Sara Shepard (born April 8, 1977) is an American author. She is known for the bestselling Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game book series, both of which have been turned into television shows on Freeform.

Sara Shepard
Sara Shepard at the Brooklyn Book Festival (2010)
Sara Shepard at the Brooklyn Book Festival (2010)
Born (1977-04-08) April 8, 1977 (age 47)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
NationalityAmerican
Education
Period2005–present
Genre
Notable works
Website
www.saracshepard.com

Early and personal life

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Shepard grew up with a sister named Alison. She graduated from Downingtown High School in Downingtown, Pennsylvania in 1995. She attended New York University, where she graduated with a B.S. degree in 1999 and an MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College in 2004.[1] From 2000 to 2005, Shepard worked at Time, Inc. Custom Publishing and produced lifestyle magazines for corporate clients. She started ghostwriting as a freelancer in 2002 and writing her own books in 2005.[1]

Shepard currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[2]

Television shows

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Shepard's book series Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game have both been turned into television series by ABC Family (now under the name of Freeform). The Pretty Little Liars series of novels is "loosely based on her experiences growing up in Chester County".[2] The adaptation television series Pretty Little Liars lasted for seven seasons. Actresses Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, and Lucy Hale star as the main characters Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields and Aria Montgomery. Shepard had a cameo on two episodes of the show: "The Homecoming Hangover", as a substitute teacher and "I'm a Good Girl, I Am", as the news reporter.[3]

The Lying Game premiered on August 15, 2011 on ABC Family. Like the former, The Lying Game is also loosely based on the book series. ABC Family took an unusually long time to decide whether or not to renew The Lying Game beyond season 2, and the cast's contract options lapsed in April 2013 with only Alexandra Chando signing a new option.[4] The network confirmed the cancellation of The Lying Game in July 2013,[5] after Chando had announced the news on Twitter and Instagram.[6][7] Chando starred as the main two characters Sutton Mercer and Emma Becker.

On September 25, 2017, it was announced that Shephard’s 2014 book series The Perfectionists would be loosely adapted into a television series, titled Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, serving as a sequel to the television series Pretty Little Liars on Freeform.[8] Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish have confirmed to reprise their original Pretty Little Liars roles as Alison DiLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal. The series featured characters from The Perfectionists series played by actors Sofia Carson, Sydney Park, Eli Brown and Kelly Rutherford as Ava Jalali, Caitlin Martell-Lewis, Dylan Wright and Claire Hotchkiss, respectively. The series is cancelled after one season.[9] On September 29, 2017, it was announced that Shepard's 2014 book The Heiresses would be adapted into a television series for ABC, with Shay Mitchell starring as Corrine Saybrook.[10] As of 2018, the network has not move forward The Heiresses.[11]

In May 2019, it was announced that Shepard would produce the anthology web series Crown Lake, which debuted on Brat on June 20, 2019.[12] Shepard created a podcast series titled Cruise Ship, which was released by Meet Cute on July 6, 2021.[13]

Bibliography

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Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 Pretty Little Liars Ms. Shepard Cameo appearance; "The Homecoming Hangover" (1.07)
2015 News reporter "Sara Shepard" Cameo appearance; "I'm a Good Girl, I Am" (5.24)

Role credits

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Year Title Role Notes
2019–present Crown Lake Writer / producer Web series
2021–2022 Memory Lane Co-creator / writer Podcast series
2021 Cruise Ship Creator / writer Podcast series
2022 The Liars Creator / writer Podcast series[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b Williams, Andrea (May 22, 2013). "SO WHAT DO YOU DO, SARA SHEPARD, AUTHOR OF PRETTY LITTLE LIARS?". Mediabistro. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Sara Shepard Bio". SaraShepardBooks.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  3. ^ Levin, Alison. "More From Sara on Her PLL Cameo!". Alloy Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  4. ^ Nellie Andreeva (April 19, 2013). "Future Of ABC Family's 'The Lying Game' In Limbo As Cast Options Expire. What About 'Bunheads'?". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  5. ^ Lesley Goldberg (July 15, 2013). "ABC Family Cancels 'The Lying Game'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  6. ^ Alexandra Chando [@alexandrachando] (July 15, 2013). "To our awesome #lyinggame fans, thank you for these two amazing seasons. Unfortunately, ABC Family has... https://www.instagram.com/p/byvM6mqA_K/" (Tweet). Retrieved May 19, 2016 – via Twitter. Full Instagram message (at https://www.instagram.com/p/byvM6mqA_K/ Archived September 21, 2018, at the Wayback Machine): To our awesome #lyinggame fans, thank you for these two amazing seasons. Unfortunately, ABC Family has decided not to bring us back for a third season. We so wanted to do 10 more for you guys! Thanks for your support and keep up with the cast to see what's next for us!
  7. ^ "Chando: ABC Family Has Canceled "The Lying Game"". The Futon Critic. July 15, 2013. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  8. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (September 25, 2017). "'Pretty Little Liars' Spinoff Starring Sasha Pieterse, Janel Parrish a Go at Freeform". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  9. ^ Porter, Rick (September 27, 2019). "'Pretty Little Liars' Spinoff Canceled After Single Season on Freeform". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 30, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  10. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 29, 2017). "The Heiresses Family Soap Starring Shay Mitchell From PLL's Marlene King & Sara Shepard Set At ABC As Put Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  11. ^ "Shay Mitchell's 'The Heiresses' with 'Pretty Little Liars' Creator I. Marlene King Not Moving Forward (Exclusive)". Toofab. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  12. ^ Patrick Hipes (May 7, 2019). "'Pretty Little Liars' Author Sara Shepard Sets 'Crown lake' Series At Brat". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  13. ^ "'Pretty Little Liars' Author Sara Shepard Creates Scripted Rom-Com Podcast 'Cruise Ship' For Meet Cute". Deadline. June 29, 2021. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  14. ^ Elizabeth, De (October 3, 2017). "Sara Shepard Pens Pretty Little Liars Short Story". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  15. ^ "Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists TV Tie-in Edition". HarperCollins. May 28, 2019. Archived from the original on September 28, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  16. ^ "The Liars, an Audible Original Podcast Series Available 6/16". March 28, 2022. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
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