What I'm doing over my 4th of July vacation

Want to know a little secret? Publishing--like most things--gets a little bit slower in the summer. Especially over things like the Fourth of July weekend.

Sure, usually I'm neck deep in writing or rewriting something at this time, but this year I actually have a few days between when I've turned something in and when I'll get the notes that tell me what I need to do next and so I'm doing all those things that I probably should have done months ago. But haven't.

Like getting the oil changed in my car, having someone come fix the broken window in the dining room, and hiring a plumber to come install one of those gizmos that give you instant hot water in the kitchen so that I won't spend half my life standing at the sink, waiting for the water to get hot so that I can wash a single pan.

But this got me to thinking: Hmmm....if the plumber is going to be here anyway... And if I've always hated my leaky faucet... And if I miss the days of being able to lay a cookie sheet flat in the bottom of my sink...

So yeah. Things have started to, shall we say, snowball.

But not too badly! I mean I'm really trying to be good. I haven't knocked down any walls or ripped out any cabinets. I'm just going to do the hot water thing. And the sink. And a faucet. And sometimes the faucets come with little soap dispensers. Oh, and maybe one of those little drinking fountain water filtration things.

But that's IT!

I swear.

Really I can't do any more than that because I'm having a hard enough time just on the faucet thing alone.

I think I have it narrowed down to two.


This...

Or maybe this...

Or maybe one of the nine million others I have bookmarked.

Really, it's a good thing I'm absolutely forbidden from venturing farther from the sink.


-Ally

The GG3 Chat Session!

Hey everybody!

Just a quick note to let you all know that we will be having an "Ally Chat" on the afternoon of Sunday, July 12th at 5:00 Eastern time (that's 4:00 Central, 3:00 Mountain, 2:00 Pacific, etc. etc.). It will last for approximately one hour.

How can you take part in the chat? Easy. The day before the chat I will post the address of a website and a password. At chat time all you'll have to do is go to that website, type in that password, pick a username and chat away.

An important note: this chat is for the purpose of discussing what happened in DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER so it will, by definition, be full of spoilers about what happens in the book. You can choose to come anyway, of course, but consider yourself warned.

Another thing I will ask is that you familiarize yourselves with the frequently asked questions posts that I've done from time to time. We'll only have an hour, after all, so let's not use that time going over familiar territory. Reading over those posts will answer a lot of questions like how many books will there be and who is the girl on the cover and that will free up time to talk about new things--like what happened in GG3!

I hope you guys are looking forward this as much as I am!

Take care and have a great--and safe--holiday weekend!

-Ally

Some very busy Gallagher Girls

The Gallagher Girls (and guys!) must have been very busy the last few weeks. You know how I know? Because a whole bunch of newspapers and other book tracking organizations have told me!

You see, thanks to all of you, DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER has been on the best-seller lists for the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publisher's Weekly, Bookscan, and IndieBound (the national association of independent bookstores).

And, of course, the series as a whole has enjoyed two weeks on the Children's Series list from the New York Times.

So, yeah, I owe you guys. Big time!

In fact, I've been trying to think of a way to thank you and I think I have a place to start. How about another AllyChat where we can all come together online to discuss a book? And what if that book is DON'T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER?



-Ally

Two NEW events!

Calling all D.C. area and Georgia Gallagher Girls and Guys! I'm thrilled to let you know about TWO upcoming events!

First, I'll be doing a signing in the Washington, D.C. area next month!

DATE: Thursday, July 16

TIME: 4:30 p.m.

Place: Politics & Prose Bookstore
5015 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: (202) 364-1919

I'm also excited to tell you that I've been invited to participate in the Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, Georgia! Yay!

The festival takes place over Labor Day Weekend (September 4-6). I don't know exactly what dates and times I'll be signing and/or speaking yet, but as soon as I have that information I will let you know!

In the meantime, if you live in the vicinity of either of these events, please mark your calendars!

-Ally



ps...just a reminder that if you would like for me to visit your area, please log your requests here instead of in the comments section so that they can be tracked and utilized for planning future tour stops.

The tour. In pictures!

Hi everyone!

I'm just about to get rested up so I thought I'd share with all of you the reason why I've been so sleepy.

You see, I've been doing a little bit of traveling.

A little.

It was wonderful being on tour. I had a fabulous time and I'm incredibly grateful to my publisher for making it possible, all of the stores and schools I visited for welcoming me with open arms, and most of all for all of the people who came (sometimes from hundreds of miles away)!

These pictures won't begin to do it justice, but it's a start!

On Saturday, June 6th, I packed my suitcase, called a cab, and headed for the airport.


The first stop was beautiful San Francisco where I did a writers' workshop at BooksInc on Sunday. On Monday, I was able to visit some schools in the Bay Area

...and that night I had a wonderful signing at Kepler's!


So many awesome Gallagher Girls! Seriously the tour could have ended right then and I would have been happy. But we were actually just getting started because the next morning bright and early I woke up.

And and flew to...Seattle!

Where I had a very cool goldfish named Mike in my hotel room. See? Totally not making Mike up.




I also got to visit several schools in the Seattle area, including this one where I did a presentation in a junior high gymnasium (and that night I may or may not have had nightmares about climbing a big rope and playing dodge ball).



Next we were on to Vancouver!

I had never been to Vancouver before, but I sincerely hope I get to visit again very soon. Simply put, it was a beautiful city full of very nice people. Not to mention one of the most awesome bookstores in the world!

Kidsbooks, you rock!




I got to spend a little time at the store (you know, the one with the most gorgeous windows ever!) And then that night Kidsbooks hosted a fabulous signing at an absolutely beautiful church.

Over 140 people came and listened carefully while I spoke, answered wonderful questions, and then stood patiently in line while I signed books.





The next morning I dragged myself out of bed and boarded a plane for St. Louis. I must say that this was probably the most stressful day of all because there was a very tiny of window of time between when I was supposed to arrive in St. Louis and when I needed to head to the signing, but fortunately all of my flights were on time and everything went great.

The people of St. Louis are so incredibly lucky to have the St. Louis County Library. The librarians and staff there are absolutely amazing!


And for all the authors out there, if you ever get the chance to do an event at the St. Louis County Library I highly recommend it!

From St. Louis I went to Wichita which was a little like coming home because Watermark Books is a store I know and love. Sadly, I forgot my camera for this one, so I don't have any pictures, but I want to thank everyone for coming out--especially Brent Crawford who was kind enough to be on the program with me. It was a blast and his book, CARTER FINALLY GETS IT, is an absolutely hilarious book for older teens.

The next morning saw my third 4 a.m. wakeup call in a row, but I was starting to get used to it. And besides, I knew that I was just one plane ride away from getting to spend two full days in Chicago!

Sunday afternoon I did a FAB event at an absolutely beautiful Barnes and Noble in Oak Brook, IL with an amazing staff full of Gallagher Girl lovers.




And, of course, completely amazing readers!


The next day was absolutely glorious because I got to sleep in (which was good) and then I got to go to Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville--one of the most famous bookstores in the country!

I talked and answered questions...



And then I signed books, including one that was a total blast from the past--my very first book, CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE (which is now out of print and no longer for sale at most stores).


And then I had to say goodbye to Chicago and hello to Nashville!

I did two events in Nashville. One at the Barnes and Noble in Brentwood and one the next night at Davis-Kidd.



But both had one thing in common--the most adorable readers ever!



At one point during the tour, though, we had to enact a firm "no spoilers during Q&A" rule, so as a result we had a lot of whispered questions but everyone got answers.


There were two other highlights from Nashville. One was visiting the Ingram Book Company's headquarters and meeting with people from Ingram, my AudioBook publisher, Brilliance Audio, as well as the people who make the Gallagher Girl books available on playaway.






The second awesome thing was The Parthenon. Yes, Nashville has a perfectly-to-scale replica of The Parthenon. (The Percy Jackson fangirl in me was freaking out. Believe me.)



And then there was only one city left: AUSTIN!

I've been hearing for years about BookPeople, one of the best bookstores in the world, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to finally be there!




I talked. I signed. And most of all I got to spend one more day with the best readers on earth!





Thanks again to my publisher, to the bookstore owners and managers, to the moms and dads who drove so many girls to the events and, most of all, to the girls themselves.

I had a blast and sincerely hope that you did too.

Now, don't worry, I'm going to go get started rewriting GG4 (title and release date to be determined).


-Ally


ps...before you ask, let me remind everyone that I don't get to choose the cities I visit on tour. I have no idea if there will be more tours in my future. I hope so, but there are none scheduled at this time. To request that I visit your city, please note that requests in the comments section are not tracked or logged, so if you want to your request to matter please go here.