wow!

Wow! I knew you guys would come up with some good questions, but I never dreamed there'd be so many so fast!

I'd better get started answering them!

Briana said: Is it easy or hard to come up with a brand new adventure for characters you've already spent an entire book with?

• Yes and no. On one hand, I know the characters and I can feel them out a lot easier, but on the other, it's kind of a bummer because my first instinct for things has probably already been used up! I'll never get to describe the Grand Hall for the first time again, or the welcome back dinner, or any of those things that were so obviously necessary in the first book, so I have to go deeper. But deeper can be good.

How do you keep procrastination at bay while you're writing and trying to finish a novel?

• Unfortunately, I'm not really very good at that, and the hardest thing is knowing when you're procrastinating because you just don't feel like doing it and when you're procrastinating because what you're doing doesn't feel right. One you just have to plow through, but the other is a sign that you really do need to take a step back and evaluate where things stand.
  

Which character is your favorite and why?

• It depends on the day. When I'm feeling sassy I love Bex. When I'm moody I'm all about Cammie or Macey. The funniest character (for me) is Mr. Mosckowitz. The hottest is Mr. Solomon. Really, I love them all equally.

What new character are you excited to see fan reactions to?

• Well, there is someone in Cross My Heart who fits that bill, but I won't say the name. Not here. No way. You guys have to just wait.

If you could give aspiring authors one piece of advice, what would it be?

• Write. Really, that's all there is to it. Just write.

Little Willow said... Spies lie for a living. Does that mean they lie to themselves too?

• Absolutely. It's essential. The key--and something all spies (not to mention girls) struggle with--is knowing what's a lie and what's the truth.

Better required uniforms: Boy & Girl Scouts or Catholic schools?

• I never was a scout or a private school girl, but I've got to go with the plaid skirts on that one.

When you were Cammie's age, did you have a world-altering crush?

• Does Atticus Finch count? I think Atticus Finch should count.
  

Lara Zielin said... In writing for and trying to build your YA audience, have you found MySpace, Facebook and other social networking utilities to be super useful, or only somewhat so? Do you feel updating content and making “friends” there is a good use of your time or more of a black hole?

• My opinion about MySpace and those sites is pretty much my opinion on ALL promotional activities: do what you enjoy for as much time as you enjoy it and then get back to work. I think a lot of authors (and I was one of them for a while) put sooooo much pressure on themselves to be promotion machines. But that's not the job. The job is to write the best possible books we can write--if we do that, then I'm a firm believer that eventually, the rest will take care of itself.

laurie said... When are you coming to CT???? Haha, yes that is my question

• Hey Laurie, I'd love to come to CT but sadly I don't have anything planned at the moment. Sorry!

amandarene said... What has been your favorite memory so far as a published author?

• Tough one. The moment I got the call that my agent wanted to be my agent (I was sitting in my car at Sonic)...when I heard that Berkley wanted to publish Cheating at Solitaire (I was at the Kansas State University Alumni Center)...when my agent told me that Hyperion wanted to buy the Gallagher Girls books (I was in my kitchen, microwaving a burrito)...when I got the call that Love You Kill You was going to be a lead title (I was in a bathroom stall at a Farm Credit office)... Those were all pretty good moments.
  

Kim said... When are you coming to St. Louis?!

• It's funny you should ask because I actually have a trip to St. Louis planned for December. It's not a "book" trip but I've been wondering if we should maybe try to set up a signing while I'm there. What do you guys think?

When you are walking down the street or at a store or something do you ever see a person that looks exactly like one of your characters? If so, what do you do?

• Actually, I don't think this has ever happened.

Have you ever thought of coming up with a movie page (like the one Stephenie Meyer has) and announcing what actors and actresses you would like the see in the movie, if there is one?

• I've blogged about it before, but I haven't put up an official page yet. Maybe I will someday. That's a fun idea.
  

Where did you get your inspiration for your characters? Namely, Macy and Cammie?

• Cammie was always kind of there. I didn't consciously think about her--I just sat down and wrote the line, "I guess most girls feel invisible sometimes" and that was just HER. She was the invisible girl and Josh was going to be the boy who saw her.

• As for Macey, she wasn't meant to stick around. I wanted to have the "code red" to show how the school had been able to stay hidden in plain sight for so long, and to do that there had to be a tour, and to have a tour you had to have a girl with some really powerful parents and no other educational options and voile, you get Macey. Now, of course, she's one of my favorites. Thank goodness my agent, Kristin Nelson, said "you've GOT to keep Macey!" She was right.

Anonymous said...Have you ever looked back at something you've written (recently) and HATED it?

• Uh...does last night count? Or the night before that? Or pretty much any working day of my entire life? You will ALWAYS be your worst critic. In fact, I've had a copy of Cross My Heart since Saturday and I haven't cracked the spine--I don't dare because I know I'll hate it and there's not a thing I can do about it now.

• Incidentally, I have been re-reading bits of LEARNING TO PLAY GIN lately. I've been away from that book for a while now--long enough to have forgotten how it sounded in my head before, so now I can read it like everyone else does. And, surprisingly, it's pretty good.

Thanks for the great questions, guys!

-Ally