If you could describe yourself in three words...
Silly, impatient, creative. But that’s only how I’m feeling today. Tomorrow, the three words might totally change!
Now, tell us everything about "Pretty Little Liars"!
Pretty Little Liars is about four girls in suburban Pennsylvania who have a lot of things to hide. Suddenly, they start getting messages from a mysterious person called “A” about their deepest, darkest secrets. The secrets are things only their old best friend, Alison, who went missing three years ago, could know—could she be back? If it’s someone else, how do they know so much about them? The series follows them through their lives, old and new secrets, and solves a few mysteries, too.
Won't you tell us who is the mysterious "A"? :)
I can’t tell you too much! A is text messaging/ imming, and emailing the girls with secrets they thought NO ONE knew. At first, the girls keep their A notes to themselves, but not for long. As the series goes forward, A’s teasing turns to taunting, and then it turns threatening. It gets pretty scary.
How did you get that idea?
I’m friends with the editors on the project. We helped create the book together. I owe them a lot!
Do you know Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna in real life? Or are they totally invented?
I think there’s something of me in Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna. But in other ways, I’m not like them at all. I wasn’t like Hanna—completely obsessed with how the world saw me. But then, we find out that Hanna’s behavior is based on stuff from her family life…same as Spencer’s, Emily’s and Aria’s. Like Emily, I was a swimmer, and like Aria, I was sort of the goofy girl who loved to knit and travel. I can relate to how Spencer throws herself into every club imaginable—I had friends in high school who did that—and how Hanna is joined-at-the-hip with her best friend, Mona.
Tell us, why should we read "Pretty Little Liars"?
Well, I think there’s something for everyone: fun drama, mystery, suspense, and as the series goes forward, I think there are lessons to learn, too! And Rosewood (where the book is set) is glamorous in a very rustic, suburban way. It’s like Desperate Housewives—innocent-enough looking suburb, but once you probe deeper, there are huge secrets.
How did you start writing?
I started writing when I was in about fourth grade and never stopped. I kept journals and wrote stories and plays…not that any of them were any good! I also wrote and drew comics for a while…but they were all really out there. For instance, I wrote one about a man who was really into saving money and found a coupon in the paper for getting a lobotomy, so he decided that since it was such a bargain, he’d do it. Weirdly enough, I sent it in with my application to the University of Pennsylvania—I didn’t really want to go there anyway, and I thought, “what the heck?” They ended up accepting me. I always wondered if the lobotomy cartoon had something to do with it.I took a couple creative writing classes in college, and then, after 9/11—I was living in NYC—I decided that I would go back to grad school and get an MFA in creative writing. I started really writing a lot then.
What do you prefer when writing a novel? What do you really hate to do?
I pretty much like all of it…although I find line-edits really tedious. Line edits are when the publisher sends me back a manuscript that’s marked up with little words to change, etc., and nothing more.
How do you picture your reader?
I sort of picture me in high school, except someone cooler. Honestly, I could see anyone reading it. That’s probably because I’ve sent it to such a wide variety of people—guys, girls, young, old—and they’ve all really liked it! So I don’t exactly know.
