Cecily Brooke von Ziegesar ( ; born June 27, 1970) is an American author best known for the

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

Early life and education

Cecily von Ziegesar was born in New York City into a German noble family. She is the daughter of Franz Albrecht von Ziegesar, the CEO and Chairman of Bowne & Co., and his second wife, Olivia James. She is the half-sister of writer Peter von Ziegesar. Her childhood dream was to grow up to be a

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ...

; she began lessons at age three and auditioned for the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Ne ...

at age eight, but was rejected. As a teenager, she commuted from Connecticut to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

at 6:00 a.m. every day to attend

The Nightingale-Bamford School The Nightingale-Bamford School is an independent all-female university-preparatory school founded in 1920 by Frances Nicolau Nightingale and Maya Stevens Bamford. Located in Manhattan on the Upper East Side, Nightingale-Bamford is a member o ...

. After graduating from Nightingale, Ziegesar attended

Colby College Colby College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the ...

. Then she spent a year in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

working for a local radio station. She then returned to the United States to study creative writing at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

, only to drop out shortly thereafter.

Career

''Gossip Girl''

Book series

In New York City, while working at

book-packaging Book packaging (or book producing) is a publishing activity in which a publishing company outsources the myriad tasks involved in putting together a book—writing, researching, editing, illustrating, and even printing—to an outside company calle ...

firm

Alloy Entertainment Alloy Entertainment (formerly Daniel Weiss Associates and 17th Street Productions) is a book packaging and television production unit of Warner Bros. Television Studios. It produces books, television series, and feature films. Alloy Entertainme ...

, she became inspired to create the ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six ...

'' series, which presents a view of high-end teenage lifestyles. The series climbed to the top of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Best-Sellers list in 2002. A spin-off book series, '' The It Girl'', made the list in 2005. The Constance Billard School for Girls is based on an exaggerated version of Ziegesar's own alma mater, Nightingale. In October 2011, Ziegesar released a spin-off of her first novel: ''Psycho Killer''.

Television series

''Gossip Girl'' was adapted for television by

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

in 2007. Though fans of the book series criticized it for veering away from the book in plot and character personalities, Ziegesar stated that the major plot outline remained true to her vision, and that she was pleased that "at least it takes place in New York City". On May 16, 2011, Ziegesar herself made a cameo appearance in the fourth season finale.

Graphic novel series

In December 2009,

Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...

announced that it was working with South Korean artist

Baek Hye-Kyung Baek (), also often spelled Paek, Baik, Paik is a Korean family name. In the year 2000, there were 351,275 people with this surname in South Korea. The word means the color white. Baek (白) "白" has a Cantonese origin from the Yuan dynasty ...

to create a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

adaptation of the series titled ''Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only''. Rather than adapting the original novels, however, the graphic novels will feature original stories with the same characters. It will be serialized in the company's anthology magazine '' Yen Plus'', with the first chapter appearing in the January 2010 issue.

Personal life

Von Ziegesar resides in the Columbia Street Waterfront District, a neighborhood in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, with her husband Richard, who is

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

of the Judd Foundation, and their children Agnes Belle von Ziegesar Griggs and Oscar von Ziegesar Griggs.

Books

''Gossip Girl''

# ''Gossip Girl (2002)'' # ''You Know You Love Me (2002)'' # ''All I Want Is Everything (2003)'' # ''Because I'm Worth It (2003)'' # ''I Like It Like That (2004)'' # ''You're the One That I Want (2004) # ''Nobody Does It Better (2005)'' # ''Nothing Can Keep Us Together (2005)'' # ''Only in Your Dreams (2006)'' (written by ''ghost-writer'') # ''Would I Lie To You? (2006)'' (written by ''ghost-writer'') # ''Don't You Forget About Me (2007)'' (written by ''ghost-writer'') # ''I Will Always Love You (2009)'' (written by ''ghost-writer'') * PREQUEL ''It Had To Be You (2007)'' * ''Psycho Killer'' (Spin-Off the original first novel; October 2011)

''The It Girl''

''This series was written by a ghost-writer, with guidance from Cecily von Ziegesar.'' # '' The It Girl'' # ''

Notorious Notorious means well known for a negative trait, characteristic, or action. It may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Notorious'' (1946 film), a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Notorious'' (1992 film), a TV film re ...

'' # ''

Reckless Reckless may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Reckless'' (1935 film), an American musical directed by Victor Fleming * ''Reckless'' (1951 film), a Spanish drama film directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde * '' The Reckless'', a 1965 Itali ...

'' # ''

Unforgettable Unforgettable may refer to: Film * ''Unforgettable'' (1996 film), a thriller starring Ray Liotta * ''Unforgettable'' (2014 film), a Bollywood film * ''Unforgettable'' (2016 film), a South Korean film * ''Unforgettable'' (2017 film), an America ...

'' # '' Lucky'' # '' Tempted'' # '' Infamous'' # '' Adored'' # '' Devious'' # ''

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a '' ...

''Gossip Girl: The Carlyles''

''This series is actually written by Annabelle Vestry, though Cecily von Ziegesar's name is on the spine and front.'' # '' Gossip Girl: The Carlyles (2008)'' # '' You Just Can't Get Enough (2008)'' # '' Take A Chance on Me (2009)'' # ''Love the One You're With (2009)''

''Cum Laude''

# ''Cum Laude'' (June 1, 2010 from Hyperion) republished under the name "Class" in 2011.

''Cobble Hill''

# ''Cobble Hill,'' 2020.

References

External links

UK Gossip Girl Website

MTVCanada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegesar, Cecily Von 1970 births Living people American expatriates in Hungary 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Gossip Girl Writers from Brooklyn People from Fairfield County, Connecticut American writers of young adult literature Colby College alumni 21st-century American women writers Women writers of young adult literature Novelists from New York (state) American people of German descent German untitled nobility Cecily Nightingale-Bamford School alumni