The Secrets of the "Sins": An Interview With the Author and Behind the Scenes Photos

Robin Wasserman is the author of the "Seven Deadly Sins" book series. She sat down with Lifetime to talk about high school sins, her Lifetime obsession and watching her written words transform into movie magic.

How did you first react when you found out that your book series was going to come to life on screen?

There was some dancing, jumping around, and then I called my mother and everyone I knew. I love books, books are great, but I love TV. I am obsessed with television and obsessed with Lifetime. And the fact that I wrote something that was going to be on television, and not just be on television, but be a Lifetime movie … other than selling my first book, it’s certainly the most exciting professional thing to ever happen to me.

Do you have a favorite Lifetime movie?

Anything starring either Kellie Martin or Shannen Doherty and occasionally Tori Spelling. Also, any of the Meredith Baxter Birney “scorned woman” stories.

What was the inspiration behind creating the fictional town of Grace, Texas?

It started with Harper. The whole thing emerged from one character. I had the name first, and out of that spawned this whole idea of the fallen rich girl who is still trying to hold on to this old glory and the town that she should have ruled but no longer did, so she ruled the school instead. The whole idea spilled out from that, within the constraints of the seven deadly sins. It’s an ensemble piece, obviously, but in my mind Harper was the main protagonist, and all roads led back to her. The inspiration for the whole series was a trip that I took cross-country a few years ago. It was the first time I had ever seen the desert, and I just drove through all of these small towns. I couldn’t stop wondering what it would be like to live in a town where your whole life was demarcated by the three restaurants or three gas stations and the 20 people you went to school with.

If you could be cast as any of the characters, who would you want to play?

In the books, the character of Miranda is the one that is most based on me, and also the character of Kane is the one based on all the boys I ever had a crush on in my life. I guess if I got to play someone else, I’d want to play someone really fun. So, I think I might go with Kaia, the absolute opposite of me. The beauty of Kaia in this movie is that in her rich-girl angst she takes exactly what she wants when she wants it. Certainly, that’s not how I was when I was a teenager, so it might be entertaining.

What sin were you most guilty of when you were in high school?

It depresses me to say it, but it would have to be pride. I was that kid that acted like I was the smartest kid in the class, and I probably wasn’t the smartest kid in the class, but I am sure I thought that I was at the time. I can’t imagine that made me too popular!

Do you think the events that transpire in Grace are an accurate depiction of teen social life today?

I would like to think that the emotions are true. When you’re in high school, everything feels like life and death. Maybe no one actually dies, but it feels like you could at any minute. The books take everything to the extreme, but when you’re in high school it feels like everything is an extreme.

Since it comes into play in the movie, how do you think that technology can encourage adolescent mischief?

I am of the opinion that teenagers and children, and anyone I guess, will do whatever they can with the materials at hand. When I was a teenager, which wasn’t that long ago, we talked on the phone, which was problematic if someone was on the other end eavesdropping, but otherwise nothing you said could be proved in a court of law after the fact. But now, as I understand it, teenagers communicate almost exclusively in writing, which seems extremely dangerous. I have no idea how they trust people not to paste instant messages and forward to everyone they know! Maybe I was a more trusting person back then, but I cannot imagine committing all of the horrible things I used to say when I was a teenager to print, and sending them to people over the Internet. You hear a lot about the dangers of the Internet and technology, but it’s one area where I am uncharacteristically optimistic and prefer to look on the bright side. You have an enormous wealth of information (online) that students never had before. Teenagers now correspond in writing instead of speaking; I think that’s a massive jump ahead for their writing skills.

If you had to pick an eighth modern sin to add to the list, what would that be?

Maybe Hypocrisy. That is not covered by the seven. They are not sins in the classical sense of “it’s bad to do them,” they’re the seven essential elements of humanity. They are fundamental and foundational to what it is to be human; you can’t cut them out of your life, and you shouldn’t cut them out of your life. It’s a question of finding balance.

You visited the set during the making of the movie. Tell us your behind-the-scenes experience.

They had a director’s chair for me that said “Writer,” which was the thrill of my existence, and I still can’t believe I didn’t try to steal it and take it on the plane with me. It felt like I was in a movie about being on a movie set. I tried really hard to play it cool when I met the actors, but I am a huge fan of Dreama Walker from “Gossip Girl,” and I knew Rachel Melvin from “Days of Our Lives.” It was the most overwhelming experience to see the set, to see this world that I had created come to life, and to see these people doing jobs because of these books I wrote in my pajamas. The strangest of all was to see the actors dressing as the characters and speaking my lines, as if I had literally closed my eyes, twitched my nose and willed them into being.

What are your plans for the world premiere of “Seven Deadly Sins”?

Wherever I watch it, and however I watch it, I will be watching in a premiere gown. I may just wear a gown that whole week!


Robin in her "Writer" chair on the set of "Seven Deadly Sins."


Robin stands under the sign for the fictional town of Grace, Texas. Michelle Nagler, the series editor, joined her on the set.


Robin blends in with the camera crew as they prepare for the scene.


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