Things about which I am very, very excited
1. I went to Sam's yesterday. With my very own Sam's card. I can now buy flour 50 pounds at a time. Like feed. I'm a happy girl.
2. After visiting Sam's I fulfilled a life-long goal and purchased a deep freeze. Yes, I know how weird this makes me. I don't care. Tomorrow delivery people will bring 13.7 cubic feet of upright freezery goodness and install it in my garage, which means I will hopefully never lack for freezer space again! (or at least for a while)
3. The t-shirt contest. Seriously. Sooooo excited. (but you guys have to follow the RULES. I'm not kidding about that.)
4. Dancing with the Stars.
5. My carpenter came and looked at the cabinets today, and we're now ordering supplies for the exorcism!!! I'll keep you posted.
6. There's a new character in the new book. I like this character. A lot.
7. There's a possibility (I'd say 80%) that I'm going to get to go to one of Stephenie Meyer's signings when she goes on tour this spring!!!! And no, I'm not touring with Stephenie Meyer. My going has nothing whatsoever to do with me being a writer and everything to do with me being a reader. And I'm jazzed.
later gators,
Ally
T-Shirt Contest...The RULES
Well, it's official! We're having a contest for you--the Gallagher Girls of the world--to design t-shirts to celebrate the books.
If you'd like to try your hand, please read these rules in their entirety. Entries that do not comply with the contest rules will not be considered.
Please DO NOT email questions to the contest entry email address.
THE RULES
Please send your entry, your name, your date of birth, and your email address to AllyCarterContest (at sign) gmail.com by
Entrants must be under 21 years of age on the date that contest entries are due.
All designs must be original artwork (no clipart, photographs to which you do not own the copyright, etc.).
All designs must relate to the Gallagher Girl series (either book).
Designs may use lines or themes from the book, but should not directly copy any cover art elements.
Collaborative efforts are allowed, but prizes must be shared among the members of the winning team.
A parent or guardian may assist, but you must do the majority of the work.
Designs will be judged based on concept, execution, and the ability for the designs to duplicate well.
Designs must be sent as either pdf or jpeg files. (Entries may be created in any software program or with pen/paper, but files MUST be scanned or saved in either pdf or jpeg format before they are sent to us.)
You will be submitting designs only--no need to make actual t-shirts. Those will come later.
You may submit a maximum of TWO entries.
Designs can be for front, or back, or front and back. Note that preference may be given to designs that are one-sided since they will be less expensive to produce and purchase.
An important note:
If you’ve read and understood these rules and feel up to a challenge, then start designing!
The winner will receive a great prize (to be announced later).
The winning design will be featured on t-shirts (and possibly other merchandise) that will be sold on cafepress.com.
All proceeds from t-shirt sales will be used for prizes for future contests on AllyCarter.com.
Thanks, and good luck!
Ally
Eleven things about writers
Good news: I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU is back on the New York Times bestseller list. Yeah. Week eleven. I'm...floored.
To honor the occasion, I thought I'd bring you another list: Eleven things I'm starting to learn about writers.
Now, of course, it's hard to generalize an entire subset of the population, but lately I've been amazed by the number of things writers have told me that are things I've thought myself a thousand times.
So here goes:
1. we all think we're bad at our jobs a good portion of the time. Really bad.
2. we all live in fear that someone is eventually going to find out how bad we are and take away all the good things that have happened so far in our careers.
3. we all hate writing (at least part of the time).
4. and yet we all HAVE to write or weird things happen to our psyche.
5. we all stress out over deadlines.
6. we all worry about money--even the writers I know who make decent amounts of money because (according to numbers 1 and 2 above) we live in fear that we'll never make another dime in this business.
7. many of us were reluctant readers when we were teens (which makes sense, I think, that we would try to write page-turning books because we understand all-too-well how easy it is to put a book down and walk away from it.)
8. we all get really annoyed when people chat us up at parties about the book they're going to write someday and how being a writer must be the easiest job in the world.
9. we all suffer from deadline-induced bouts of questionable dietary habits and/or personal hygiene.
10. we all (even the BOYS!) feel like crying and/or throwing up when we get really, really intense edit letters.
11. if we're smart, we also know those edit letters will make our books better in the long run.
And speaking of edits...
Later gators,
Ally
The hardest part...
People always ask me what the hardest part of writing a novel is, to which I always reply:
THE PART I'M DOING RIGHT NOW!
Enough said.
Back to the grindstone!
Ally
A very disreputable mission
Okay, Gallagher Girls, are you ready for a mission?
I mean a really, incredibly important-slash-fun mission?
Because, if you are, I've got one.
Last summer I was given an advance reading copy of a book--not just any book: a funny book with cute boys and hilarious pranks.
A book written so flawlessly that every single sentence made me unable to rest until I read the next sentence...and the next.
A book that is about the differences in boys and girls, rich and poor, perception and reality.
A book that was--simply put--one of the best books I have ever read in my entire life.
But there was some bad news...
THE BOOK WASN'T FOR SALE YET!
But guess what, gang, it is now!
So your mission for this week is simple: Don't walk--run--to a bookstore or library and pick up a copy of THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS by the amazing E. Lockhart.
And then read it and spend some quality time thinking about what it is to be a young woman. And how being a little disreputable is what it takes to be a Gallagher Girl sometimes.
-Ally
ps...go here to read an excerpt and some reviews. You won't be sorry.
Happy 3rd Birthday, Gallagher Girls
One of you guys just posted a comment that reminds me that three years ago today is when I first got the idea for the Gallagher Girls (read all about it in "story behind the story" under the LYKY section of the BOOKS tab.)
Happy birthday, girls!
they grow up so fast.
-Ally
More T-Shirt Contest Rules
Thanks for all the questions/ comments.
I'm adding to the rules and clarifying. I'll re-post a total/complete list when the details are finalized.
You may make your designs with pencil/paper/markers/paint, etc. and then scan it into the computer.
Computer-built designs (like those using Corel Draw or Paint or the like) are also allowed.
The ability for the designs to be duplicated well will be one of the judging criteria, so if possible, I would highly encourage you to submit designs that are as crisp and clean as possible, and friends tell me that this will be much, much easier with the computer made designs.
(In other words, although handwritten stuff will still be accepted, you're just going to be at a disadvantage, I'm told, so now's the time to get friendly with the software in your local computer lab!)
You will be submitting designs only--no need to make actual t-shirts. Those will come later.
You may submit a maximum of TWO entries.
A parent or guardian may assist, but you must do the majority of the work.
Okay, that's it's for now.
-Ally
The t-shirt contest is on! Sort of.
Okay, so the powers that be (meaning my fabulous, wise, and savvy editor and agent) have told me that a t-shirt contest is as cool as we all thought it was going to be.
SO WE'RE GOING TO DO IT!
But since I've never done a T-shirt design contest before, I've got to get the rules settled before we get this show on the road.
Here are the rules as they stand so far:
--all designs must be original artwork (no clipart!)
--all designs must relate to the Gallagher Girl series (either book)
--designs may use lines or themes from the book, but should not directly copy any cover art elements (meaning don't just scan the cover onto your computer and chop it up)
--collaborative efforts are allowed but prizes must be shared among the members of the winning team
--by entering this contest you give up the copyright to your artwork (meaning you can't sue is if we use it because...well...using it is kind of the purpose.)
--there will be a deadline by which all designs must be submitted.
--all entries must be submitted via email (address to be determined)
--designs will be judged by a group of very qualified individuals selected by Ally (probably meaning her agent...her editor...her sister... you know, the design pros.)
--designs will be judged based on originality, execution, and how much we'd like to walk around wearing something that looks like (says) that.
--entrants must be under 21 years of age on the date that contest entries are due.
--designs must be sent in Adobe Acrobat format. You may use any software program you'd like to design it, but we'd like you to save it as a pdf file before sending it to us. (If you win, we'll probably want the source file because it will be higher resolution and will duplicate better.)
--the winning design may be used in a number of ways to help promote the Gallagher Girls series.
Okay...those are the rules as they stand now. Details (like the deadline, email address, prizes, etc.) will be filled in shortly.
Other than that stuff, what did I miss?
-Ally
Dancing, baby!
How much do I love DANCING WITH THE STARS?
An embarrassing amount. Seriously embarrassing.
Because 1. it's an awesome treadmill show.
(Treadmill Show. noun. Term coined by Ally and her sister to describe a television series that is both fast-paced and motivating and has a plotline simple enough to follow that one can easily enjoy it while walking on a treadmill.)
And 2. I do love me some dancing. And some minor celebrities.
A few years ago it was my personal goal to be a major enough minor celebrity to be on CELEBRITY POKER SHOWDOWN.
Well...guess what my new goal is?
I mean, it's not that I even want ME to be the writer on DWTS. Sure. It sounds fun in theory. But given the fact that I am the only person in the world who seems to GAIN weight on Weight Watchers, those little outfits aren't looking so appealing.
But I think it would be awesome for SOME author to be on, right?
Seriously. Dancing with Meg Cabot? So amazing. Or Sarah Dessen? Or...let's face it...I would so pay good money to see Dancing with John Green.
Oooh. You know who would be good? Judy Blume!
So come on, Dancing with the Stars selection committee--we are YA writers--our fans can text message better than ANYONE'S fans!
--Ally
Gallagher Girl...t-shirts?
Okay, so after the last post several of you struck upon a secret, long-held fantasy of mine...
To have Gallagher Girl t-shirts!
I've even gone so far as to sketch some rough ideas before I remembered that I am perhaps the second least artistic person on the planet. (Number one is my sister.)
So I kind of gave up on it.
And for a while I thought about maybe having a contest where all of YOU could come up with potential T-Shirt designs...
But then I saw that Meg Cabot was already having a contest like that, and I didn't want to be unoriginal.
I was sort of making my peace that there may never be Gallagher Girl t-shirts until yesterday when so many of you expressed an interest in something like that.
So I'm putting it to you, guys. Would a contest or challenge or something design-related be something in which you'd be interested?
Discuss.
-Ally
ps...still working on the title contest. When I know details, I'll post them. I swear.