Sara Shepard (born April 8, 1977) is an American author. She is known for the bestselling ''
Pretty Little Liars
''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery teen drama television series created by I. Marlene King, which aired on Freeform (TV channel), Freeform from June 8, 2010 to June 27, 2017, based on the novel series Pretty Little L ...
'' and ''
The Lying Game
''The Lying Game'' is an American teen drama mystery television series developed by Charles Pratt Jr. It premiered on ABC Family on August 15, 2011, and ended on March 12, 2013. The series was produced by Pratt Enterprises, Alloy Entertainmen ...
'' book series, both of which have been turned into television shows on
Freeform.
Early and personal life
Shepard grew up with a sister named Alison. She graduated from
Downingtown High School in
Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Downingtown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States, west of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, it had a population of 7,898. Downingtown was settled by European colonists ...
in 1995. She attended
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, where she graduated with a
B.S. degree in 1999 and an
MFA in Creative Writing from
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...
in 2004.
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.
Shepard currently resides in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, Pennsylvania.
Television shows
Shepard's book series ''
Pretty Little Liars
''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery teen drama television series created by I. Marlene King, which aired on Freeform (TV channel), Freeform from June 8, 2010 to June 27, 2017, based on the novel series Pretty Little L ...
'' and ''
The Lying Game
''The Lying Game'' is an American teen drama mystery television series developed by Charles Pratt Jr. It premiered on ABC Family on August 15, 2011, and ended on March 12, 2013. The series was produced by Pratt Enterprises, Alloy Entertainmen ...
'' 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 Chester County may refer to:
* Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States
** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania.
* Chester County, South Carolina, United States
* Chester County, Tennessee, United States
* Cheshire
...
".
The adaptation television series ''
Pretty Little Liars
''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery teen drama television series created by I. Marlene King, which aired on Freeform (TV channel), Freeform from June 8, 2010 to June 27, 2017, based on the novel series Pretty Little L ...
'' lasted for seven seasons. Actresses
Troian Bellisario
Troian Avery Bellisario (born October 28, 1985) is an American actress and filmmaker. The daughter of producer Donald P. Bellisario and actress Deborah Pratt, she first appeared in her father's film ''Last Rites'' (1988), at age three. After g ...
,
Ashley Benson
Ashley Victoria Benson (born December 18, 1989) is an American actress and singer. Her accolades include four Teen Choice Awards, a Young Hollywood Award, as well as three People's Choice Award nominations.
Benson began her career as a compet ...
,
Shay Mitchell
Shannon Ashley Garcia "Shay" Mitchell (born April 10, 1987) is a Canadian actress and entrepreneur. She rose to prominence for her role as Emily Fields in the mystery thriller drama series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017), which earned h ...
, and
Lucy Hale
Karen Lucille Hale (born June 14, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including seven Teen Choice Awards (the most for any actress in a single series), a Gracie Awards, Gracie Award, a People's Choice Aw ...
star as the main characters
Spencer Hastings
Spencer Jill Hastings is a fictional character, one of the five main characters who appear in the ''Pretty Little Liars'' novel series and its Freeform television adaptation. Created by American author Sara Shepard, she is a member of the gro ...
,
Hanna Marin
Hanna Olivia Marin is a fictional character created by Sara Shepard for the ''Pretty Little Liars'' book series, and later developed for the Freeform television series adaptation by I. Marlene King. The character has also appeared in the spi ...
,
Emily Fields
Emily Catherine Fields is a fictional character created in 2006 by author Sara Shepard. She is a character in both ''Pretty Little Liars books and television series, and initially appears as a " jock girl" and one of the main protagonists o ...
and
Aria Montgomery
Aria Marie Fitz (ńee Montgomery) is a fictional character in the ''Pretty Little Liars'' franchise created by American author Sara Shepard. Described as an “alternative” and artsy teen, the franchise revolves around Aria and her three best fri ...
. Shepard had a cameo on two episodes of the show: "
The Homecoming Hangover
''Pretty Little Liars'' is a television series which premiered on ABC Family on June 8, 2010. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series is based on the ''Pretty Little Liars'' book series by Sara Shepard. The series follows the lives of four hi ...
", as a substitute teacher and "
I'm a Good Girl, I Am", as the news reporter.
''
The Lying Game
''The Lying Game'' is an American teen drama mystery television series developed by Charles Pratt Jr. It premiered on ABC Family on August 15, 2011, and ended on March 12, 2013. The series was produced by Pratt Enterprises, Alloy Entertainmen ...
'' 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. The network confirmed the cancellation of ''The Lying Game'' in July 2013,
after Chando had announced the news on Twitter and Instagram.
[ Full Instagram message (at https://www.instagram.com/p/byvM6mqA_K/ ): 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!] 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.
Sasha Pieterse
Sasha Pieterse Sheaffer (; born February 17, 1996) is a South African and American actress and singer. She is known for portraying Alison DiLaurentis in the Freeform (TV channel), Freeform series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017), and its sp ...
and
Janel Parrish
Janel Meilani Parrish (born October 30, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She starred as Mona Vanderwaal in the mystery-drama television series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017) and its spin-off ''Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionist ...
have confirmed to reprise their original ''Pretty Little Liars'' roles as
Alison DiLaurentis
Alison Lauren DiLaurentis is a fictional character in the ''Pretty Little Liars'' book series, its television adaptation, and the spin-off series '' Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists''. The character was created by American author Sara Sh ...
and
Mona Vanderwaal. The series featured characters from ''The Perfectionists'' series played by actors
Sofia Carson,
Sydney Park, Eli Brown and
Kelly Rutherford
Kelly Rutherford (born November 6, 1968) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Stephanie "Sam" Whitmore on the NBC daytime soap opera '' Generations'' (1989–1991), as Megan Lewis on the Fox primetime soap opera '' ...
as Ava Jalali, Caitlin Martell-Lewis, Dylan Wright and Claire Hotchkiss, respectively. The series is cancelled after one season. On September 29, 2017, it was announced that Shepard's 2014 book ''The Heiresses'' would be adapted into a television series for
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
, with Shay Mitchell starring as Corrine Saybrook. As of 2018, the network has not move forward ''The Heiresses''.
In May 2019, it was announced that Shepard would produce the anthology web series ''
Crown Lake'', which debuted on
Brat on June 20, 2019. Shepard created a podcast series titled ''Cruise Ship'', which was released by Meet Cute on July 6, 2021.
Bibliography
Young Adult
''
Pretty Little Liars
''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery teen drama television series created by I. Marlene King, which aired on Freeform (TV channel), Freeform from June 8, 2010 to June 27, 2017, based on the novel series Pretty Little L ...
''
* ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2006)
()
* ''Flawless'' (2007)
()
* ''Perfect'' (2007)
()
* ''Unbelievable'' (2008)
()
* ''Wicked'' (2008)
()
* ''Killer'' (2009)
()
* ''Heartless'' (2010)
()
* ''Wanted'' (2010)
()
* ''Twisted'' (2011)
()
* ''Ruthless'' (2011)
()
* ''Stunning'' (2012)
()
* ''Burned'' (2012)
()
* ''Crushed'' (2013)
()
* ''Deadly'' (2013)
()
* ''Toxic'' (2014)
()
* ''Vicious'' (2014)
()
* ''The Liars'' (2023)
()
; Companion novels
* ''Alison's Pretty Little Diary'' (2010)
()
* ''Pretty Little Secrets'' (2012)
()
* ''Ali's Pretty Little Lies'' (2013)
()
* ''Pretty Little Love'' (2017)
* ''Pretty Little Lost'' (2017)
* ''It's Not Easy Being "A"'' (2017)
* ''Pretty Little Love: The Entire Journey'' (2020)
''
The Lying Game
''The Lying Game'' is an American teen drama mystery television series developed by Charles Pratt Jr. It premiered on ABC Family on August 15, 2011, and ended on March 12, 2013. The series was produced by Pratt Enterprises, Alloy Entertainmen ...
''
* ''The Lying Game'' (2010)
()
* ''Never Have I Ever'' (2011)
* ''Two Truths and a Lie'' (2012)
* ''Hide and Seek'' (2012)
* ''Cross My Heart, Hope to Die'' (2013)
* ''Seven Minutes in Heaven'' (2013)
; Companion novelas
* ''The First Lie'' (2012)
* ''True Lies'' (2013)
''The Perfectionists''
* ''The Perfectionists'' (2014)
()
* ''The Good Girls'' (2015)
()
''The Amateurs''
* ''The Amateurs'' (2016)
()
* ''Follow Me'' (2017)
()
*'' Last Seen'' (2018)
()
Standalone
* ''Influence'' (January 5, 2021),
Adult fiction
* ''The Visibles'' (May 5, 2009)
()
* ''Everything We Ever Wanted'' (October 10, 2011)
()
* ''The Heiresses'' (May 20, 2014)
()
* ''All the Things We Didn't Say
* ''The Elizas'' (April 17, 2018)
()
* ''Reputation'' (December 3, 2019)
()
* ''Memory Lane'' (January 13, 2021)
* ''Safe in My Arms'' (July 27, 2021)
* ''Wait for Me'' (November 1, 2022)
* ''Nowhere Like Home'' (February 20, 2024)
Middle grade
''Penny Draws''
* ''Penny Draws a Best Friend'' (May 16, 2023)
()
* ''Penny Draws a School Play'' (September 5, 2023)
()
* ''Penny Draws a Secret Adventure'' (March 5, 2024)
()
Filmography
Role credits
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shephard, Sara
1977 births
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American women writers
American children's writers
Brooklyn College alumni
Living people
New York University alumni
Writers from Philadelphia
American writers of young adult literature
American people of Canadian descent
Writers from Pittsburgh
American women novelists
American women writers of young adult literature
People from Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Novelists from Pennsylvania