–I walked four miles tonight. Why do I always forget that the first two miles are the HARD miles? The last two are all endorphins and calorie burning. So why do I stop at two usually? Why? Why? Why?
–I need new glasses. This is both exciting and terrifying. Fortunately, I have given glasses proxy to Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I find that, in situations like this, just telling someone else to make the decision is best.
–I don’t know any details yet, but it does look as if there will be a tour for the release of Uncommon Criminals. It will probably be a relatively short tour, and I don’t have any dates or cities yet. I also won’t get to have a say in the cities. All any of us can do is cross our fingers. I’m sure that, wherever I go, it will be great because it always is.
–I’ve made a lot of progress on the first draft of Gallagher Girls 5 in the past three weeks. Unfortuantely, I still have a looooong way to go both in figuring-out-what-happens terms and in getting-the-words-right terms, but at the very least I’ve figured some things out. It is probably the most complex GG book yet, but that’s all I can really say. Nevertheless, I have hope that we will be able to have the book in stores in early 2012 as planned.
–Thanks for understanding my reasons for not holding the widget contest again. I haven’t yet decided what to do in its place, so keep leaving those suggestions and checking back for updates.
–Evidently there’s a link somewhere that says that some people have been cast in the Heist Society movie. As far as I know, that is not the case. Of course, it could totally happen that they WOULD cast people and not tell me because for the most part authors aren’t involved in the process. But in this case I feel pretty certain that link is wrong and no casting decisions have been made (or will be made in the immediate future).
–And since I mentioned the movie I should probably give the usual disclaimers: 1. I have no voice in the movie-making process. Authors in general are not involved in that. 2. Having open casting tryouts is incredibly rare, but IF they do move on to casting and IF they have open auditions and IF I know about it I’ll post it here on the blog and in my newsletter. If you want to be notified you can sign up for the newsletter and get all the news.
–I hope everyone is keeping all of the people in Japan in our thoughts and prayers and donating what you can to the various relief organizations that are working there. (I gave to shelterbox.org) If memory serves, Japan was the first country outside the US to publish the Gallagher Girls, and I’ve had the best time working with everyone there. They need us now, and I hope we can do our part to help our sisters on the other side of the world.
–Hey, I’ve got an idea, what about instead of the Widget contest we do some kind of fundraiser/charity drive? How would it work? No idea. Just spitballing ideas here. You guys tell me what you think.
Have a great weekend!
–Ally
Mindy Borth says
March 19, 2011 at 3:54 pmI think the charity idea is a great one!
KellyScanlon says
March 19, 2011 at 4:15 pmI love the charity/donation idea!
Renee1 says
March 19, 2011 at 5:15 pmA fundraiser would be awesome… it is devastating what happened to those people in Japan. A fundraiser would most certainly help :^) Praying for Japan as if my life depends on it, and for all I know… maybe it does. I’m really excited about the Uncommon Criminals release, and I am trying to be as patient as possible. I am so excited about Gallagher Girl book 5, and I am forever glad to hear of progress… it makes me happy (and lots of times happy leads to *happy dancing*) Fingers crossed that you come to Portland, Oregon! We need you out here Ally 😀 I just let my friend borrow the GG books and she loves them… next she will be borrowing Heist Society. Supporting Japan, and wishing nonstop for no more stuff to blow up and explode.
Miki says
March 19, 2011 at 5:18 pmI’m also keeping Japan in my thoughts, and trying to find a way to raise money for them. My teacher used to live in Japan, and his wife is from Japan, so his family is pretty down right now. A fundraiser sounds like a great idea, allthough, I dont have an idea as to how it would work either. 🙂
KO says
March 19, 2011 at 6:46 pmoooo…
a tour??? Hopefully you can stop by in my town of Escondido in SoCal -hinthint-
personally i hope the HS movie doesn’t come out for a looonnng time. I mean its cool to see one of your fav books on the big screens, but i always end up ranting about parts they excluded. Picky i guess is what they call me xp
Anyway what happened in japan is truly devastating…Japan’s always been one of my favorite countries and I planned to visit there when im older. I think your idea is truly brilliant, and i would love to participate in that contest 🙂
Tavrie says
March 19, 2011 at 6:53 pmI think you should come to Penn State University, I live close to their and it would be awesome.Im really devastated about Japan and everything that they lost their and We all should all help. Especially prayers and support. Also I want to know about GG5 and Uncommon Criminals! I want to know when GG5 comes out and the title of it as soon as you know!!!! I luv your books they are amazing!
Your awesome Fan,
Tavrie
alexandra says
March 19, 2011 at 7:08 pmyeah PLEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSE COME TO NORTH CAROLINA! I RELLY WANT 2 SEE U THAT WOULD BE ASOME! AND THE COMMENT ABOVE this sydeny cool i found a person from north carolina who will read these books(GG HS)! YEAH
Also i was wondering if anyonw had any advice to aproblem im having! see i have asked all of my friend to read the GG series and no one will and now im mad and sad because i relly wnat to talk about GG4! especily the ending of the book!I have no clue why they won read the book and i no one of my friends wouldLOVE HS AND GG! ugg!
-Alexandra! from North carolina
Kayli Strawn says
March 19, 2011 at 8:23 pmI would so luv it if u came to riverside for a book signing I have all of ur books that are already out ive read each one atleast 100 times!U will always be my favorite author!I luv reading and writing and I wrote a book cuz you are my inspiation at the time and you still are!You made my imagination go wild so I used the magunation that you created to make a book!I havent decided if i wanna publish it but i might!I used to blog on here 24/7 but when I got Heist Society I read it all the time and so I eventually stopped blogging and now that im on today its soo much different but a good different!!!Thanx sooo much for being a great writter!
Ur fan,
KaYlI
Salwa says
March 19, 2011 at 8:42 pmIt’s so terrible what happened to Japan! My friend moved there a week before the earthquake+tsunami, but thankfully she was on the other side of the country. I hope you come to Orlando! I know you don’t have any say, though. I went to see you once! It was awesome!
Samah says
March 19, 2011 at 9:25 pmEureka! I’ve got it! I’ve had the ultimate brain wave! What if we made heist crafts (bracelets, necklaces, bookmarks, door hangers, posters, ect.) and emailed the pics of them to u, and u can pick the winner(s), and if u sell them all of the funds go to Japan to help!!!!
Sarah says
March 19, 2011 at 9:37 pmWhat if we designed some sort of Gallagher Girl bracelet, or t-shirt or something and then add like two dollars onto the price of making it (cause we can’t donate the whole price since someone has to pay for it in the end) really just anything added to the original price can be donated to charity. The person with the design you pick for it gets a prize or something. Just an idea 🙂
Anna says
March 19, 2011 at 9:41 pmHow would the charity drive work? Because i’m 14 and i don’t have a credit card. Anyways it’s a nice thought that you got part of gg5 done! Have a nice weekend ally!!!
Em says
March 19, 2011 at 10:55 pmso ally, im a big fan of spys and mystry and crime etc. im trying to find some classic spy novels to reed or some mystry but i dont know where to start. im lookin gof the classic classics or the modern stuff, any age adult or teen. any suggestions? thanks ally
Michelle A. says
March 19, 2011 at 11:27 pmOkay, 5 things:
1. It’s great to hear news about GG5! Go Ally!!!
2. 2 miles is honestly just too long sometimes, I definitely understand…blah.
3. there’s a movie? wha?
4. Yay fundraiser! I’m for it!
5. My idea! What if had a t-shirt designing conest (done before i know) but we could sell the shirts for like, $5? That way you sell a lot of the shirts that go to a good cause! Just a thought
<3.michelle a.
Anonymous says
March 20, 2011 at 12:15 amFundraiser Idea is awesome!
Hannah says
March 20, 2011 at 12:38 amI really like this idea! Yeah, it’d be fun and we’d be helping people.
Elise says
March 20, 2011 at 1:07 amOhhhhh! What kind of fund-raisy-thingy? I have a friend who is in Japan right now in one of the places where it was hit the worst. I’m really worried about her. She is there to teach English! Woot! I hope she doesn’t get hurt!
Sydney says
March 20, 2011 at 2:44 amThank you for comment we need more north carolinians to want Ally here and she could be able Rockne with enough replys. I’m having same problem but one friend had asked o read them ureter who did read with me moved so I only have one friend but she not as big a fan as me that’s y I like this website people like me who love the books. My idea is evrytime sum1 writes comment on a blog we give 25cents to jApan so many fans could help and that makes this site more effective. Waking for UC cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous says
March 20, 2011 at 2:48 amok i have an idea see i read two comments about makeing bracelets and t-shirt for the GG AND HS book i think thats an asome idea! what if that was this years contest see every one make things for the books and donate the money two japan and how about the top ten people how erned the most money the top two would win a book that Ally signed and the other 8 would get something !!!!!!:D
ANYWAYS In school we r doing this relly cool project about natrul disater!See im in 6th grade and what we r going our teacher even said is a 9th grade project! its sooooo much fun so what we hav 2 do iswe pick a natrul disaster mine tornado and then we right down how you prepare for the natrul disaterthen you have to make a company up and name it ours dont lagh is N.D.P.A Natrul Disater Protection Agencey and then make a symbol and tell wat your agencey does thenhow u get money your stock then after alt more stuff one person inyour two-person gruop has 2 be a reporte and ask the other questions about the agencey i know it seems very long ow and plus u hav 2 give it infront of the hole school!well its alot of fun!!!!!
well DANG THIS COMMENT GOT LONG ANY WaYSALLY IF U EVER CAN COME 2 NORTH CAROLINA! thank Ally
-Alexandra
Anna says
March 20, 2011 at 2:51 amI love the charity idea! I think that’s really nice =)
Anonymous says
March 23, 2011 at 9:13 pmMaximum Ride. It’s not a mystery but it’s really funny.
It’s by James Patterson. Read them. They’re awesome.
BookSnob says
March 20, 2011 at 3:30 pmAg! Glasses are SO HARD TO FIND. Good luck!!
Samah says
March 20, 2011 at 4:56 pmMy friend lives in japan but she and her family didn’t get hurt (thank goodness!). It would be awesome if we could help her country out 😉
Kristin says
March 20, 2011 at 10:00 pmheyyy im a 7th grader and i love these book but i was really wondering if there are going to be any movies based on these books. I do my language arts projects one these book each nine weeks and i love them soooooo much. A movie would make it even better:)
<3 always,
Kristin
Katie says
March 21, 2011 at 12:14 amally has said alot of times that the hiest society movie is optioned and might be made, and at the moment, there are no plans for gg movvies
Krystle says
March 21, 2011 at 1:34 amMy brother has been making t-shirts for Japan and is currently selling them for 17 dollars. The profits are going to Japan… He is the LTG for Key Club in our district in Cali. ^.^
Here it is if anyone wants to see it:
http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd425/darrenk3/shirt2.jpg?t=1300662946
Morgan says
March 21, 2011 at 2:51 ami hope you come to california and so excited about GG5!
Samah says
March 21, 2011 at 3:34 pmNancy drew, Alex rider (amazing!!), and if i think of anymore I’ll post them… Its hard to think of them off of the top of my head. Alex rider is one of my favorite series’s ever!!!! It’s amazing, and it’s the series that inspired me to write
BookSnob says
March 21, 2011 at 7:22 pmIf you’re looking for a classic spy novel, John Le Carre’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is about as classic as you can get. Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Identity is amazing, but, way more adult than the movie. Um, you could try Daniel Silva’s The Kill Artist, but that’s definitely for grown-ups (read: I’m not exactly old enough.) Jennifer Lynn Barnes does this spies-posing-as-cheerleaders series called The Squad.
My advice is to take the title of a book you know you like, put it in Amazon and look through the recommendeds. Works like a charm.
Leah says
March 21, 2011 at 7:59 pmLook, we all want her to come to our state, but poor Ally can’t chose where she goes.
Leah says
March 21, 2011 at 8:00 pmOh, that would be great! Good idea!
Leah says
March 21, 2011 at 8:01 pmGood idea! Clothing and jewelry designs are good ideas. They sell for a lot, and they’re cute, too!
carey says
March 21, 2011 at 8:29 pmhey ally! i love the fundraiser idea for japan, no idea how it would work, but i love it. My brother is in the navy, and he was over there when the tsunami hit, so i think its great! hope to see you on your tour, me and my friends would love for you to come to some place close to Louisville, KY!!!
alexandra says
March 21, 2011 at 8:57 pmHey everyone !
latly this week i have been reading alot! i read 5 books in one weekend!i was raeding these candyaplle books their relly good not as good as all the HS and GG books but u get the point well anyways today in school we took the EOQ reading torture i hate those!ugg u dont even have to make them up if your sick or gone that day werid
Ally I am so excited to hear about GG5! yeah!!!!!!!!and the tradgaty in japan i cant belive it but i love all the funraseing ideas for it 🙂 also how forever21 is donating all online sstuff the money goes so japan and this other website i like its um likeface book but your a person ts called weeworld they said if u adopeda (fake online computer) dog that they would donate alot of money! yeah i wish i could do more!:(
if i fundraise at school i cuold get expeled thats a rule
sooooooooo stupid i know
thanks ally!
-alexandra
Leah says
March 21, 2011 at 11:38 pmThats really dumb how you can’t fundraise at school. Then again, the school board isn’t exactly the smartest part of school, are they? Our school always has these little water gallon bucket things where you can’t just put spare change at lunch in it. We had one for the “prevention of birds crashing into windows” or something, and now we have one for Japan.
sarah says
March 25, 2011 at 2:59 amI want one! where can I get it???
Krystle says
March 27, 2011 at 5:32 amhttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=210184842329635
There’s info there :]
Krystle says
March 29, 2011 at 4:14 amhttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=205210356172804
I think that this is it… sorry if I’m wrong
Kristin says
March 31, 2011 at 6:52 pmthose t-shirts look amazing, expecially since they are for a great cause. but they really do look awesome.
-Kristin
nat says
April 7, 2011 at 2:29 amoff the top of my head if you like horror-mystery agatha crystie is your girl one of my faves ‘and then there were none’ is really good! and freaky! theres also ‘H.I.V.E’ it stands for higher institute of villinous education its a school training kid villians also really good! iv been tying to get my hands on jennifer lynn barnes’ squad books they look soooo awsome then of course the obvious alex rider!
GG forever