Magnificent Answer Monday

Hi Everyone!

A few weeks ago I asked you to send in your questions for Ally, and today I am going to post some of the questions and her answers!

Can you describe See How They Run in one word?

INTENSE!

 

What book was the most fun to write?

I’m sure I probably hated every single one of them at one point or another in the process, but as far as just the sheer glee of it, I’m going to have to say the first draft of Love You, Kill You. It got much, much harder and more stressful when I started revisions, but up until that it was a lot of fun! (Probably because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.) Ignorance truly is bliss.

 

What is your favorite spy/ secret agent movie? Mine is all the Mission Impossible’s- I just LOVE Tom Cruise lol

I love the Mission Impossible movies too! But I think probably my all-time favorite—the movie that every time I watch it I remember how absolutely perfect it is—has got to be THE BOURNE IDENTITY. Such a tight, well-told story. Every scene matters.

 

Do you enjoy going to book signings and meeting all of your super fans?

Of course! Meeting readers is absolutely one of the best parts of my job! You guys are always so smart and nice and funny. I truly get to write for the best readers in the world.

 

I have noticed that you write a lot of things relating to governments, Did you ever wish to work for the government as a politician or police or spy, ambassador etc.?

Mmm. I’m not sure! I think part of it is that Washington, D.C. is one of my favorite cities and I spent a few summers there in college, so, obviously, I’m drawn to the power of that city, and that power is based in the government. So…maybe?

 

Are there any United We Spy deleted scenes that we could read?

Possibly someday. I’ll have to spend some time going through the files to see what is in there, and if any of it is something I’d let see the light of day. (For the most part, things are cut for a reason! And the reason is that it just isn’t good enough.)

If Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy was the hardest book for you to write, what was the easiest book to write?

In a way, this is a lot like “which book was the most fun” (answered above), but in other ways it isn’t. So I guess while Love You, Kill You was sheer fun (because I didn’t know all the plethora of things I was doing wrong in the first draft which I would have to fix later), I think GG3, DON’T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER, was probably the easiest.

Having had the terrible experience of Cross My Heart I was due an easy book, and somehow I got one. Somehow that conflict and those character arcs were incredibly clear to me from the beginning. I think GG3 had maybe three complete drafts? And it changed very, very little throughout that process.

 

If you weren’t an author, what would be your job/hobby?

I’d probably still be an agricultural economist, helping farmers and ranchers with the business aspects of farming and ranching.

 

Would you consider writing in a different genre like fantasy or sci-fi?

Probably not. I’m a big believer that you should write what you like to read. While I will occasionally pick up a genre novel, that isn’t where my heart lies, and when authors write things they aren’t passionate about, it shows. I’ll leave the genre novels to the people who do it incredibly well.

 

If you were to have a party at your house with characters from your books, which ones would be at the top of the guest list and what would that party look like? (games, activities, food, etc…) Also, if you could invite three other characters from books not written by you as special guests, who would they be?

This is too much pressure! I suppose I’d have to invite the primary casts from all three series! And as for other special guests? Hermione Granger, Atticus Finch, Elizabeth Bennett, and Effie Trinket.

 

What is your favorite city that you’ve visited? What city would you like to visit?

I always really enjoy London, and I’d love to go to Paris. Or just anywhere in Hawaii.

 

What would your code name be?

Farmgirl.

 

What is your favorite thing to bake?

It’s almost impossible to pick just one thing!?! But if I have to, I’d say pie. Any kind of pie.

 

Thanks for the questions, everyone! This was fun!

Ally

 

Have a great week!

Shellie