When Sara Shepard was young, the things she wanted to be when she grew up were a soap opera star, a designer for LEGO, a filmmaker, a claymation artist, a geneticist, a fashion magazine editor and, most of all, a writer.

Her first story ever, which she both wrote and illustrated, was about friendly yellow creatures that lived in a girl's backyard garden. Her second followed a group of animals, including a five-legged camel named Lloyd, as they went on an expedition through the human body's circulatory system.

Sara and her sister Alison—who is nothing like the Alison in Pretty Little Liars—have been creating joint artistic and written projects ever since they were little kids, except they're pretty sure that they're the only ones who find them funny.

Sara currently lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband and three unruly dogs. Pretty Little Liars was inspired by her upbringing in Philadelphia's Main Line. Thankfully, she hasn't received any creepy, anonymous text messages . . . yet.