An update and a challenge
Hi everyone!
Just a quick update to point out to everyone that the OfficiallyAlly twitter feed is now in the sidebar here as well. Yay. (Just scroll down a little--it's on the right, beneath the images of the bookjackets.)
Also, several of you have been commenting lately that there needs to be a cool countdown clock widget for the June 9, 2009 release of DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER.
I agree!
You know what I'm talking about? Something like this:
http://mugglenet.com/hbpcountdown/hbpfilmcount.swf
Of course I realize that this is probably very hard and all the ones that make me go "ooh!" were no doubt made by people who were very talented, but that didn't stop me from wasting many, many wasted hours lately trying to come up with something that would be even semi-cool, but I couldn't do it.
That's why I've decided to turn the project over to you, the Gallagher Girls and guys of the world because, of course, you can do anything.
So design away if you're so inclined.
Thanks!
Ally
EDITED TO ADD:
ps...oh, let's sweeten the deal, shall we. I say the person who designs my favorite widget gets a t-shirt. Not an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy), sadly, because the essay winner will get my last one of those. But a super cool GG t-shirt instead, okay?
Please email a link or the HTML code itself to AllyCarterContest@gmail.com. To qualify, please put the phrase "Countdown Widget" in the subject line.
IRA here I come... And a mini excerpt!
Hi everyone!
A quick reminder that I will be attending the International Reading Association's annual convention in Minneapolis, MN next week.
I will be signing at the Anderson's Booth on Tuesday, May 5th from 4:00-5:00.
On Wednesday, May 6th I'll be speaking on a panel called Summer Reading - Some are Not: Books for Girls on the Verge of Adolescence from 9:00-10:00 a.m.
I'll be signing books again that afternoon at the Disney-Hyperion booth from 1:00-2:00.
If you're going to be there, please stop by and say hi!
--Ally
"You're girls!" he shouted as if the fact had totally eluded him until then.
Mini excerpt:
"He didn't kiss me."
--Ally
ps...Thank you to everyone who has been following www.twitter.com/OfficiallyAlly.
For all of you who don't have Twitter accounts and don't want to pop over there to check from time to time, we're working hard trying to figure out a way to automatically include anything I post on Twitter on the blog as well. I'm optimistic this will happen shortly.
In the meantime, back to copyedits!
Thanks for the feedback!
Hi everyone!
Thanks so much for all of the awesome feedback about what websites you like and what you'd like to see in the new and improved AllyCarter.com that we'll probably start working on sometime this summer.
I can't tell you exactly what it will look like or contain because I'm still thinking about it. In fact, I'm trying NOT to think about it too much because I need to be thinking about other things. Like the copyedits of the untitled Heist/Kat book. And of course a little thing called GG4.
But I can tell you that your feedback has already been incredibly helpful!
For example, I never noticed how you couldn't navigate directly to the ALLY page from the blog. We'll try to fix that. And we'll certainly update everything with the most recent information.
And, of course, the big change will be making room for any new series and books that might come along (like the untitled Heist/Kat book).
One thing that I can say for sure WILL NOT be on the new site is fan fiction. You see, guys, fan fiction is a sort of strange phenomenon and I personally don't always know what to think about it.
On one hand, having readers who are so passionate about a story or a character that they have to write about those stories and characters is a wonderful and flattering thing.
On the other hand, it would be strange reading what someone else wrote about my characters. And not only that but it totally opens an author up for lawsuits if, for example, you send me a story where Zach is wearing a red shirt... And then in a future book I have a scene with a hot guy in a red shirt... And then you can sue and say "She totally ripped off my story!!!!"
This is why any emails I receive that contain fan fiction and/or "ideas" for future books are deleted immediately. It's also why there will not be any fan fiction allowed anywhere on AllyCarter.com now or in the future.
There are places online that specialize in fanfiction and most people just post there. (Please note that I'm not endorsing this--I'm just saying it happens.)
You guys had some amazing suggestions and I look forward to sitting down with them some day in the not-so-distant future and coming up with a great list of things to make this an even more enjoyable place to be.
-Ally
Officially Twittering!
Hey Everyone,
Well, it's official: I'm a follower.
I thoroughly enjoyed Twittering with the rest of Team Castle when we were in Ireland, but ever since then the whole Twitter sensation has become a tad too...sensational...for my tastes.
But today I finally broke down and set up a Twitter account. For the foreseeable future you'll be able to find me Twittering (think Mini-Blogs on a lot of caffeine!) at www.twitter.com/OfficiallyAlly .
(Not to be confused with the other Ally Carter who has already laid claim to my first choice of usernames.)
I do hope you guys will check it out! There are going to be even more mini-excerpts, tales from the tour, and random updates from my life as I work on the fourth book in the Gallagher Girls series and prepare for the June 9, 2009 release of DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER.
Now, back to work!
Ally
Mini Excerpt
"Sometimes people run...to see if you'll come after them."
A very special guest blog and prize from Lauren Myracle
Hellooooo, Ally-ites! Ally—ettes? Ally-oops! YES! Hellooooo, Ally-Oopsies!
Lauren Myracle here, HUGE fan of Ally and a writer of super-cool (well, sez I) books for girls, too. (And the rarer ultra-fab boy readers as well. I am an equal-opportunity reader fan!)
Lauren Myracle is a Gallagher Girl. See--here's proof!
Anywayz, so, I have a new book coming out called Peace, Love and Baby Ducks, and I am soooooo proud of it, and plus I’m just spazzy in general—so I’m doing a contest thingie!!! And giving away prizes! Including a much-coveted ARC of Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover, by our own brilliant Ally-cat!
But wait! That’s not all!
Because I am feeling so vair vair genereuse (that’s Frenchy for “generous,” just so’s ya know), I am also—+feels ping of pre-giveaway pain+—giving away my beloved, beautiful, glorious Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover T-shirt. Um, it has been worn…but worn in love. By me. And I promise I didn’t throw up in it, or on it.
Anyway—isn't that exciting?!!!! And the booty stash doesn’t stop there!
"But dearest Lauren, I am puzzled," you may say. "How would one such as I go about winning such a fabulous prize? Must I run a marathon? Slay John Green a pack of evil zombies?"
"Why, no!" I will say. "No, you don't! All you need to do is show some love for Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks!!!"
Here's how it works, Ally-oopsies:
Peace, Love and Baby Ducks comes out on May 14th (the day before my birthday), and purely to entertain myself, I’ve decided to host a month-long DUCKIES OF LOVE CONTEST.
Who's the contest open to?
YOU, of course. Unless you're a cockroach. The contest is not open to cockroaches. But it IS open to everyone else: tweens, teens, old-heads, young-heads, librarians, non-librarians, booksellers, book buyers...you get the drift. (But no cockroaches.)
Whaddaya have to do?
Well, every day (give or take), you'll have the opportunity to earn "ducky" points (and read sneaky-peek previews of the book) by ACCEPTING and COMPLETING a FABULOUS DUCKY CHALLENGE.
For each ducky point you earn, you will get one entry in the raffle for the grand prize, a ginormous coffee cup filled to the brim with some of my favorite things.
When Lauren says she has a big coffee cup, she means it.
Like just for example:
CHOCOLATE!!!
AUTOGRAPHED BOOKS!!!
Swag from my beloved publishing house!
A COLLECTION OF 3 CERAMIC UNICORNS
NAMED JOHN, JUSTINE, AND MAUREEN!
Plus, in the spirit of the book,
a heart locket,
a peace bracelet,
an adorable rubber ducky,
and a mix of Carly's Bestest Ever Hippie Tunes!
Plus an Ally Carter ARC and an Ally Carter T-shirt, and plus whatever else I randomly decide to add in…
Yes, my friends. The LUVERLY GIGANTOID COFFEE CUP could be yours!
Shall we begin, my love duckies?
To earn your first flock of ducks (um, herd of ducks? gaggle of ducks?), you just need to officially sign up for the DUCKIES OF LOVE CONTEST. How? By becoming a member of the brand-spanking new PEACE, LOVE AND BABY DUCKS contest website!!!!!!!!!
Just click on the above linky-poo (I get to say "linky-poo" because I made it), and you'll find yourself at a beautiful paradise of ducky love. Once there, you'll see a "SIGN UP" button on the top right corner. Do it! Yes, you will have to give a legitimate email addy, but no, no one will see that but me.
And then--once you've joined the site--you get to make a coolio profile of yer own! Kinda like on Facebook, but duckier. Do you have to create your profile using your real name? No. You can make up an ALIAS if you want. Do you have to give out personal info? Hahahaha--and NO. Der. In fact, please don't, 'kay? Got's to be safe, we do!
By joining the site and setting up your profile, YOU HAVE OFFICIALLY ENTERED THE CONTEST--AND YOU'VE EARNED YOURSELF 10 BRIGHT, SPARKLY DUCKIES FOR YOUR TROUBLE.
And—special offer *just* for Ally-oopsies—go to my profile page, leave a comment that says, “Hi, Lauren! Ally sent me!”, and I’ll give ya 10 bonus duckies to keep your original duckies company…
So get to it, cuties! (If ya want to, that is.) Have fun! And good luck!!!
xoxo,
Lauren
ps...this is Ally saying thank you to Lauren for generously volunteering to offer up her very own GG3 Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER!
Now, everyone go visit Lauren's contest page and please wipe your feet before you walk in, say please and thank you, and just in general be very good, appreciative guests!
The tour!
I had a wonderful conversation this week with my fabulous publicist who is hard at work setting up the tour for DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER!
Whee!
I'm going on tour!
Like a rock star.
Okay, so maybe I won't be exactly rock star-ish since, to my knowledge, there will be no singing. Or groupies. And there has been absolutely no mention of a big bus.
But still it's as close to being a rock star as I ever thought I'd be.
I dearly, dearly wish I could share details with everyone, but we're still trying to finalize a few things, so I'm going to have to ask that you be patient. As soon as I get the green light I will tell you guys all about it. I promise!
In the meantime, I did share the highlights with some very good writer friends because, since this is my first tour and all, I'm a little nervous about the whole thing.
The conversation went something like this.
Me: these are the cities I'm going to be touring I think. And this is how long I'm going to be gone.
Really Good Writer Friends (RGWF): Wow! That's a real tour!
Me: Yeah? It is, right?
RGWF: Yeah. And you know what this means, right?
Me: No. I don't think I can.
RGWF: Yes. You're going to have to.
Me: No. I'm pretty sure I can just plan ahead and..
RGWF: Ally! Listen to us. With that much travel in that little time you will eventually have to eat out of a hotel mini bar. And order room service.
Me: No, I was just planning on going to Sam's and buying a bunch of energy bars and stuff to take with me so that--
RGWF: Ally! This is not Mount Everest. You are not expected to pack your own provisions.
Me: But mini bars are soooo expensive. I can't do it.
RGWF: (laughing) Oh, eventually you'll get hungry enough, and then you're going see that big movie-sized bag of peanut M&Ms...;
Me: No! I won't! I'm stronger than that!
RGWF: We thought we were too. Oh, did we ever think we were too.
So there you have it, gang. Wanna know the secret to how all those authors survive on tour? Hotel mini bar Peanut M&Ms.;
I'm not even making this stuff up.
-Ally
(ps...as always, I'd just like to remind everyone that you shouldn't request I visit your city by commenting in the comments section. I'm afraid those comments aren't tracked or logged in any way. Instead, please follow this link and log your request there. Thanks!)
A mini excerpt and a mission
Hi Gallagher Girls and Guys! I have a mission for anyone who is willing to accept it.
You see, sometime this summer (probably after the big GG3 release) I'm going to be doing a lot of work to AllyCarter.com and I need your help with two key questions:
1. What are some of your favorite websites (especially for authors)?
2. What things would you like to see on the newly redesigned AllyCarter.com?
And to show my appreciation I give you...
"So..." Bex spoke slowly, carefully. "They know."
Thanks bunches!
Ally
Mini excerpt!
I still remember the day--the moment--when I found my first secret passageway.
GALLAGHER GIRLS 4 *
First first draft progress
*title and publication date to be determined in the extremely distant future