Ever wondered how your fave Gossip Girl characters wound up their amazing, snarky, stylish selves?

The woman at the heart of the show’s source material, author Cecily von Ziegesar, recently dished to Media Bistro about the books that made the show.

Speaking on how she gets the inspiration for her characters, Ziegasar reveals, “I take a lot of material from my own life. So, I just think about people that I know. In order to kind of get them away from that specific person, then I might change their sex, make them a girl if the real person’s a guy… I had a friend who was obsessed with Audrey Hepburn and, so, Blair is obsessed with Audrey Hepburn. But I just borrowed that characteristic from a friend. The rest of Blair’s characteristics have nothing to do with that friend.”

As to the controversial subject matter that the GG series covers on the regular, Ziegasar defends it by saying, “I’m writing books that are appealing and entertaining. I never once said that I was writing books with guidelines for how to live. I mean, they’re fiction, and I think that’s the role of fiction: to entertain.”

Following the release of Gossip Girl Psycho Killer last fall, Ziegasar says she has no plans to expand the world of the UES any more — but then this glimmer of hope: “Maybe in two years, my editor will call me and say, ‘Oh, let’s do another one.’ I mean, every time I think it’s over, it’s not over yet.”

Leighton Meester was spotted getting her tourist on with a new man in Rio on Friday, April 13, and we’ve got the details on the guy who’s possibly captured the Gossip Girl star’s heart!

Globo.com was the first to I.D. him as Aaron Himelstein. If the name doesn’t sound familiar to you, don’t worry; you’re not alone. He was in a teen angst-y drama with Leighton back in 2007, Remember the Daze, but Wikipedia cites his biggest acting credit as “playing a younger version of Austin Powers” in the 2002 film Austin Powers in Goldmember. More recently, he made a guest appearance on a Season 1 episode of Community.

OK, so his resume isn’t exactly bursting with hits, but the dude’s got talent. According to IMDB, “He wrote and directed his first short film when he was 13-years-old.” Holla! And he’s obviously charmed Leighton enough for her to want to jet around Brazil with him — and this girl has been around some legit charmers (Exhibit A and Exhibit B).

Also, from the pics (see below) of the two together, Leighton seems completely comfortable, relaxed, and happy around Aaron, who, come to think of it, has a very Season 5 Dan Humphrey ‘do and Chuck Bass-in-the-Hamptons circa Season 2 look goin’ on. No wonder Leighton likes him!