We Were Liars Author E. Lockhart Teases the ‘Key Moments’ from the Book Readers Will Love in the TV Series (Exclusive)

E. Lockhart’s characters are coming to life!

At the premiere of We Were Liars, the series adaptation of Lockhart’s YA novel by the same name, the author spoke with PEOPLE about the process of converting the story from page to screen — and the moments she’s most excited to see come to life in a new way.

The tale follows wealthy teenager Cadence Sinclair Eastman and her “tight-knit inner circle, nicknamed the Liars, during their summer escapades on her grandfather’s New England private island,” per the book’s official synopsis. Cadence, who survived an accident in the summer prior, begins to piece together what exactly happened that night.

Lockhart, whose real name is Emily Jenkins, tells PEOPLE the adaptation has been a long time coming, and she’s grateful to all those who helped bring it to fruition.

“We Were Liars was in development for a really long time, five or six writers, two directors,” she says. “But when Julie Plec and Carina MacKenzie took it on, they make such amazing television, that’s when I really felt lucky.”

Plec and MacKenzie served as creators, executive producers and showrunners for the eight-episode series. The cast is comprised of  Emily Alyn Lind (Cadence), Esther McGregor (Mirren), Joseph Zada (Johnny) and Shubham Maheshwari (Gat).

The author is looking forward to a few special moments between her characters being brought to life, she says.

“There are some key moments that my readers are going to be really excited to see — Gat and Cadence writing on each other’s hands, falling in love on the boat,” Lockhart says. adding that “Every time I saw the dogs, my heart broke.”

We Were Liars will debut on Prime Video on Wednesday, June 18.