About Sara Shepard

Early Life and Education

Sara Shepard grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The leafy, affluent neighborhoods around her childhood home would go on to inspire the fictional town of Rosewood, the setting for Pretty Little Liars. She developed a love of reading and writing at an early age, drawn especially to mysteries and stories about the hidden lives of seemingly ordinary people.

She attended New York University for her undergraduate degree, then went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. Her time in New York sharpened her voice and gave her the tools to construct the tightly plotted, twist-heavy narratives she has become known for.

Pretty Little Liars and Breakthrough

Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars debuted in 2006 through HarperTeen. The story of four teenage girls haunted by an anonymous tormentor called "A" struck a nerve with readers. Set against the backdrop of suburban privilege, the series mixed soapy drama with genuine suspense.

The books hit the New York Times bestseller list almost immediately. Freeform (then ABC Family) adapted the series into a television show in 2010. The show ran for seven seasons and 160 episodes, turning Pretty Little Liars into a pop culture phenomenon that reached audiences around the world.

The original PLL book series ran to sixteen novels, wrapping up in 2014. Sara Shepard also wrote a prequel, Ali's Pretty Little Lies, filling in backstory fans had been asking about for years.

Other Book Series by Sara Shepard

While Pretty Little Liars was still running, Sara Shepard launched The Lying Game (2010), about a girl who discovers she has an identical twin who has gone missing. ABC Family turned that series into a TV show as well. She followed it with The Perfectionists (2014), set in a picture-perfect Washington town with a dark secret, which also received a Freeform television adaptation.

Her The Amateurs series (2016) explored true-crime-obsessed teenagers investigating cold cases. The Heiresses (2014), written for an adult audience, centered on a wealthy Manhattan family plagued by mysterious deaths.

Across all of her work, Sara Shepard returns to themes of identity, secrets kept between friends, and the gap between the polished surfaces people present and the messy truth underneath.

Writing Life and Personal

Sara Shepard currently lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her family. She continues to write fiction and has spoken at book festivals, libraries, and universities across the country. Her books have been translated into numerous languages and sold millions of copies worldwide.