Inspirational Authors: Francine Pascal

The first book I ever read on my own was Surprise, Surprise by Francine Pascal. It was the first book in the Sweet Valley Kids series, a series that revolves around Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, their family, and their friends.

I was hooked. I was like 7 years old, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on all of the books in the series. I was even part of the Sweet Valley fan club.

I followed the twins all the way through middle school, with Sweet Valley Twins, through high school, with Sweet Valley High, through college, with Sweet Valley University, and even bought the ten years later book that came out that catches everyone up with how the beloved characters are doing so many years later.

I hated that book, by the way, but all of the books prior are still to this day among my favorite books. Sweet Valley touched on real life, age appropriate issues. The series was cutting edge and relatable to kids, teens, and young adults.

This series, and Francine Pascal herself, are the reason why I wanted to become a writer. Also why my work is so relatable to readers and touches so much on real life situations with very real emotions. Francine shaped me as an author through her writing, and is definitely one of the most influential authors in my life and of all time.