Cecily Brooke von Ziegesar ( ; born June 27, 1970) is an American author best known for the

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

novel series ''Gossip Girl''.

Early life and education

Cecily von Ziegesar was born in New York City into a German noble family. She is the daughter of Franz Albrecht von Ziegesar, the CEO and Chairman of Bowne & Co., and his second wife, Olivia James. She is the half-sister of writer Peter von Ziegesar. Her childhood dream was to grow up to be a

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

; she began lessons at age three and auditioned for the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...

at age eight, but was rejected. As a teenager, she commuted from Connecticut to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

at 6:00 a.m. every day to attend The Nightingale-Bamford School. After graduating from Nightingale, von Ziegesar attended

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

. Then she spent a year in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

working for a local radio station. She then returned to the United States to study creative writing at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, only to drop out shortly thereafter.

Career

''Gossip Girl''

Book series

In New York City, while working at

book-packaging Book packaging (or book producing) is a publishing activity in which a publishing company outsources the myriad tasks involved in putting together a book—writing, researching, editing, illustrating, and even printing—to an outside company calle ...

firm

Alloy Entertainment Alloy Entertainment, LLC (formerly Daniel Weiss Associates and 17th Street Productions) is a book packaging and television production unit of Warner Bros. Television Studios. It produces books, television series, and feature films. Alloy Entert ...

, she became inspired to create the ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series created and developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It follows a group of students on Manhattan's ...

'' series, which presents a view of high-end teenage lifestyles. The series climbed to the top of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Best-Sellers list in 2002. A spin-off book series, '' The It Girl'', made the list in 2005. The Constance Billard School for Girls is based on an exaggerated version of Ziegesar's own alma mater, Nightingale. In October 2011, Ziegesar released a spin-off of her first novel: ''Psycho Killer''.

Television series

''Gossip Girl'' was adapted for television by

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

in 2007. Though fans of the book series criticized it for veering away from the book in plot and character personalities, Ziegesar stated that the major plot outline remained true to her vision, and that she was pleased that "at least it takes place in New York City". On May 16, 2011, Ziegesar herself made a cameo appearance in the fourth season finale.

Graphic novel series

In December 2009,

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

announced that it was working with South Korean artist Baek Hye-Kyung to create a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

adaptation of the series titled ''Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only''. Rather than adapting the original novels, however, the graphic novels will feature original stories with the same characters. It will be serialized in the company's anthology magazine '' Yen Plus'', with the first chapter appearing in the January 2010 issue.

Personal life

Von Ziegesar resides in the Columbia Street Waterfront District, a neighborhood in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, with her husband Richard Griggs, who is

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

of the Judd Foundation, and their children Agnes Belle von Ziegesar Griggs and Oscar von Ziegesar Griggs.

Books

''Gossip Girl''

# ''Gossip Girl'' (2002) # ''You Know You Love Me'' (2002) # ''All I Want Is Everything'' (2003) # ''Because I'm Worth It'' (2003) # ''I Like It Like That'' (2004) # ''You're the One That I Want'' (2004) # ''Nobody Does It Better'' (2005) # ''Nothing Can Keep Us Together'' (2005) # ''Only in Your Dreams'' (2006) (written by ghost-writer) # ''Would I Lie To You?'' (2006) (written by ghost-writer) # ''Don't You Forget About Me'' (2007) (written by ghost-writer) # ''I Will Always Love You'' (2009) (written by ghost-writer) # ''It Had To Be You'' (2007) (prequel) # ''Psycho Killer'' (October 2011) (spin-off)

''The It Girl''

This series was written by a ghost-writer, with guidance from Cecily von Ziegesar. # '' The It Girl'' # '' Notorious'' # '' Reckless'' # ''

Unforgettable Unforgettable may refer to: Film * ''Unforgettable'' (1996 film), a thriller starring Ray Liotta * ''Unforgettable'' (2014 film), a Bollywood film * ''Unforgettable'' (2016 film), a South Korean film * ''Unforgettable'' (2017 film), an America ...

'' # '' Lucky'' # '' Tempted'' # '' Infamous'' # '' Adored'' # '' Devious'' # ''

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of Masterpiece, lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or Literary merit, highest quality, class, or rank – something that Exemplification, exemplifies its ...

''Gossip Girl: The Carlyles''

This series is ghost-written by Annabelle Vestry. # '' Gossip Girl: The Carlyles'' (2008) # '' You Just Can't Get Enough'' (2008) # ''

Take A Chance on Me "Take a Chance on Me" is a song by Swedish recording group ABBA, released on 27 January 1978 in the United Kingdom, by Polar Music, as the second single from their fifth studio album, '' ABBA: The Album'' (1977). Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Fr ...

'' (2009) # ''Love the One You're With'' (2009)

''Cum Laude''

# ''Cum Laude'' (June 1, 2010 from Hyperion) republished under the name ''Class'' in 2011.

''Cobble Hill''

# ''Cobble Hill'' (2020)

References

External links

UK Gossip Girl Website

MTVCanada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegesar, Cecily Von 1970 births Living people American expatriates in Hungary 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Gossip Girl Writers from Brooklyn People from Fairfield County, Connecticut American writers of young adult literature Colby College alumni 21st-century American women writers American women writers of young adult literature Novelists from New York (state) American people of German descent German untitled nobility Cecily Nightingale-Bamford School alumni