Shepard's father, Bob, was American, and her mother, Mindy, was born in Toronto. Shepard grew up with a sister named Alison. She graduated from Downingtown High School in Downingtown, Pennsylvania in 1995. She attended New York University, where she graduated with a B.S. degree in 1999 and an MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College in 2004. From 2000 to 2005, Shepard worked at Time, Inc. Custom Publishing and produced lifestyle magazines for corporate clients. She started ghostwriting as a freelancer in 2002 and writing her own books in 2005. Shepard currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Television shows
Shepard's book series Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game have both been turned into television series by ABC Family. The Pretty Little Liars series of novels is "loosely based on her experiences growing up in Chester County". The adaptation television series Pretty Little Liars lasted for seven seasons. Actresses Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, and Lucy Hale star as the main characters Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields and Aria Montgomery. Shepard had a cameo on two episodes of the show: "The Homecoming Hangover", as a substitute teacher and "I'm a Good Girl, I Am", as the news reporter. The Lying Game premiered on August 15, 2011 on ABC Family. ABC Family took an unusually long time to decide whether or not to renew The Lying Game beyond season 2, and the cast's contract options lapsed in April 2013 with only Alexandra Chando signing a new option. The network confirmed the cancellation of The Lying Game in July 2013, after Chando had announced the news on Twitter and Instagram. Chando starred as the main two characters Sutton Mercer and Emma Becker. On September 25, 2017, it was announced that Shephard’s 2014 book series The Perfectionists would be loosely adapted into a television series, titled , serving as a sequel to the television series Pretty Little Liars on Freeform. Sasha Pieterse and Janel Parrish have confirmed to reprise their Pretty Little Liars roles as Alison DiLaurentis and Mona Vanderwaal. The series featured characters from The Perfectionists series played by actors Sofia Carson, Sydney Park, Eli Brown and Kelly Rutherford as Ava Jalali, Caitlin Martell-Lewis, Dylan Wright and Claire Hotchkiss, respectively. The series is cancelled after one season. In May 2019, it was announced that Shepard would produce the web seriesCrown Lake, which debuted on Brat on June 20, 2019.
Young Adult
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