17

Seventeen things you may (or may not) know about the Gallagher Girls books.

1. The arena at my alma mater, Oklahoma State University, is called Gallagher-Iba Arena, and it's routinely recognized as one of the toughest places for visiting teams to play. It's a very historic building, and I love going to games there, so when it came time for me to name the school where smart girls learn teamwork and defense, then that was the only name I ever considered.

2. The first line of Love You Kill You was the first thing I ever wrote for the book and--through all the drafts--it never changed even a single syllable.

3. I chose some of the girls' last names to make it easier for you to remember who is who when the teachers call them Ms. ____. For example, Bex Baxter, Eva Alvarez. I don't know if it works or not, but that was the general idea.

4. Mr. Solomon's codename is "Wise Guy" based on King Solomon who was known for his amazing wisdom.

5. Cammie spends her summers on a ranch because a. that's the most un-spy-like place I could think of and b. that's something I know a lot about.

6. The pharmacy in Roseville is based off of the pharmacy in the town where I used to live where I used to eat lunch a lot on the days when I'd write at the library.

7. I have A LOT of cousins, and I used one of their names in CROSS MY HEART. Now, I've been given orders that I have to use ALL of my cousins' names in future books (so far, three make an appearance in GG3.)

8. LYKY is dedicated to a wonderful woman who was a great friend of my sister's. She worked for the CIA and the Justice Department and ran marathons and was genuinely kind to everyone, and it is a great, great tragedy that she passed away about the same time that I had the idea for the Gallagher Girls. She was very much on my mind at that time, and I think there's a great deal of her spirit that made it onto the page.

9. CMH is dedicated to my two nieces.

10. The Gallagher Mansion is filled with secret passages partly because I thought it made sense, and partly because Cammie needed them to exist, but mostly because ever since I was a little girl I've really, really, really wanted to live in a house with secret passages.

11. Originally, Macey was only going to show up for the Code Red, but she wasn't going to stick around. Thankfully, my agent, Kristin Nelson, forbade me from letting Macey leave.

12. Like Cammie (and Josh), I completely, totally, 100% prefer waffles to pancakes (even though Mom will no doubt point out--again--that it's the same batter!)

13. Cammie's eyes change color depending on what she's wearing. (And so do mine.)

14. Like Liz, I absolutely LOVE studying with flashcards.

15. Like Anna Fetterman, I once gave myself a bloody nose while opening a can of Pringles.

16. I cut seventy pages out of Love You Kill You during the editing process (and ended up with twice the book).

17. Cross My Heart went through about four different PLOTS--yes, entire plots--before I finally found the center of the story.



--Ally