Ally Carter

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Influences

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Hi everybody,

Greetings from a plane on the way to NYC. I should be working, I know, but instead I’m going to take this time to write about something that has been on my mind a lot lately. Influences.

Not long ago I was talking with Jennifer Lynn Barnes about how people frequently read two books by two different authors and assume that one has “ripped off” or just been inspired by the other.

Then the oh so wise Holly Black pointed out that two authors writing similar things may not be influenced by each other but probably do have mutual influences back somewhere down the line.

For example, when I wrote the first Gallagher Girls book I hadn’t heard of Alex Rider. But there’s a very good chance both Anthony Horowitz and I had liked Bond, Bourne, and maybe even Alias. Or the old Get Smart show. Or Nancy Drew.

See? You don’t have to be influenced by the stuff that is out now. Most of us are too busy being influenced by stuff we have loved for decades.

So here it is. A big list of stuff that has influenced me.

In no particular order:

NANCY DREW
more specifically, THE SECRET OF SHADOW RANCH. I was a farm girl. I loved the outdoors and cattle and horses (even though we didn’t have any on our farm. Dad isn’t a horse guy.). Anyhow, this was the first book that I really felt a connection to. It was about a smart, feisty girl fighting crimes and solving mysteries ON A RANCH. I was sold.

DESIGNING WOMEN
This was a TV show that was on the air when I was a kid and I loved it. It too featured strong, smart, sassy women. But they weren’t just sassy and smart. They were also gracious and kind and genteel. They proved you didn’t have to be condescending to be smart, rude to be assertive. There might have still been a Gallagher Academy if it hadn’t been for this show, but it probably wouldn’t have had a Culture and Assimilation curriculum.

ROMAN HOLIDAY
When I was a kid we didn’t have cable or satellite but on weekends the PBS station would show old movies. Some of my greatest influences came to me that way.

The first I really remember was ROMAN HOLIDAY in the role that made Audrey Hepburn a star. A princess goes on the run with a newspaper man in Rome, looking to escape the pressures of her family business for one blissful day.

Lots of hilarious fish-out-of-water, covert hijinks, and very touching moments ensue.

GUYS AND DOLLS
Another old timey movie I saw on PBS was this classic take on a Broadway hit. A rogue of a gambler must woo a good girl to win a bet. Sound like my stuff to you? Because, in hindsight, it totally sounds like my stuff to me.

THE WILD ONES
A vastly misunderstood bad boy rolls into a small town. Yep. That is very Zach now that I think about it.

HOW TO STEAL A MILLION
Another Audrey Hepburn classic. Young woman must break into a museum to save her father? Uh…yeah. You could say that probably dug into my brain and gestated there.

TO CATCH A THEIF
Elegant retired cat burglar gets pulled out of retirement to catch a copycat in Monaco? Ditto above.

THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER
It wasn’t an old movie at the time, but when I first saw this one (in the theater? Or did we rent it? I don’t recall) I loved it. it was a movie about a girl living on a ranch and a young man who comes to work on that ranch even though the girl’s father is biased against him. Love (and awesome horse montages) follow.

*Note how many of these stories are–at their core–teen or YA stories even though that isn’t technically true. A lot of these characters are probably in their 20s, but they are tales of discovery or growing up or leaving home or becoming separate from your family or peer group… So much YA in what most people call adult.

ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
Do I really need to say anything more?

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN
Private school girl sneaks away from her overprotective world to date (and dance with!) a townie?! Yeah, I bet some part of little Ally’s brain was already writing LYKY during the nine thousand times she watched this one.

HARRY POTTER
Of course I read this later in life, but I was hugely influenced by Harry. These books reminded me that Little Ally used to fantasize about what it would be like to go to boarding school, that I would spend hours looking for hidden tunnels and passageways.

I also learned a lot about telling stories. For example, how essential it is that there is a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher every book. New characters = New conflict! Without that lesson, we may never have had an Aunt Abby or an Agent Townsend.

THE GREAT GATSBY
The content of this one isn’t that much like my stuff, I’ll give you, but what I learned from Gatsby was the importance of rhythm, how essential it is that words roll together, that they sound right even if they will never be read aloud. This is the first book I ever memorized whole passages to. And a lot of them I still remember.

SCARECROW AND MRS. KING
An old TV show from the 80s (I think). A Spy gets stuck with a very unlikely partner, a suburban housewife. Together they had to fight crime.

MOONLIGHTING
Before Bruce Willis was BRUCE WILLIS he was half of everyone’s favorite bickering odd couple on moonlighting. The first few seasons of this show especially taught me A LOT about character chemistry.

SHINING THROUGH
I loved this story of a young woman who must train to be a spy in Germany during WWII (and I think of it every time I take off my gloves. True story.)

And for the more recent stuff…

THE BOURNE IDENTITY
My favorite spy movie ever. It was so tight and smart and streamlined. It was the first time I ever saw a spy look at a map BEFORE heading out on a high speed chase. And for that I will always love him.

ALIAS
Of course Alias influenced GG because it reminded me–and everyone else–of the power of the spy girl genre.

THE OCEAN’S MOVIES
Ditto for Alias. I was probably no more influenced by these than anything else, but these came out closer in time to Heist. And they did what Alias did, they put the genre back on the map for me (and others) and for that I owe them a ton.

THOMAS CROWNE
Taught me that bored billionaires make excellent thieves. Also, that it isn’t fun to have a smart thief if you don’t have someone equally smart after that thief.

THE ITALIAN JOB
Taught me that heist movies are, at their core, movies about families.

I’m sure there are probably dozens more, but that’s all I’ve got off the top of my head. I will amend this later if you guys want me to.

In the meantime, I hope you liked it!
Ally

Comments

  1. I can’t believe how much things influence you. I mostly get influence from my dreams( I know crazy) but its true I’ve started writing two books that came from my dreams!! Actually, seeing the things that influence y favourite author make me think, THANK YOU!

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  2. Hiya! If you don’t think you can end the series in the last book without cutting it short, make a 7th book! Please! I would love 7 books or a really long 6th book rather than a normal sized 6th and final book that you aren’t completely happy with 🙂

    from my heart,
    Marian

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  5. It’s cool to hear some of the things that helped you make Gallagher Academy the way it is! Also the Heist Society books! 🙂

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  9. That’s so cool, Ally! Thanks for sharing! That sort of reminds me of this awesome book I’m reading right now. It’s called HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR (I know, I’m a total nerd), and there are a couple chapters about influences in stories. It’s really interesting.
    As a side note, I have never seen THE WILD ONES, but I’ve always pictured Zach (about 30-40 years from now) as the guy on PERSON OF INTEREST (not the computer geek, but the one with the amazing voice).

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  10. What a fun list! And I’m always happy to see The Great Gatsby on a list like this; it’s my favorite book. (I had an English professor in college ask me why and I told the truth: because I wish I’d written it. He said, “Don’t we all.” 😀 ) On the other hand, I can’t remember seeing a list like this before. But it’s very cool.

    One Audrey Hepburn movie I’ve felt very influenced by is Charade. All kinds of mistaken/cover identities and intrigue there, and I actually used one of her character’s tricks in an ill-fated WWII spy novel. In the unlikely event I ever decide to fix that novel, I plan to name a sequel Charade, even.

    Oh, and The Sting!

    And! And! And!

    Thanks for sharing 😉

    Oh, and RR—my 1st, 2nd and 9th (current) novels were inspired by dreams. Definitely not a bad place to start! And, strangely enough, the first one was inspired by the character of Jay Gatsby as portrayed by Robert Redford. Or maybe just Robert Redford in period costume. Whatever works.

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  11. I started watching “Alias” for the first time through this past week. I’m on Season 3. It’s so good!! I love it.

    Yeah, I can REALLY see some of the similarities. 🙂

    I’ll have to check out some of the other movies and such listed here. I’m sure they’ll be good.

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  13. I love all those influences, (even though the only one I know is Harry Potter, but I’ll have to check the rest out ) 🙂

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  15. I just downloaded a bunch of spy-girl books to read during vaca ( including some Jennifer Lynn Barnes books). I’m not really a great fiction writer, (don’t laugh), I prefer to write reports, essays or personal naratives.
    Happy Thanksgiving!!! Natalie/GallagherGirl

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  16. Goodness, that’s a lot of influences! I love The Mystery of Shadow Ranch too! I have an Applewood reprint of the orignal, so I read it whenever I don’t have new books waiting around to be read. I also like the bit you say about The Great Gatsby’s writing, how it should sound right even if it might not be read aloud. I also have been thinking a lot about what you said under Designing Women. It seems that my peers don’t really care about being gracious and kind, and I have been thinking about what makes a women strong and kind and beautiful, inside and out. I myself have been interested in manners, ettiquette, being gracious, graceful and the like. Thank you for taking the time to write thoughtful blog posts. =)

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  17. Thats a very long and great list of influences!!!!!! No wonder your books are so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love your work Ally!!!!!

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  18. Wow. I never imagined how many things influenced you Ally. I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan and i’m excited that he influenced you in your books.

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  19. AHH I love making random lists of stuff!!!! I am a terrible organizer but I always make lists!!!
    I love your books I think my favorite character is Liz…………Just because I used to be the smallest person in our school(before I grew)!!!! Anyone else??

    ~Gallagher Girl/ Hannah!<3

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  25. What about Catch Me if You Can? It’s one of my all time favourite movies, and I just love the Cop/Con chemistry. (On a side note, my absolute favourite is Moulin Rouge. Not just because of Ewan Mcgregor, even if it is one of the reasons, but because of the tragic love story.)

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  32. I love your selection of Nancy Drew and bourne identity. I have read all Nancy Drew books in the series. Including the secret of Shadow Ranch. I love the book.

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  33. Harry Potter is definitely one of my big influences. But who hasn’t been influenced by Harry? The Gallagher Gurl series makes me want to write spy novels and books about secret boarding schools. I haven’t gotten the chance to read Heist Society, though. You know what? You should try reading Lemony Snicket’s. They’re really good and totally unpredictable! I hate it when you read something that you can guess the ending to, don’t you? Great list, Ally!
    With All Due Respect,
    Mickayla

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  34. Isabel and Jordan McCollum, I am happy to realize I am not the only one who writes novels from dreams!! I know this sounds lazy, but I find it hard to think of topics, so dreams really help me if I can change them a bit and they make sense. Once I started writing a book, and what made me think of it was watching an iMovie trailer and it just kinda clicked in my mind. The story is nothin like the trailer though!! Also, not sure about anyone else, but i kinda like ending stories or chapters kinda dramatically. Anyone else??

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    • Any idea source is a good one! The only other trend I see in my idea sources is asking “What if?” when something interests me.

      And then my favorite follow-up question seems to be “What if . . . s/he was a spy?” 😉

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      • Haha that’s a good one!! It help when I’m trying to think of a topic next time. (But that might be a while because I’m *trying to* write quite a few books at the moment, and it will certainly take a long time) unless I just leave the ideas for a couple of years, which is probably what’s going to happen anyway

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  36. If there is going to be a Gallagher movie, Candice Accola should be Cammie and Logan Lerman as josh. Also I saw ur video for ur dream cast I thought u picked out the best zach! (:

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  37. Do you have anymore information on the Gallagher girls book 6 I can’t wait till it comes out I love them so much I couldn’t live without reading I am practically dying to know when the next book will come out all of the good books are coming out next year I can’t wait to read the next GALLAGHER GIRLS book #6

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  38. Alex Rider, Harry Potter, and the Gallagher Girls… Sounds a bit like my bookshelf. 😀 I love them all equally. They’re all just amazing. 😀

    I do imagine James Bond would be a bit of an influence for Alex Rider because Alex is constantly comparing himself to a young James Bond (even though Alex hates that idea).

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  40. I LOVE The Man from Snowy River! Iwas obsessed with that movie when I was young but now I just love it. Did you know that there’s a second one?!:

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  41. ALLY! I just read all the deleted scenes, and read CMH for the hundredth time! I LOVE GG SO EFFING MUCH!!!

    Actually, even HS 😛 But GG came first! Lol!

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  43. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Nancy Drew but my absolute favorite has ALWAYS been The Secret of Shadow Ranch! When I saw that was your favorite too I got soooo excited! lol

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  44. Wow that’s a lot of influences!!!!! That makes sense now cause i recently read two series and i thought one of them may have copied the other just a little a bit, but maybe you’re right!! Ooooooh, i saw the Alex Rider movie a little while ago cause my little brother is reading the book in class!! I thought the story line was really cool but the movie itself, in my opinion, was terrible!!!!!!

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  45. I am in a creative writing class, and I never really have thought of any of my influences.

    -Moonlight Sonata is definitely one of my #1 influences it makes process things and think more deeply.

    -In a screenplay I had to write it was about ESPIONAGE and guess who the inspiration was? That’s right, Ally Carter. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  46. I just love your list. Maybe it is because we are around the same age? Designing Women, Moonlighting and Girls Just Want to Have Fun. But seeing The Man from Snowy River made my nostalgic heart want to hug yours.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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