Serena van der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf and their outrageous friends may have left posh private school, Constance Billard, but there’s a whole new class of girls waiting in the wings to attract the attention of the Gossip Girl column with their shocking behaviour.

Owen, Avery and Baby Carlyle have just moved into a notorious Upper East Side penthouse (if walls could talk…!) and they’re about to take the city by storm with their decadent behaviour. Manhattan’s resident pretty young things better keep a close eye on their assets or hearts will get broken.

Cecily von Ziegesar grew up in New York City and attended a private girls’ school. She always wanted to be a writer, and she was always a gossip, so the GOSSIP GIRL and THE IT GIRL novels were inevitable.

First job:
Waitress at restaurant with roaches.

Worst job:
Waitress at restaurant with roaches.

Favourite place:
Primrose Hill in London.

Favourite NYC hotspot:
My patio, where I planted all these flowering trees and bamboo. I like to have friends over and hang out back there until the mosquitoes drive us indoors.

Guilty pleasure:
American Idol.

All-time favourite American Idol:
Kelly. I’m a huge fan.

Good luck charm:
Diamond earrings.

When you were a little girl you thought you would grow up to be a…? Writer, always. I wanted to be a ballet dancer too, and a horse back rider, but writing won out in the end.

Favourite designer:
I don’t have one favourite designer. I have more like twenty. I like Diane von Furstenberg and Mark Jacobs and Theory and Issa and Celine. But I buy a lot clothes at Target. I just bought this amazing little black dress there by Patrick Robinson, one of those visiting designers that did a line just for Target. It fits so perfectly and it was only $27.99.

Favourite jeans:
My favourite jeans are Joes Jeans and Imitation of Christ.

Favourite movie:
It’s a Wonderful Life (I cry every time).

Biggest fashion blunder:
White duck feather jacket.

Next vacation destination:
I’m going to Rio de Janeiro soon with my husband. I’m very excited – I’ve always wanted to go to Brazil! You won’t catch me in one of those string thong bikini things though. Hello?!

French fry dip:
Stupid question: ketchup

Astrological sign:
Cancer

Lucky colour:
Don’t have one. I’m fickle that way.

Midnight snack:
Sleep.

Celebrity crush:
Madonna (she takes herself so seriously!).

Favorite book:
The Great Gatsby.

Item you can’t live without:
Fresh air? Not really, I’m very low maintenance. But I like my watered-down grapefruit juice first thing in the morning, followed by two cups of very strong milky coffee.

 Check out this great interview with Cecily von Ziegesar!

AVERY CARLYLE
Named after her New York society grandmother, Avery has always been sure she is destined for greatness – like being the queen of the Upper East Side. Luckily for her the Carlyle family has just left dull and style-less Nantucket to relocate to the very place Avery longs to be. Perfect.
With her long blond hair and exquisite taste in clothes she’s going to fit in effortlessly at Constance Billard. Isn’t she?

OWEN CARLYLE
Swimming obsessed Owen is a bit of a heart-throb but he can’t get his summer romance with Kat out of his head. So, it was only one night, he’s still sure he’ll find her because he knows that they are meant to be together. It’s a shame for the Upper East Side girls who have taken to following him around since he arrived. And for Kat’s boyfriend. Bad kitty.

BABY CARLYLE
Baby was a surprise arrival at the birth of twins Avery and Owen – so much of a surprise that her mother, Edie, never managed to think of a proper name for her and instead entered Baby on her birth certificate.
With her unruly brown hair and unique (read ‘messy’) sense of fashion, Baby definitely doesn’t feel at home in the super-sleek Manhattan world she’s just landed in (she’d be much happier sleeping alfresco on the beach in Nantucket (with her boyfriend) than in the Carlyles' new spotless, cream, penthouse apartment). But it’s amazing what a smile from an attractive Upper East Sider can do to change a girl’s feelings about a place…

JACK LAURENT
Promising ballet dancer, Jack, is less than pleased by the arrival of the Carlyle triplets. She sees herself as the queen of the Upper East Side and is definitely not ready to relinquish the crown. But while her attention is focused on Avery, it seems her boyfriend’s eyes may have strayed elsewhere… If only that was Jack’s biggest problem.

RHYS STERLING
Captain of the swimming team and Owen’s new BFF, Rhys has been dating his girlfriend Kelsey practically since kindergarten when he asked her to be his Valentine (embarrassingly his mother, Lady Sterling, plays the tape of this magic moment every February 14th on her show Tea with Lady Sterling). They are the Upper East Side’s golden couple and Rhys is sure that nothing can come between them. Let’s just hope his mother doesn’t manage to catch them on tape when they finally do it in his rose petal strewn bedroom. Assuming Kelsey’s promise still stands…

EXTRACT: Gossip Girl: The Carlyles (Download Pdf)

WALLPAPER: Gossip Girl (Download Jpg)