Happy Summer!

Hello, everyone! Or should I say Bon jour?

Ally here. As some of you may know, I recently went on a big European adventure. (Or…well…a moderately-sized European adventure.)

Thanks to my wonderful UK publisher, Orchard Books, I was able to visit London last month. We got to visit the Guardian offices where I recorded THIS interview. (Check it out if you want to hear me read from ALL FALL DOWN and talk a little about a whole lot of things.)

I also got to do some amazing stuff at the Orchard offices, AND…of course…I got to meet a lot of you!

Huge thanks to everyone who came out to the events at Waterstones in Piccadilly and Birmingham! They were such incredible events, and I’m so lucky to be published in the UK where there are such amazing readers.

But what many of you may not know is that after my “work” was done, I had the opportunity to go to France and “play” with wonderful author friends, Cassie Clare (and her awesome husband, Josh), Holly Black (and Holly’s husband and son), Sarah Rees Brennan, Kelly Link, and Marie Lu!

Despite writing many things set on the Mediterranean, I’d never seen it for myself. So imagine how excited I was to arrive and behold this:

It was so beautiful, and so inspirational. Every time I turned around I kept thinking THAT’S ADRIA!

(Actually, that’s the French city of Menton, and in the distance–that far hill–is Italy.)

Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games. While I was there I actually was able to sit down and finish SEE HOW THEY RUN!

It was an incredible experience, writing about Grace and Adria in a place where, whenever I would go for my daily walks, I’d see things like this.

Once or twice I even saw something like this. (Which, of course, made me want to yell, “Hale! Hale, I’m over here! Don’t rob the Casino de Monte Carlo without me!”)

Oh, and speaking of Monte Carlo, after SEE HOW THEY RUN was finished and I was officially allowed to vacation a bit, we went into Monaco one night and did the town.

Including, going to the palace (or as close to the palace as somoene who is afraid of heights-me-was able to walk on a really steep staircase that didn’t have much of a rail).

(Marie Lu, Holly Black, and Sarah Reese Brennan on the stairs to the palace in Monaco.)

SRB, as you can see, was not even a little bit afraid and proceeded to look like a super model on her climb.

(photo by Marie Lu)

The city was so cool, and the whole time I kept looking around, hoping that I got it right in Uncommon Criminals. (And, I have to say, I think I did okay.)

There were yachts and fancy stores and amazing old streets that curved up into the hills.

And, of course, no trip to Monte Carlo would be complete without a trip to the casino!

We kept waiting for James Bond (or W.W. Hale V) to show up, but we left disappointed on that front. (Marie and I did manage to win a roulette, though, so it was still totally worth it!)

(photo by Marie Lu)

Overall, it was just an amazing trip. After all, there was spectacular food.

(Photo by Marie Lu)

But, most of all, there were wonderful friends.

(Holly, Marie, and Sarah)

(Cassie and Josh)

It was truly the trip of a lifetime, and now I can’t wait to write even more books set in awesome locales so that I have even more of a reason to go visit myself.

I just wish I could take all of you with me!

Ally