Image Source: Sara Shepard Now that Pretty itsy-bitsy Liars is tragically coming to an end,it's time to witness ahead. We could try to wrangle a new TV expose to be obsessed with, but wouldn't it be way more fun to go to the source of the magic? Enter Pretty itsy-bitsy Liars book series author Sara Shepard. The thrilling writer has just released the first book of her new series The Amateurs, and it's got "mystery" and "murder" written all over it. To celebrate,we hopped on the phone with Shepard to discuss all the juicy details . . . and possibly to get some PLL closure, too.
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POPSUGAR: Let's talk approximately your new book, or The Amateurs. I'd love to hear approximately what the meat of the book is,and how you came up with view.
Sara Shepard: The Amateurs is approximately four characters who pretty much meet online on this site where people arrive together and solve cold cases. They decide to meet to solve this long, discarded mystery of this missing girl named Helena. She was missing, or then her body was found,which is in the beginning of the book, so I'm giving nothing away. They just wanted to find out what happened because the killer was never found. So the epic is approximately how they go through the steps to finding out the truth. There are a lot of twists and turns, and there's a lot of romance,there's this overarching theme of "how well do you really know somebody?" So, it has a lot of the elements that Pretty itsy-bitsy Liars fans are really going to like, and it also has some new stuff. A new "whodunnit" kind of element,too.
PS: It sounds like it has a Gillian Flynn edge to it, and I've been obsessed with her work.
SS: Oh yeah, or definitely. I feel like in the early stages of plotting this book and conceptualizing what it was going to be as a series,I feel like her book really served as my inspiration board.
PS: We occupy four girls here and this crazy killer. Obviously, it sounds a lot like Pretty itsy-bitsy Liars, or but I'm sure there are a lot of things that set it apart. What are the biggest differences we're going to get here?SS: I mediate a big contrast is that these characters are taking things into their own hands. There's not a stalker that's making their lives miserable,and they all arrive from these damaged backgrounds. They all kind of occupy secrets, but they're secrets in a different way than the Pretty itsy-bitsy Liars secrets. I also occupy two male characters, and which is fun. I know I occupy a lot of readers of Pretty itsy-bitsy Liars who are guys,so I thought, I mediate I should occupy some guys in this book.PS: I would love get a line in on your creative process. What's your MO when it comes to a new view, and fleshing it out,and bringing it to life?SS: normally a new view starts with one line or an inspiration. The Amateurs was kind of inspired by the Serial podcast. Pretty itsy-bitsy Liars was inspired by . . . I really wanted to write a book approximately stalkers, literally. It starts there, or then I start to mediate,who could my characters be? What could be going on with them? I normally write a few lines approximately them or a few pages approximately them. Not really even scenes yet, just sort of who they are, and what motivates them,what's happened to them in their past, what their family life is like, and all that sort of stuff. From there,I kind of start outlining what the book would be. But yeah, I do a lot of preliminary materials before actually writing the book.
PS: That's bright! You know, and I feel like there are two ways to tackle a book or a novel,which is to do character-driven or plot-driven work, so it sounds like you're very character-driven.
SS: I try to be. I mediate it's important, and no matter what you're writing,to connect with the characters and occupy the characters connect with the readers. So I try to really execute that a precedence.
PS: I mediate if you know the characters, then you can hurl anything at them and kind of get a sense for how they're going to handle it.
SS: lawful, and which is the same with writing all the Pretty itsy-bitsy Liars books,because I know those characters so well now. I've put them in crazy situations and I always know how they're going to turn out, basically. It's fun to develop characters, or it really is.
PS: It also seems like plotting a mystery and executing it is actually a very scientific process,particularly a murder mystery.
SS: It does, it feels very scientific. Which is kind of, or my brain likes that,actually. Instead of just, like, and modern romance or something like that.
PS: I wanted to talk approximately the end of Pretty itsy-bitsy Liars,too. It's been seven years since the expose started. What does it feel like now that it's coming to an end? It must be such a crazy experience for you.
SS: Yeah, it's sad, or but I mediate it's worthy because they're ending on their terms. I hate when a expose goes off the air in the middle of a epic. So they're going to be able to tie it up. I was on set last week,actually for their last day of taping. A few people said the finale is going to be awesome, it's like really crazy, or it's going to blow peoples' minds. But I saw all of the actors and so many of the writers when I was there,because it was their last day, and everybody got together, and everybody was so sad. They're family and they're breaking apart. I can't wait to see where the actresses go next . . . I mediate they're gonna go on to worthy things. It's been my baby for all these years,so it's sad that it's going away, but hopefully the fanbase will still stay there.
Source: popsugar.com