Answers with Ally, volume 2

Back to the questions!

Did you make Josh's last name Abrams as a sort of tribute to J.J. Abrams (creator of Alias) or is that a fluke?

Well, I already answered this in the comments, but I’ll say again here for people who don't read comments. No. I didn't even realize it 'til you mentioned it (great catch!) so it’s just a fluke—but a fun one—right?

It was fun to see my hometown of Dayton, Ohio mentioned in the book. Spend any time there or did you just close your eyes and point to a map?

I’m not sure how Dayton came to be Anna Fetterman’s hometown (that is how it was mentioned, right?) I wanted a place that sounded very Main Street, USA, and Dayton fit with the narrative flow of the sentence. So did I do okay? Would Dayton turn out an Anna?

(By the way, Anna’s name was Wendy until the very, very end when I realized we had a lot of “ie” names—Cammie, Macey, and some others. I got afraid it might confuse, so we made some last minute changes.)

Do you plot out your books beforehand, or do you come up with it as you go along?

As I’ve said before elsewhere—and I hope this makes sense—I always know the story but I don’t always know the scenes. What that means is that I knew Cammie would start out normal, meet Josh, try to have a relationship with him, and so on and so on. Exactly where, when, and how all those things would happen came to me—and changed—along the way.

For book two, I’m doing a detailed outline and trying to hammer all that out early on in order to save time later. If I hit 85% with it I’ll be happy.

How much research was involved?

I’ve gotten this question a lot lately—and it’s a good one. When I think about the “spy” stuff in the book, I think it’s probably 50-50. Stuff like dead letter drops are real spy tools. Some of the specific things—like the names of textbooks or maneuvers—I made up.

And the big question…

What will the name of the sequel be and when will it be out?

Well, the title is TOP SECRET!!!! It has been encrypted by Mr. Mosckowitz, but sometime this fall I’m going to have a contest here where all you potential Gallagher Girls can ‘de-code’ it. The prize….well… the prize is pretty cool.

The publication date is TBA. As soon as I know for sure and get the green light I’ll pass it along!

More questions?

Ally