Ally Carter

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Magnificent Monday, Ally edition

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Hi everybody!

It’s Ally here. On a Monday! I know that’s going to freak you out, and I apologize. Shellie and her family are out-of-pocket for a couple of weeks, so you guys are just going to have to make do with me!

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what you guys might like to hear about today, but I decided to treat you to a little sneak peek at something instead!

As most of you know, I have a short story in the upcoming holiday anthology, MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME.

My story is called “Star of Bethlehem” and here is a little taste!

I hope you like it.

 

“Well, look at you!” The woman held me at arm’s length. “You changed your hair.”

I thought back to the short blond locks on the girl in the airport. The girl with the accent. The girl from Iceland. The girl these people were evidently waiting for.

I felt myself starting to panic, needing to run . . .

“You look so different from your picture,” the woman said, and I managed to breathe.

The girl these people had evidently only seen in pictures.

Maybe they wouldn’t get suspicious, call security. The police. Maybe I could just bide my time and slip away quietly and . . .

“Well, what am I doing hogging all the hugging? Ethan!” the woman yelled. She looked around, and I followed her gaze to the boy who was walking around the corner.

He wore Wranglers and boots and a plaid shirt heavy with starch. Until then, I’d thought boys like him only existed on the covers of romance novels. He must have been shocked by the looks of me, too, because he stopped short, frozen in the process of sliding a phone back into his pocket. Hulda’s words came back to me:

I don’t love him.

My other boyfriend.

“Ethan!” the woman yelled. “She’s here!”

I started to spin, but I was too late. He was already there. Looking at me. I could see the truth playing across his face, the realization that I was not an Icelandic girl name Hulda. I was not his girlfriend.

“It’s . . .” The boy started, and mentally I filled in the blanks.

An imposter!

A liar!

A fraud.

He moved closer.

“So good to see you!” the boy said.

And then he kissed me.

 

I hope you guys enjoyed the excerpt! If you did, please check out the full anthology. MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME will  be in stores October 14, 2014. And it is available for preorder now!

 

-Ally

 

 

United We Spy Chapter 1

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Hi All!

Thank you all for being so patient!

And as promised here is your super awesome super long excerpt…..United We Spy Chapter One !!!!!!

Enjoy!

 

xoxo,

Shellie

P.S. Did you know you can follow Ally on Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter ?!?!

P.S.S. Don’t forget to send your fan art to [email protected] for Fan Art Fridays!

Magnificent Monday Excerpt!

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Hi All!

I had a crazy week last week and didn’t get your questions to Ally until yesterday so…..I won’t have answers until later this week!

But to make it up to you I am going to give you an excerpt from United We Spy!

It was dark when the jet finally landed. I’m sure I must have slept on the long ride over the Atlantic, but I didn’t really remember. I just stared out the window: watching, thinking, waiting for something, but what, I didn’t know.

On the tarmac, Agent Townsend whispered something to Abby, then squeezed her hand and kissed her softly when he didn’t think we were watching. But we’re Gallagher Girls. To tell you the truth, we are always watching.

Abby let him go, her eyes a little misty. And I couldn’t help myself—I thought about Zach. He was out in the world somewhere. And a part of me worried that I might never see him again.

Love you guys ; )

I will have answers later this week so check back!

Have a good week!

xoxo,

Shellie

P.S. I think it would be fun if you guys would send in pictures of your Ally books in fun & interesting places (the beach, farm, Eiffel Tower, etc.). I will do special postings of the pictures here and on Ally’s Tumblr page. Send pics to [email protected] !!!!

Wednesday Mission Winner!!

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Hi All! I am so glad so many of you participated in Monday’s Mission!

The answer was: “When you grow up in a house full of spies, you grow accustomed to silence.”

This was taken from Out of Sight, Out of Time page 225.

Languages used were French, Swedish, Dutch, Latin, and Spanish.

I also accepted: “When you grow up in a house full of spies you grow used to silence.”

 

And the winner is…..

Ruby A. says:

The phrase translates to: When you grow up in a house full of spies, you grow accustom to silence.

Congratulations Ruby A.!!!

Please send me your mailing address to [email protected]!

 

And because I am feeling really generous I am also going to send a booklet to the person who had the first correct answer….

Lane says:

When you grow up in a house full of spies, you grow accustomed to silence. -Cammie, OSOT, page 225

Congratulations Lane!!!

Please send me your mailing address to [email protected]!

See you all next week!

xoxo,

Shellie

 

Magnificent Monday Mission Giveaway!!!

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Hey Everyone!

This week I have an AWESOME Prize!!!!!!

It is a Limit Edition Excerpt Booklet with the first 9 CHAPTERS of United We Spy!!!!

united we spy excerpt book

How do you win this AWESOME prize????

By solving this super tricky phrase:

LPVIY QJPN BMVIYDNNZU D ZOO CPN QJG NKDJIIZI OZ XMZNXZMZ VXJNOPHWMVYJN VG NDGZIXDJ.

First you will need to do a Caesar Cipher and shift the letters to the right 5 spaces.

Second you will have to translate to English from 5 different languages. (Words are grouped together in phrases so they will translate correctly)

Third you should have a 15 English word count as your final answer.

As usual, I will hold all comments for 48 hours, winner will be chosen randomly from correct responses, only US residence can win but please feel free to comment and just state commenting for fun!

Also, this time around I will allow comments that are tips or encouragement for each other! I know all the Gallagher Girls work better as a team!

Good Luck!!!!!

xoxo,

Shellie

P.S. I might even get Ally to sign it before it is mailed ; )

P.S.S. Don’t forget to send your artwork into [email protected] for Fan Art Friday on Ally’s Tumblr page.

P.S.S.S. I changed one of the words as someone pointed out I had one of the letters wrong!!! NKDJIIZI is the correct word!

 

Magnificent Monday Mission Giveaway!

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Hey Everyone!

I had so much fun reading all your responses to last weeks post! And now I know how to turtle or panda someone!

This week I have a mission for you all.

Try to figure out what GG BOOK & PAGE NUMBER this excerpt is from:

“I thought rules were made to be broken,” I said, confused at first but growing angry. “I thought being a spy was rules-optional,” I said, throwing her own words back at her.

 

I will pick a winner randomly from all the correct answers. I will hold all Comments/Answers for 48 hours and then I will pick a winner. Winner will be chosen on Wednesday at 8am central time.

Winner will receive a SIGNED copy of the GG book this excerpt is from!!!!

Also, check back for a Super Special announcement TOMORROW!!!!

Have a great week!

xoxo,

Shellie

P.S. I added page number to make it more difficult!!!!

P.S.S. Only US residents can be named as a winner, but feel free to comment, just let me know you are not eligible just commenting for fun!

Magnificent Monday 1 Day Left!!!

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Hi Girls!

Only 1 day left before PERFECT SCOUNDRELS is available!!!! To get everyone excited I have an excerpt to share!

Kat had to wonder for a minute what that would feel like–homework and uniforms, walks home with nice boys offering to carry your bag. That was her life once. Almost. But Hale had gotten her kicked out of Colgan School, pulled her back into her own world, just like now he’d been pulled back into his.

“So why are you here, Kat?” Nick asked.

“Maybe I was craving waffles.”

“Kat…” He let her name draw out. “I’m pretty sure this is the part where you tell me you need my help to steal an emerald.” He laughed. “Or rob the Henley…”

Kat’s face stayed blank, but something in her eyes must have shifted, because Nick tensed,

“No.” It was like he’d read her mind, because he was already shaking his head, saying, “No. No. No.”

 

Ally will be going on tour so catch her in your area if you can! Here is her schedule:

February 5: 7 PM event at Blue Willow (Houston, TX)
February 6: 6:30 PM event at Murder By the Book (Houston, TX)
February 7: 7 PM event at Changing Hands (Phoenix, AZ)
February 9: 12 PM event at Indigo Yorkdale (Toronto, Canada)
February 10: 2:30 PM event at Mysterious Galaxy (Redondo Beach, CA)
February 11: 7 PM event at Barnes & Noble (Glendale, CA)
February 12: 7 PM event at Powell’s Books (Beaverton, OR)
February 13: 7 PM event at Joseph-Beth (Cincinnati, OH)
February 15: 6 PM event at Schuler’s Books (Lansing, MI)
February 16: 7 PM event at St. Louis County Library with Victoria Schwab, author of The Archived (St. Louis, MO)—Book sales by Barnes & Noble
You can sign up for text alerts for when Ally is in your area? Message & Data rates may apply.
xoxo,
Shellie
P.S. don’t forget to send all your fan art to [email protected] so I can post on Ally’s Tumblr page for Fan Art Fridays!

Magnificent Mondays

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Hi Girls!

I hope everyone is having a magnificent Martin Luther King day!

I want to start off by introducing myself and letting you know that I will be taking over Molly Mondays. But I am renaming it Magnificent Mondays since my name is Shellie!

I have a lot of fun things planned but I also want to hear from you and what you would like to see.

This site is for Ally Carter fans and we want you all to enjoy it and to visit it often. So please leave me comments and I promise I will read them and do my best to fulfill your requests.

We are bringing back Fan Art Friday so please email your fantastic artwork to [email protected] so I can start filling up Ally’s Tumblr page with it!

My something fun for my first Magnificent Monday and because Double-Crossed is in wide release tomorrow is a mini excerpt!

She wasn’t a thief; of that much Hale was almost sure. But she wasn’t your typical society girl either. Her steps had too much purpose; her blue eyes moved around the room with too much precision. She reminded him far more of the girls in the world he’d chosen than the girls in the world he’d been born to, and that was why he knew that he shouldn’t let her study him too closely. That maybe she might see a little too much.

I can’t wait to start hearing from all of you!

xoxo

Shellie

A Double-Crossed mini excerpt!

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Because I’m in the mood…

A Double-Crossed mini-excerpt! Look for the FULL thing in about a month!

 

Quietly, Macey went through her options. Even though the masked men were asking for cell phones, the gunmen were making so much noise that she was sure someone had already called 911. The obvious exits were blocked, and the elevators had no doubt been disabled. The men moved with confidence and order, but they weren’t trying to be quiet. There was nothing covert at all about this operation.

Unlike the boy beside her.

 

Double-Crossed: A Spies and Thieves story, available for FREE on January 22, 2013.