No matter when you were born or where, puberty is the same. It's the same for your parents as it is for you - what's happening in your body dictates everything.

When I first thought of the idea for 'Sweet Valley High,' I loved the idea of high school as microcosm of the real world. And what I really liked was how it moved things on from 'Sleeping Beauty'-esque romance novels where the girl had to wait for the hero. This would be girl-driven, very different, I decided - and indeed it is.

Jessica walked away from Aaron and Ken, flashing them both a big smile. They were both very attractive - she had dated each of them a number of times. In fact, not too long ago she had contemplated falling in love with Ken for lack of anything better to do.

I always loved reading. Growing up, my favorite book was 'A Child's Garden of Verses,' by Robert Louis Stevenson.

As pathetic as it was, she'd rather hold on to the possibility of something perfect than be hit with the reality of nothing much.

Humiliation, by the way, is a truly terrible emotion. It's at the bottom of the pile.

Love was more than blind. It was deaf and dumb, too. It was catatonic. It was vegetative.