do, like love and heartbreak, anger and forgiveness -- the standard life issues that we all go through. Just like before, I want readers to identify with the characters of Sweet Valley.

Do you have any good advice for would-be writers?
Just keep writing and the best way to do that is to keep a journal every day.

Are the movies (or plays -- we've read that you're a theater geek) in the works? In a perfect world, whom would you cast as Liz and Jessica?
Actually, yes. We are in the early stages of a Sweet Valley High movie. The talented and inspired Diablo Cody is writing the screenplay and she is a big fan of the series, so it should be great! The tough thing about casting will be finding real twins who resemble the characters of Liz and Jess. There is a lot of talent out there, so I'm sure we'll find what we're looking for.

Want to win a "Team Jessica" and "Team Elizabeth" T-shirt set? Be the first to answer the three Sweet Valley trivia questions below. We'll award the winners based on the first person to give a correct answer to each question in the comments. Psst -- you can only win once, so just pick one question and answer ... fast.

1. Who was Elizabeth's best friend? (First and last name, please)

2. What was the name of the (lovable, in our nerd-loving opinions) nerd in the Sweet Valley High series?

3. What was the name of Jessica and Elizabeth's high school?