

ICYMI, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS author Sara Shepard is gracing us with another book-turned-television series—the spinoff based on PLL entitled PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: THE PERFECTIONISTS! This is based on Sara’s novel of the same name—THE PERFECTIONISTS—so when we needed some more details about the epic drama awaiting us in this new series, we turned to the mastermind behind it all.

A little about THE PERFECTIONISTS: Ava, Caitlin, Mackenzie, Julie, and Parker are all driven to be perfect—no matter the cost. At first the girls think they have nothing in common, until they discover that they all hate the same person: handsome womanizer Nolan Hotchkiss, who’s done things to hurt each of them. They come up with the perfect plan to murder Nolan—jokingly, of course. They’d never actually go through with it. But when Nolan turns up dead in the exact way they’d discussed, the girls suddenly become prime suspects in his murder. Only, they didn’t do it. So who did? Unless they find the real killer, and soon, their perfect lives will come crashing down around them.



Perfect, right?! We couldn’t contain our excitement, so we had Sara dish the tea before it hits television screens everywhere.



Q&A With Sara Shepard, Author of The Perfectionists

What inspired you to write The Perfectionists?

I conceptualized THE PERFECTIONISTS while coming off PRETTY LITTLE LIARS and THE LYING GAME… but feeling sad to see both of them go. I still wanted to write about good kids who have gotten themselves in trouble. I also wanted to explore the idea of a real bully– not an A, exactly, but a living, breathing someone who was making people’s lives hell for various reasons. That’s where Nolan comes from. And much like the girls in PLL (Spencer, especially), I love writing about teens who strive to be perfect. I was that teen, after all. Of course, none of us can actually be perfect. So that quest for perfection hurts us in various ways.



Pretty Little Liars took us on a rollercoaster of twists and turns that had fans ~screaming~. Should we prepare ourselves for more of the same?

I have a feeling THE PERFECTIONISTS as a TV show will be just as twisty as PLL, especially because Marlene King is the mastermind behind the pilot! Plus the book series is full of secrets, lies, and scary stuff happening…and a huge twist at the end. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out!



Alison and Mona are not actually characters in The Perfectionists, do you have any idea on how they will be written into the show?

I have read the pilot, and I love how Ali is written into the story. Not to give away too much, but she plays a big part at the school, though she isn’t one of the characters from the book. (Obviously, she’s Ali! And Ali wasn’t in those novels.) Mona is a little bit more nebulous. She comes in at the end, but I have a feeling she’s going to be a major linchpin to the series. That stuff we saw with Mona at the end of PLL, when she was in Paris? I think that connects to this story somehow. But I’m not sure quite how yet!



Are you like us?? Are you just giddy with excitement and postively freaking out?! While you wait for all your questions to be answered by the TV goddess, you can start reading THE PERFECTIONISTS now!

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