Talk about your graphic novels.
Candace Bushnell is doing her best to milk the cash cow that is Sex and the City completely dry, announcing plans to publish The Carrie Diaries, two young adult novels that will take readers back to the lady Bradshaw's more formative high school years.
In other words, think Candies, not Manolos; Medium rather than Big.
HarperCollins has the enviable task of publishing the teen tomes, the first of which is due out in fall 2010.
"I've always been interested in exploring Carrie's teenage years," Bushnell said. "Carrie in high school did not follow the crowd—she led it. It was there that she began observing and commenting on the social scene."
According to HarperCollins, the books will give readers something they haven't been clamoring for, but will probably buy anyway: "an inside look at Carrie's friendships, romances, and how she realized her dream of becoming a writer."
For those either not in the know or in possession of a Y chromosome, it was Bushnell's mid-90s New York Observer column that became the basis of the HBO turned big screen megahit starring Sarah Jessica Parker & Co.
HarperCollins publisher Donna Bray told the Observer this week that the books will be set partly in New York City and partly in the apparently as-yet-undetermined suburb in which the teenage Bradshaw resided.
As for the big (not Big) question, Bray said it has yet to be decided whether Carrie will lose her virginity in the books, though much has already been made about the fact that, should it happen, the formative scene was already set in episode 38 of the series when Carrie shorthanded the magic moment to Charlotte—to recap, "half a joint," a Ping-Pong table and an 11th grader named Seth Bateman were all major players.
While the terms of the book deal have not been disclosed, it's probably safe to say that Bushnell won't have to choose between dinner and Vogue anytime soon.
Her fifth book, One Fifth Avenue, is due out next week.