SearchDon't forget......Ally's chatting LIVE on Facebook 9/3/10 from 1-2 EST ...Heist Society is a finalist for the Teens' Top 10 Award. VOTE NOW. ...You haven't heard the last of the Gallagher Girls--look for GG5 sometime in early 2012. ...Heist Society is up for a Teen Read Award! Canadian readers can vote for their favorites every day this summer. ...Ally answers questions (like will there be a GG5, a movie, etc.) in the FAQ section. ...if you want to be notified via text message about events in your area, just text ALLYCARTER to 69302.
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Ally's Diary
Mini Blog: SpoilersHey everybody! I know that many of you are really itching to discuss GG4, spoilers and everything! For that reason, in a couple of weeks when I'm finally home from tour I'm going to open up a blog post that is spoiler-approved. Comments that contain spoilers will be allowed on that post (and that post only). Why am I not doing that now, you may ask. Well, because I'm still on the road, and I have a feeling that post is going to get A LOT of comments and sorting through them all to approve and everything is going to be fairly tedious and incredibly time consuming. And my time at the moment is pretty much consumed. But this is just to let you know that it IS coming. Thanks! Ally
Big blog of random (the GG4 Tour Edition)Greetings from the road! The GG4 tour is now in full swing, and I'd like to thank everyone who came out to the B&N in Glendale last night for a wonderful event! It was so great to meet all of you AND hang out with overall awesome lady Melissa de la Cruz. Did you miss us last night? Well, never fear! There's going to be a repeat performance at Vroman's in Pasadena this afternoon at 4:00. Come! Come! (That's an order!) In other news... --I used to be too cheap to order hotel room service, but considering I now know the breakfast delivery guy by name, I think we can officially say I'm over that. --I used to be uncomfortable with valets (for reasons I don't know), I'm hoping I'm over that too since this town is all valet, all the time. --It's cold here. --Everyone keeps saying it's hot. --These people obviously don't know what hot is. --Despite being like 80% mirror there is not a single good place in this hotel room to apply mascara. --I HAVE to have mascara. --One of these days I'm going to figure out why people keep asking about getting roles in the LYKY movie even though 1. I have stated about 9 billion times that there currently is no LYKY movie in the works and 2. I've also tried to make it really, really clear that authors have no role in the movie casting process. --I'm really wishing I hadn't forgotten my pajamma pants. (not that I can't sleep in my gym shorts. It's just chilly sometimes in hotel rooms. Plus, nothing says happiness like pajammas.) --So far this tour I've only had pop twice and peanut M&Ms once. I consider this the greatest diet achievement of my life. --My college roommate who now lives in Denver just called to say she's setting up manicure appointments for us for when I get there (the city after San Francisco which is where I go next) --Having friends along the tour route makes tour SO much more fun! --Having great READERS along the tour route is the best thing of all!
Remember, I'll be in LA today, San Francisco next, followed by Boulder, St Louis, Orlando, Miami, Memphis, and Wichita. Check out the details here and please come if you can!
--Ally
Greetings from Hollywood!Hello everybody! I write to you tonight from beautiful Beverly Hills where I am getting ready to order room service and trying hard not to look like Ellie May Clampet. Today was very fun, starting with a nice meet-and-greet with the fab folks at Di Novi Pictures who, as you'll remember, recently optioned Heist Society for film. I've spoken with the team there on the phone before, but this was my first chance to see the office and meet people face-to-face. Shauna Cross, Heist's awesome screenwriter, was also able to join us and afterwards we went to a GEORGOUS hotel right on the ocean for lunch and a little surf-gazing. So, so beautiful. Of course, Heist Society is just OPTIONED at this point, meaning that they aren't "making it into a movie" at the moment. They aren't casting or shooting or even talking to talent. What they're doing right now is working on the script and getting their ducks in a row in case the stars ever align and Warner Brothers does decide to put it into production. We're a long, long way from there, but nevertheless it was wonderful to finally put some faces behind the names and spend a little time getting to know these very smart, savvy women who love Kat and Hale and the crew as much as you and I do. Now I've got to order that room service and get cranking on Heist Society 2. Don't forget if you live in the area that I'll be at the Barnes and Noble in Glendale tomorrow night with Melissa de la Cruz and at the world-famous Vroman's the day after (also with Mel). Please come by, get a book signed, and have a great night! (Full details available under News & Events/Upcoming Appearances.) Til then, nighty night, everybody! Ally
Guest blog with Sarah Mlynowski!One of the best parts of this business is, without a doubt, getting to know other writers because most of them are smart, funny, and utterly, 100% made of awesome. Case in point: Sarah Mlynowski. Back when I was very first considering writing YA (when Love You Kill You was barely a gleam in my eye), one of the first books I picked up was Sarah's Bras and Broomsticks and instantly it felt like coming home. These were the types of books I was meant to be reading. And maybe...just maybe...they were the types of books I was meant to be writing. Now Sarah has a new book that examines one of my favorite things ever: what if. What if you hadn't gone to that dance... What if you hadn't answered the phone... What if you hadn't slept through the alarm... What would you life be like then. And what would you do to change it? In Gimme a Call Sarah's main character is thinking about those very things when she accidentally drops her cell phone into a wishing fountain and--boom--from that point on she can only call herself...or, more specifically, herself four years in the past.
Recently, Sarah and I were talking about our books and characters and we decided to play our own little game of what if. Here's how it went:
2. What if you were a witch, what would you wish for? Note to self: remind Sarah that women around the world spend millions of dollars and hours trying to have her exact hair!
And that goes double for all of you!
Happy reading, everyone and thanks, Sarah, for stopping by! Ally
Miniblog: One thing with the PlotmonkeysHey everybody! Just wanted to let you know that the Plotmonkeys were kind enough to host me as one of their "One Thing" authors today. Who are the Plotmonkeys and what's "One Thing", just click right here to find out.
Take care, Ally
Literacy for LifeHey everyone! As you all have hopefully seen by now I'm going on tour next week! Look for me in LA, San Francisco, Boulder, St. Louis, Orlando, Miami, Memphis, and Wichita. (Full list of cities, stores, dates, times, ect available HERE.) Whew. Did I get them all? I think I got them all. All of these signings are free and open to the public as far as I know, but please check the host store/location's website to doublecheck what their specific signing policies will be as they do vary. That being said, however, one of the events is a little bit different, and before I leave I thought this would be a good time to talk about it. As you might have noticed, the Orlando signing isn't at a regular bookstore. Instead, it's the official signing that takes place at the start of the Annual Romance Writers of America Convention. And instead of it just being me there will actually be about 500 authors in attendance. Yep. FIVE HUNDRED AUTHORS. But don't take my word for it, you can to to this site and look over the whole list and see people like Melissa de la Cruz, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Tera Lynn Childs, Simone Elkeles, Diana Peterfreund and many, many more! And not only that, but the signing is for a good cause too. Every year, RWA donates the proceeds from the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing to charity. This year, your sales will benefit ProLiteracy Worldwide, the Orlando Adult Literacy League, and the Nashville Adult Literacy Council. Again, there's no charge, but people who attend are strongly encouraged to buy books at the event if you can since, after all, it is all for charity. Doors open at 5:30 and close at 7:30 on Wednesday, July 28. The signing will take place in the Pacific Exhibit Hall in the Walt Disney Dolphin
Resort in Orlando. Thanks again, everyone, and happy reading! Ally
Live Chat TONIGHT with the Readergirlz!Hey everybody, EDITED TO SAY... The chat is now over! Big thanks to everyone who popped by and, especially, to the Readergirlz for hosting me tonight and all this month! If you missed the chat, click right here to read it all!
Thanks and happy reading! Ally
ps...I appologize if I disappeared toward the end. I had no idea Twitter had a usage limit and evidently I hit mine. I tried to log back in as @allychat but by that time almost everyone was gone. Again, sorry for thank and thanks to everyone who came!
Tour news and reminders!Hey everybody! Just a quick reminder that we are getting ready to be tour-rific here in Allyville over the next few weeks! The fun will kick off this Wednesday, July 14th at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central time with the official Readergirlz Chat! Now, the chat will technically take place at twitter.com, using the #rgz sign to keep all the tweets "together". This means that you WILL need a twitter account to ask a question or chat. However, you will NOT need an account to read the tweets that other people are posting. (Just go to my page, for example, www.twitter.com/officiallyally, and click on the #rgz tag to be taken to a list of all the tweets that people are posting for the chat.) After that, I'll have to pack my bag and head to the airport because it's tour time! We have A LOT of awesome events scheduled all around the country, including three with super author Melissa de la Cruz, one with hundreds of authors at the Romance Writers of America Convention, and a whole lot at amazing bookstores in really great cities. Check out the complete list here, and please note that we have one new addition--a second event in San Franciso. Nervous about going to a signing? Don't be. I have a handy list of Dos and Don'ts for author events right here. That ought to help. Thanks again for supporting me and the Gallagher Girls so completely. I hope to see you all somewhere on the road. Take care, Ally
Mini blog: more on foreign rightsHi everyone! For those of you who want to know more about foreign rights, the publishing biz, and, more specifically, why you can't buy an ebook in English in a foreign country, check out this post by my wonderful agent Kristin Nelson. Take care, Ally
A little something to say thanks...Hello, everybody! I have to begin today's post with a HUGE...THANK YOU!!!! Because I've gotten a couple of very exciting pieces of news today, all courtesy of you. It seems as if you guys made ONLY THE GOOD SPY YOUNG the fifth most purchased kids/YA book in the country last week (according to Bookscan)! And I just got word that you've put the Gallagher Girls back on the New York Times Children's Series Bestseller list! (a place, honestly, I thought I'd never see again.) So thank you. Thank you thank you thank you thank you. You--all of you--have changed my world and my life and I'll love you forever. Of course, I want to go to every one of your houses and bake snickerdoodles, but since that isn't technically possible (and since I really should be...ya know...writing) I thought I'd give you guys something else instead. What follows is a segment from the first draft of GG4 (it was from chapter one or two so it should be basically spoiler-free). The ice skating scene (that's in the finished book) actually didn't show up on the page until draft two or three. This is what was there instead. Of course, I don't like it nearly as well as the ice skating (cooler setting, better visuals, etc.) but it served its purpose in that early draft. Which is, of course, the job of the first draft. So it is with deep gratitude and tremendous affection that I give you...
An ONLY THE GOOD SPY YOUNG Deleted Scene: If you’re a teenage girl, and if you’re traveling out of the country without your parents for the very first time in your life, then you’re probably pretty used to having rules. If you’ve been sneaking out of your top secret spy school since you were in 7th grade, then you might not be used to following them. But this time, I knew was different. As I followed Bex’s mother down the narrow hall I heard my mother’s words coming out of Bex’s mother’s mouth. “Best to stay away from the windows,” she said. “Snipers,” I added. She nodded. “Of course that’s not The Circle’s pattern with you thus far, but these things do change, you know?” I did know. When we reached the door I saw Bex’s father standing at the window, staring out. “Everyone ready then?” he asked. When he spoke he looked like his daughter. They both had light brown eyes and they sparkled in the same way, but Bex most closely resembled her mother. And maybe that was why it was so strange to hear the words, “Cammie, love, we really don’t have to do this,” coming from the woman’s mouth. Bex didn’t worry. Bex didn’t warn. She’d been my best friend for years and I had never seen her wear such a grown-up worry. Some might say that was because we were far from grownups, but I knew better. By that point I knew a lot of things. “I’d really like to go,” I told her. “I won’t take any chances,” I said, practically pleading by then. “I’ll be…good.” Mrs. Baxter’s eyes were softer. “I know, dear.” Bex’s father peeked out the narrow window by the door. “Backup is in position,” he said. And then my best friend was beside me and her parents led the way out into the cold.
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