'Pretty Little Liars' Author Sara Shepard on Her New Book Series 'The Perfectionists,' and How TV Influences Her Writing

“A” is most certainly not in Sara Shepard’s way; she might just be the reigning queen bee of teen TV.

The 37-year-old woman behind the Pretty Little Liars book series, which became a hit show on ABC Family, has produced nearly 30 novels in less than 10 years, and two of her fiction franchises (PLL included) have seen success on the small screen. Oh, and her other two series are currently being developed for television as well. With the Pretty Little Liars book series having wrapped up with its 18th novel in December and the impending reveal of “A” on the TV series in the next few weeks, Yahoo TV sat down with Shepard to learn more about seeing her novels come to life and find out how her approach to writing has changed now that so much of her work is being adapted.

I have to get the burning question out of the way right now. I know the Pretty Little Liars book series and the TV shows have followed different paths, but do you know who “A” is on the show?
No. I was talking to Keegan Allen [who plays Toby] and he said that [showrunner] I. Marlene King maybe tipped him off a little bit, but he didn’t tell me.

You and I. Marlene King are known to have a great relationship — how involved are you in the show?
I let them do their own thing… When Marlene wrote the pilot, it was really the first book, almost from start to finish. It was amazing to watch, and I felt like, “This person really respect what’s here and these characters.” From there, I’ve really just trusted them. Even when they go off-script, in their own direction, I feel like they make good decisions and they’re respectful of the world in general… I try to go [visit the set] at least once a year. This year, I’ll probably go out a bit more.

You made a brief appearance on the show in Season 1 as a substitute teacher. Any chance you’ll be back?
I have a part on an upcoming episode… I’m not playing the substitute. I’m playing somebody else, although it’s still my name… I’m thinking [my character] Ms. Shepard graduated from substitute teaching and went on to do this other thing I’m doing. I think it’s right before the Season 5 finale. I will say I had my scene with another guest star, not a regular on the show. He is a more seasoned actor than I am and he was awesome.

When the show premiered, you were already eight books into what would become an 18-installment series. Did your approach change at all once you saw PLL on screen?
I was a little bit ahead of the show, so it didn’t really matter, but there were certain things that, because of the popularity of certain things in the show, I brought into the books. For example, Ezra [played by Ian Harding] was not nearly as big of a character as he is in the show… but I decided he needed to come back because he’s so popular on the show.

You obviously had a vision of what the girls looked like for at least eight books before you saw them on screen. Did the look you imagined ever shift to match the looks of Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, or Shay Mitchell?
By the last book, they started to change, but mostly I kept the same idea of them.

The adaptation of your second series, The Lying Game, did well — airing for two full seasons on ABC Family — but not quite as well as PLL. What was it like for you when the show was canceled?
I was amazed when [Lying Game] became a series. It was like, “I’m just a writer. I just write books and sit in my little office. This is crazy.” The show was different than the books… I was really sad when it was canceled, but it wasn’t a huge blow because it was such a different concept.

You launched two new book series last year — The Heiresses and The Perfectionists, both of which are being developed for TV. With two successful go-rounds under your belt, did the knowledge of what works for TV change the way you wrote at all?
Because I work with people at Alloy Entertainment, who were responsible for getting Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game on TV, there was a bit of a conversation about what could work or make sense for TV. Ultimately, I’m just trying to write a good story. I think I write the same as I always have, just trying to keep it fast-paced and keep an interesting mystery, and develop the characters really well.

I definitely think about [TV] more with writing new material. I guess that’s just having seen a couple of things that I’ve done that turned into TV shows, maybe I naturally started thinking like that.

I heard I. Marlene King signed on to work with ABC Family on the adaptation for The Perfectionists as well. Is there any update on that project?
Marlene read it and signed on to produce it. I don’t think she’s writing the pilot, and I don’t know if they’ve found somebody or they’re still looking. I can’t wait to see how it’s going to be because The Perfectionists has an interesting twist that I will be interested to see how they work out on screen.

Is there a certain set of ease knowing that King is involved?
Oh, yeah. Because, one, she’s so successful and she’s so smart with the kinds of things that I do — mysteries in general — and with the age group, and also, she’s just awesome. It’s also so nice that she is so respectful of what I do.

When you’re not cranking out an average of more than three books a year, what do you read?
I don’t read a ton of YA because I don’t want somebody else’s voice to influence my voice in writing these books, because YA is really, really voicey. If something is just too good not to read, of course I’ll read it, but most of what I read is adult fiction and it ranges all over the place. Right now, I’m reading Stephen King, but I read Pulitzer Prize winners and chick lit. I don’t read a lot of non-fiction. Mostly, it’s like psychological thrillers, just good literary fiction, or mysteries.

Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC Family. Shepard’s second installment of The Perfectionists is expected to hit stores in June. Another new book series, The Amateurs was announced last week.