This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Lisa Dickenson quickly worked her way into women's fiction fans' hearts with her serialased book, The Twelve Dates of Christmas. So it's no surprise that the series that changed her life is also a firm favourite with so many of us. As part of the blog tour for her new book, You Had Me At Merlot, she tells us why the Sweet Valley books played such a big part in her becoming a writer.
The book that changed my life should probably be some classic work of literature that had me musing upon the political repercussions of the world we live in. But it's not even a book, it's a series, and it's only the Greatest Series Ever Written, Ever, In The History Of Forever.
Picture the scene. It was the early 90s, a time when Haddaway and Ace of Base rocked the radio and the youth of Britain was shocked into a nationwide fear of paintball because PJ took off his goggles on that fateful day on Byker Grove. A time when Tammy Girl ruled the high street and even steam-pumping hair straighteners were no more than a twinkle in Babyliss’s eye.
Now, I'm not a total psychopath who hasn't read a good book since Sweet Valley Twins – there is a reason why this series changed my life. It's because of them that I first got into writing. I loved the world Francine Pascal had created so much that I wanted to be a part of it, in a way I couldn't quite reach through reading them. I wanted to decide what mischief Jessica would get up to that day, what colour leggings Lila Fowler would pair with her velvet hat, what Elizabeth would roll her eyes at. So I wrote them, masses of Chapter 1s of my own Sweet Valley books (after I'd spent four pages describing what everyone was wearing in the first chapter my attention span usually screeched to a stop and wanted to start the next instead). As I grew up I branched out a touch, trying my hand at some Babysitters Club and even – shock – some original material.
Cut to now: my second book is on the cusp of publication, book three is in the pipeline, and Sweet Valley is still very much in my heart, as it's because of that series that I realised what I really wanted to do when I grew up. Be a twin, obviously. But also be a writer.
The first part of You Had Me At Merlot is out today.