Below you will find a transcript from an official interview conducted with Pretty Little Liars author Sara Shepard.

The transcript features Sara speaking about her involvement in the show’s casting process, how she gained success as an author, and what it is like for her to watch her novels come to life on the television screen.

A big THANK YOU to Meg from New Media Strategies for sharing this with us!

Check out the latest on Pretty Little Liars at the ABC Family site!

Enjoy everyone!

ABC Family’s Q&A Session with Sara Shepard

Moderator:                    I was wondering how much influence did you have in the casting process?

S. Shepard:                  I did not have input into the casting process.  That was all done on the other side of the country, so I didn’t know who they were going to cast, but when they did cast the girls I was very excited to see who they chose to be Ali, who they chose to be Aria, and Spencer and all of the rest.  They don’t necessarily look like the girls that I described in the books but I think that’s okay because they really embody each of the characters and they do a great job playing.

Spencer is a great Spencer; Emily is a great Emily; they might not look precisely like the dolls on the cover but they’re great representations of the girls.

Moderator:                    How does it feel as an author to have your book come to life on screen?

S. Shepard:                  It’s pretty crazy.  I’ve seen the pilot, that’s the only – I know they’re shooting more episodes but the pilot is the only one that I’ve seen and it is really, really close to the first book; so many little details like Aria’s pet pig Petunia makes an appearance which is in the book which is based on something in my life. Aria comes back from Iceland.

All of the scenes are what I wrote so it was really – I just kind of kept giggling the whole time that I saw it because it was surreal, but really amazing.  I almost couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing that this thing that I thought of is now on TV.  It’s pretty great.

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It has been hard to keep up with Twitter Wonder Woman Cassandra Clare, but we can’t miss any of those precious infos, can’t we?! Don’t worry, if you’re overwhelmed, stick with us, we got it all!

Even newer tweets:

@TeenageBkLvr “will CA always take place in London?”

Clare: No: Paris, Shanghai, New York, and other destinations.

@PANickiee “y is there such a huge gap between Clockwork Princess & Clckwork Prince?”

Clare: One year btwn books is totally standard for a series.

@carliMAREE “How many years did you spend planning and writing the Mortal Instruments?”

Clare: It’s now been about seven.

Clare: Sorry if I’m skipping your question, it usually means I already answered it (who dies in CoFA, is it the last bk, etc:http://bit.ly/bKasHv)

@subrinamyname “wen do we get to read the first excerpt of COFA?”

Clare: This is when: http://bit.ly/bvudyF

@AModernLover: “what are the chances you’ll make a jace/clary/simon three way relationship? Did you ever think about that?”

Clare: hahahahahaha! I guess that means the answer is no. I mean, a three-way, not with those characters, no. Two of them can’t stand each other!

“Is there a tv show or movie that is your guilty pleasure?”

Clare: Gossip Girl, the TV show.

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Here is the cover of Crescendo, sequel to Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

Title coming out Nov 16h, 2010.

Cassandra Clare twitter is on fire since Monday – April 05th, when she started answering fans questions related to her next 2 books coming out:  City of Fallen Angels (CoFA) and Clockwork Angels. The fans are in ecstasy and the tweets keeps coming our way! Here are the new ones (some keep asking her what she already answered!)

New Tweets

“Was City of Bones the first book you wrote? How long did it take you to write it?”

Clare: Yes. Two, two and half years.

Clare: I never think about the birthday of my characters unless it’s plot-related. Is that weird? Maybe it’s b/c I know nothing of astrology.

“Is there a design for yet for Simon’s mark of Cain”

Clare: Um I’m a little intimidated by asking someone to design that.

Clare: I’ll be reading from Clockwork on tour in May. CoFA is embargoed so I won’t be reading more than a line or 2 but can answer questions re: it.

“Out of all MI which was your favorite to write, and why?”

Clare: CoFA. Because I think it’s going to mess with readers; expectations so hard…:D But you know, whatever book you’re writing at the time is your favorite. That is how its for me anyway: others may differ?

“How can we prepare for the shocking twists & turns in CoFA?”

Clare: I’ll be selling special helmets you can wear for the experience! Special helmet looks like this: http://tweetphoto.com/17683460

“Is there some way I can pre-order the helmet?”

Clare: The helmets are being constructed in Simon and Schuster’s top secret lab now.

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Maggie Stiefvater will be revealing one song from Linger’s playlist each Friday until the book comes out on July 20th! Yay! Linger music has come. So who’s excited. Woohoo.

Okay, so it is a stunning 14-ish weeks until Linger’s release date (yes, math, we don’t do that sort of thing around here. I am still working out how to embed a playlist on here without bringing the fear and rage of ASCAP down upon me* but until then, I thought it would be Highly Entertaining to me (and hopefully to you guys) to post one song from Linger’s playlist each Friday until the book comes out. I’m guessing this may culminate in a no-holds barred musical fiesta prize pack or something like that, but further plans about that will be announced after April 15th when I turn in FOREVER and get my brain back.

So. The deal on my playlists is that I listen to music constantly while writing — stuff that is the mood that I have in the book or want for the book. And that way, when I get distracted or I’m out of town, I can just put on my playlist and instantly get back into it. They get kind of unwieldy — I have 3 hours of music on the full Linger playlist, for instance — so I’m going to present the Essence of Linger Playlist — the ones that got the most play.

*currently, I’ve found that I could become an iTunes affiliate and embed sample playlists that way, but that would give me a portion of profits each time someone bought a song that way, and it makes me uncomfortable to bring money into it.

Anyway. So. Week One. Song One. Here it is.

(as usual, I have to say: if you love this song, get your butt to Amazon or iTunes or wherever it is you buy music and spend the buck to show you care.)

“Close Your Eyes” by Young Love.

[Source-Maggie Stiefvater LiveJournal]

I have also added Maggie Stiefvater Linger Playlist to our Playlist Page, so check it out.

The beloved Cassandra Clare, very well known for her famous Mortal Instruments Series, caused a commotion on twitter today when she said: “Soo, anyone got questions about Clockwork Angel or City of Fallen Angels? I’m in a question-answery mood . . .”

She answered a lot of questions from fans, most of it about her next two books coming out: Clockwork Angel – book 1 of Infernal Devices and City of Fallen Angels (CoFA) – book 4 of Mortal Instruments.

Tweets:

Clare: Soo, anyone got questions about Clockwork Angel or City of Fallen Angels? I’m in a question-answery mood . . .

@coopersmypup: “Is there more Simon than Clary/Jace in CoFA?”

Clare: No, it is about equal.

@diamondsXglass: “what’s going to happen with alec/magnus in CoFA?”

Clare: Everything’s going well until they run into a problem from M’s past.

@ssalach21: “Do you know when the cover for CoFA will be released?”

Clare: They haven’t even started on it! Sept. maybe?

@Spazophie: ” should we be prepared for maximum DRAMA and ANGST in CoFA?”

Clare: MAXIMUM.

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The Smart Chicks Kick It Tour now has dates, check it out:

September 13th: Austin/TX: Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Holly Black, Rachel Caine and Cassandra Clare 7:00 pm BOOKPEOPLE BOOKSTORE.

September 14th: Houston/TX: Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Rachel Vincent. 7:00 pm B&N, THE WOODLANDS.

September 15th: Houston/TX: Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Cassandra Clare 7:00 pm BLUE WILLOW.

September 16th: Lemuria Jackson/MS: Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Sarah Rees Brennan 6:00 pm LEMURIA BOOKS.

September 17th: Phoenix/AZ: Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Kimberly Derting, and Becca Fitzpatrick 7:00 pm POISONED PEN.

September 18th: Keplers SF/CA: Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa de la Cruz,, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Rachel Vincent KEPLERS.

September 20th: Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine, Melissa de la Cruz, and Mary Pearson 6:00 pm VROMANS BOOKSTORE.

September 21st: Encinitas/CA: Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Mary Pearson, Rachel Caine, and Carrie Ryan ENCINITAS COUNTY LIBRARY.

September 22nd: Chicago/IL: Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Jackson Pearce, Jennifer Barnes, and Carrie Ryan 7:00 pm ANDERSON’S BOOKSHOPS.

September 23rd: Dayton/OH: Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Jackson Pearce, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and Kami Garcia 7:00 pm “BOOKS & CO: AT THE GREENE”

September 24th: Cincinnati: Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Jessica Verday, Jeri Smith-Ready, & Margaret Stohl 7:00 pm JOSEPH BETH.

September 25th: Toronto: Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Jeri Smith-Ready, Kami Garcia, and Margaret Stohl 2:00 pm CHAPTERS BRAMPTON.

Who is planning to go? To which location? Let us know, leave your comment!

Becca Fitzpatrick, author of the NY Times Best Seller Hush, Hush together with Eve’s Fan Garden is giving away a FLIP CAMERA!

All you have to do is complete the tasks requested HERE and cross your fingers to be the luck one!

The drawing will happen March 23, 2010.

In September 2010, the author organized Smart Chicks Kick It Tour will be visiting 6-8 cities. Once it’s organized by the authors, you can suggest cities you want them to visit! Check out the official site for the tour HERE.

Authors in tour:

Appearing at every stop: Melissa Marr, Alyson Noel and Kelley Armstrong.

Appearing at 3 stops: Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Appearing at 1-2 stops: Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Sarah Rees Brennan, Rachel Caine, Melissa de la Cruz, Kimberly Derting, Becca Fitzpatrick, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohi, Jackson Pearce, Mary Pearson, Carrie Ryan, Jeri Smith-Ready, Jessica Verday, Rachel Vincent.

Cities confirmed:

Brampton (Toronto), Austin/TX, San Diego/CA, Phoenix/AZ, San Francisco/CA, Los Angeles/CA, Jackson/MS.

You can also follow the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour on twitter – @SmartChicksTour.

Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr and Alyson Noel talk about the tour HERE.

Our beloved Kaleb Nation, author of Bran Hambric Series and a.k.a. Twilight Guy, is now Shiver Guy. That means Kaleb Nation is now reading Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and will be vlogging reviews about the chapters he reads.

He already posted the first video, check it out HERE.

The other news about Shiver such as sequels, author news, possible movie creation will be directed to The Crooked Shelf, a Shiver Fan Site.