Divas, Liars and Delights – Oh My!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend two wonderful events at The Grove – an outdoor shopping mall located in the heart of Hollywood where the Lifetime series Drop Dead Diva (which aired its season premiere on Sunday night) was honored with a day of indulgence for the show’s LA premiere bash followed the next day by a reading by author Sara Shepard of one of her books and a visit by the actresses of the series based on her book Pretty Little Liars, which will debut on the ABC Family Channel tonight (June 8 ) at 8 PM.

The Drop Dead Diva bash was very entertaining with radio DJ Lisa Foxx, from the LA radio station 104.3 FM, hosting the festivities that included manicures, pedicures and mini-makeovers as well as trivia questions with fun prizes and several guest speakers, including series creator and executive producer Josh Berman.

NOTE: The NiceGirls from Los Angeles – Tiffany, Louise and myself – were all in attendance of the Drop Dead Diva bash and were some of the lucky winners of novelty items, including the DVD set for the first season and a fantastic gift basket.

Once the speakers were done and after a short break for the necessary clean-up, a huge screen (that greatly resembled a jumbo-sized trampoline) was assembled for the advance screening of the second season premiere of the series, which the audience got to watch along with some of the show’s writers as well as the series creator.

The season premiere did not disappoint as it followed up the finale with all the wit, finesse and charm of the first season. Without spoiling the premiere for those who have yet to watch it, a special appearance is made by Paula Abdul in a dream sequence where Jane (Brooke Elliott) and Teri (Margaret Cho) sing a duet to the Eurythmics’ song “Would I Lie To You?” and the episode deals with two big issues from last season’s cliff-hanger: Jane’s impending disbarment and the aftermath of the reveal of Jane’s “secret” husband Ethan (Devon Gummersall).

The next day, fellow NiceGirl Tiffany and I attended an event at the Barnes & Noble store at The Grove, featuring author Sara Shepard and the actresses behind the new ABC Family Channel series Pretty Little Liars.

In an intimate nook on the third floor of the Barnes & Noble store, the mystery of the disappearance of Alison DiLaurentis was read to an enraptured audience by author Sara Shepard. The featured reading is the prologue chapter to Shepard’s latest book called Wanted, which is the final book in her Pretty Little Liars book series. While the audience was comprised mainly of teen and young adult fans there was a smattering of adults as well as press coverage.

A short Q&A session was then held with the author and the actresses who portray the main characters of the book series: Aria (Lucy Hale, Privileged), Spencer (Troian Bellisario, NCIS), Hanna (Ashley Benson, Eastwick) and Emily (Shay Mitchell, Aaron Stone).

During the Q&A session the audience learned how the author created her tale of mystery surrounding not only the disappearance of the aforementioned “Queen Bee” Alison, but also the falling apart of the girls’ friendship; the actresses spoke about the well-known actors who will be appearing as their parents, including Charmed star Holly Marie Combs, Melrose Place alum Laura Leighton, Fame actress Nia Peeples and Life Goes On star Chad Lowe; the casting process involved to find the right girls to play each of the roles and how each actress identified with their respective characters.

While the event was not lengthy it was entertaining to hear the young actresses speak with such enthusiasm and to see the author’s excitement of her literary work being made into a television series. To cap off the event, an autograph session was held with Ms. Shepard signing copies of her novel Pretty Little Liars and the actresses signing cast posters for all of the audience members.

If you would like to find out more about the featured events at a Barnes & Noble store near you, please visit their website.

Drop Dead Diva airs on Lifetime on Sunday nights at 9 PM while Pretty Little Liars will be seen on Tuesday nights on the ABC Family Channel at 8 PM.