Ally on writing

I know some writers come here (hey, writers!) But I also know that most of the people who visit this site are readers only (hey, readers!) So I try not to go on and on about writerly things, but tonight I’m making an exception.

You want to know why?

I went to see THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA.

Now first I should admit that I’m probably the only “chick lit” writer in the world who hasn’t read the book—which for the sake of this lesson is a good thing. I’m not going to get bogged down on what the filmmakers did or didn’t change. If Andy (the main character) was a blonde in the book it isn’t going to freak me out that Anne Hathaway is a brunette. Whatever.

So I went to see the movie, and I liked it. I really, really liked it. A lot.

I thought it was a well-done movie, but even more I thought it was a well-crafted story. Let me explain why.

We writers talk and debate the principles of “show-don’t-tell” all the time. Is it the mark of truly terrible writing? Does it have its place? Etc.

If you hang out in any writer groups with me you know I come down firmly on the side of “Showing” rather than “Telling.” In other words, instead of the author telling me, “Julia was angry.” Have Julia slam a door. Let me imagine it swinging, her purse dropping halfway off her shoulder, the cracking of the wood. For me, that’s just a much stronger way of sending a message.

Well, if you want a lesson in showing versus telling I recommend you run—not walk—to a theater to watch this movie. Here’s why.

If you’ve watched this trailer for the movie you know that Meryl Streep plays Miranda, aka the devil, and Anne Hathaway has been hired as her “second assistant.” She’s the lowest of the low, looked down upon by everyone—especially the “first assistant”.

They do a beautiful job of showing just how lowly she is through a cool montage of Miranda tossing her coat and purse onto our poor little heroine’s desk every morning regardless of what she’s doing.

Well, there’s a scene about 2/3 of the way through the movie when Miranda (the devil) walks into the office one morning, pauses, then tosses her coat and purse onto the first assistant’s desk—not the heroine’s. A little thing, right? Well, it was a little thing that made everyone in the theater gasp.

Yes. Literal gaspage. With that one gesture in that one moment we knew that the first assistant had fallen from grace—that things had decidedly changed.

An author might have had two whole paragraphs (or even pages) devoted to describing the changing dynamics of that office, but I doubt any amount of “telling” would have made the reader gasp.

The second thing the movie does incredibly well is pacing. I didn’t get bored. I didn’t look at my watch. Each scene had momentum. Each line of dialogue seemed necessary (well they probably eliminated two pages of dialogue with that awesome coat and purse toss.)

In short, the movie moved.

I think the reason I put a lot of books down without finishing them is because the story treads water. Entire scenes can be deleted, but the author includes them because, I guess, she/he thinks that if we don’t go with the characters to breakfast we’ll assume they’ll never eat.

Well, unless something important happens over bagels and coffee I don’t need to be there. In this movie, that didn’t happen—in other words, something always happened.

So, there you have it. Pacing and showing. That’s what I look for in a story. Give me that, and I’ll gladly lay down my $5.25 to be entertained.

Happy holiday, everyone!

-Ally

A blog, in bullets

• I'm psyched about The Devil Wears Prada, but honestly, I've seen that trailer where they play an entire scene so many times it feels I've already seen the whole movie.

• Also, has anybody else ever seen a preview where they play an entire scene before? I liked it. The first time. Now…uh…well, see above bullet.

• If you haven't seen the trailer, and you want to, go here.
  

• I think I have the oven situation under control. Maybe. At least the house hasn’t exploded yet (always a bonus.)

• Learning to Play Gin reached my editor’s desk this morning (and I’ve got the FedEx email to prove it.) Which means it’s out of my hands. Over. In the books (literally).

• Having a book so close to finish is a little bit liberating and a whole lot terrifying. It’s all I can do to not get on a plane, race to the Berkley headquarters, and hide under my editor’s desk with the manuscript and a red pen.

• I fully intended to see Superman this weekend (as long as they don’t play the “whole scene” Devil Wears Prada trailer) because I love Clark Kent (a top 10 man who, sadly, is fictional.)

• I also love Kevin Spacey (who isn’t fictional). We’re talking love. The real stuff. Capital L. If I had a locker it would probably have Kevin Spacey pictures taped in it—that’s all I’m saying.

• Evidently Britney Spears is posing nude on the cover of Bazaar which proves that her wardrobe has gotten so tacky she’s now opting for no wardrobe at all.

• I’m thiiiiiis close to breaking the 1,000 “friends” mark on MySpace.

• I so need to get a life.

Have a great day, everyone!

Ally

Dare to Read!

The cool folks over at ElleGirl are doing the bookclub thing. (Rumor has it the Gallagher Girls have even made an appearance in the magazine.)


They have online line reviews, too. And here's the really cool thing, you--the readers, the fans, the people in the know--can submit your own reviews! And they might even get published in the magazine!

So if you love books and want to spread the word about some great ones, check it out!

Now we're cooking with gas

When I decided to do the blog thing I swore I wouldn’t blog about boring day-in-the-life stuff, but something is going on in my life. Something big. Something dramatic. Something that’s potentially…explosive. And I’ve got to get it off my chest.

I’m getting a new oven.

Yep. After being told by two different people that my old oven could potentially be dangerous (who knew big holes in the top were a bad thing?) I’m biting the bullet and buying a new one.

This is hard for me since what I want more than almost anything in the world is a double oven—you know like they have on the cooking shows. But my kitchen isn’t laid out for a double oven and since this experience is traumatic enough without doing a total remodel I’m going with the standard size.

But here’s the really stressful thing: my old oven is gas. I grew up in an electric oven house. I lived in electric oven apartments all through school. I know nothing of pilot lights or sealed burners or any of that stuff, so I’ve pretty much lived in constant fear for the last few years that my house was going to explode and/or I would die of carbon monoxide poisoning (hence the carbon monoxide detector that I keep literally right by my bed.)

When I heard that most kitchens are built with both gas and electric hook-ups behind the oven, I got giddy thinking that I could maybe leave the gas oven world for my blessed electricville!

But first, the salesguy told me, I had to pull the oven away from the wall to see if there was an electric outlet behind it.

How do I do this? I asked.

Oh, just grab and pull was the answer.

Picture. House. Exploding.

But won’t the house explode? I ask.

Uh…it shouldn’t, was the answer. (FYI, the answer I was looking for was “it won’t”.)

So yesterday I got up the nerve to “grab and pull,” and since I’m writing this you have probably guessed that the house did not explode. (Yea!)

((But still I made sure not to do this until after the GG2 sequel outline was safely in my editor’s hands so that if I did, in fact, die in a terrible house explosion they could hire someone else to finish the Gallagher Girl story according to my specifications.))

Then I got my flashlight (because even though I’m afraid of gas doesn’t mean I’ve given up my farm-girl-ness entirely!) And I looked behind it and realized two things:

1. No one has cleaned back there in a very long time. And 2. there’s no electric outlet.

So I trekked down to my local appliance dealership and looked at all the models they had on the floor and the ones online and bought one. Simple. They were even offering free delivery (score!), but right as I was handing over my credit card the saleslady said, “Now you do know we can’t do anything with the gas.”

Me: what do you mean? You deliver and install?

Her: Well, with gas we don’t install. Only electric.

Me: Why can’t you install if the oven’s gas?

Her: Your house might explode.

Well, she didn’t really say that. What she technically said was that their insurance wouldn’t cover it, but the meaning is pretty clear, right? Gas=potential explosion.

But then, she went on to say, “You could do the gas part yourself.”

Yeah. Like that’s gonna happen.

Be good, everyone! And be safe.
Ally

Laughing and loving

Hi all,

First I'd like to send well wishes to Nichole Kidman who married Keith Urban yesterday in what was reported to be a very traditional ceremony in Australia. (Please let this mean that old-fashioned is coming back into style. Please!)

I'm so proud of Nichole for finding a guy who isn't prone to couch jumping, doesn't care that she has more money and Oscars than him, and who also believes the same things.

So I'm loving Nic and Keith and hoping they're very happy.

Also, I'm laughing out loud right now because one of my MySpace friends and a great YA reviewer has just posted the greatest review and "interview" ever over here. All of you potential Gallagher Girls should really go read it. Seriously. That's an order.

I'd love to write more, but copyedits call!

Ally

Thanks!

Thanks so much, guys, for all the very cool emails and comments about the big news! You're the BEST!!!

Now, for some answers!

About TV:

It's true that Keira Sedgewick has the best hair on television (not scientific or anything, but really, I dare someone to challenge me.) And I think it's fairly obvious that Celebrity Poker has accepted an imitation Phil, so that leaves Kathy and Matt. Sure, there's probably a lot going on with that cool couple that led to their reconciliation, but surely I'm not the only one who has figured out that as soon as Kathy left he started manning the curling iron.

The lie: it's a toss-up.


About Books:
Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but Prisoner of Azkaban left me breathless. And, sadly, I've been doing so much writing and editing lately that if a book doesn't completely wow me I will put it down--I just don't have time to finish books I'm not completely loving--so 30% is about right.

Which means (drumroll please) I can totally understand it if Stephanie chooses Ranger. Come on--like you haven't thought it!


About GG2:
I'm staying pretty mum about Gallagher Girls 2, but I can say that so far I have no desire to kidnap Josh (although I cannot promise that he won't find himself in a dangerous situation or two!)


About Learning to Play Gin:
Oh, and Julia really isn't getting a talk show. That's a lie. (Which means Ro-Ro does have the hots for her physical therapist!)



And now for the big one...

About Ally:
What I didn't point out is that (to my knowledge) there is no such thing as the Miss Pool pageant--unless you were my childhood friend in which case we played "Miss Pool" for hours on end. In fact, if there were ten girls playing we played ten times until every girl got to win.

Oh, and did I mention the big musical numbers? Big musical numbers. Those were the days... So Ally in a pageant: true. Sort of.

And the second thing about me that's true? I once threw out the first pitch at a Kansas City Royals baseball game. Yep. I'm perhaps the most unathletic person on the planet, and yet I've thrown a ball in a major league ballpark. Sometimes life really isn't fair.

So that means I don't own a Barbie doll worth $750. In fact, I have never been a big doll person. How could I be when I was training to become Miss Pool USA and all?


Have a great weekend, everybody, and thanks again for everything!

Ally

two more truths...

So which of the following do you think is the lie:



-- I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU is #7 on the Barnes and Noble hardcover YA bestseller list.

-- Hyperion is going to have to print more books.

-- The sky is purple.



Guesses? Anybody?

Ally

Two truths and a lie

I honor of one of my favorite Veronica Mars episodes of the last year, let’s play a little game called “Two Truths and a Lie” this time around.

It’s simple. Of the following, two are true and one’s a big fat lie—you guys guess which is which.


About TV:
The new Phil isn’t nearly as good as the old Phil on Celebrity Poker.

The reason Kathy Griffin is back with her husband is because he finally agreed to start doing her hair.

Speaking of hair, Keira Sedgewick still rocks as 'The Closer'.



About books:

Prisoner of Azkaban is far and away the best Harry Potter.

I finish about 30% of the books I start reading.

Stephanie Plum would be an idiot to choose Ranger over Morelli.




About GG2:

Josh gets kidnapped.

Cammie has to go “underground”

Dee Dee makes a play on Cammie’s guy!



About Learning to Play Gin:

Lance is now a big, big star.

Julia is starting her own talk show.

Ro-Ro is dating her physical therapist!



About Ally:

She owns a Barbie doll worth $750.

She once threw out the first pitch at a major league baseball game.

She actually competed in the Miss Pool USA pageant.




I love lying. No wonder I'm a (psuedo) spy.

Ally

Now it's my turn!

First, thanks guys for making last week so much fun on the blog! It got tons of hits, and was very cool for me. If you think of more questions, shoot ‘em my way. I will always try to answer your questions. (Anyone up for a Cheating at Solitaire edition?)

But first I’m going to turn the tables. That’s right. It’s my turn. (picture Ally laughing and rubbing hands together maniacally.)

All writers (at least this one) are insecure and pretty darn worried most of the time about writing good books or thinking up ideas for new books and selling the books that are already out there.

Well, of that list, the third is the one we have the least amount of control over, so naturally that’s the one some of us obsess over the most.

So that’s where you guys can really help me. If you liked the book (and I hope you did and that’s why you’re reading this), maybe you won’t mind helping me think of ways to spread the word.

But first, some questions:

1. How did you hear about my book and what made you pick it up?
2. Do you usually hear about a book before you buy it? If so, where do you hear about the books you buy?
3. Where do you get your books (online, chain store, independent bookstore, library)?
4. Where do you and your friends hang out online?
5. Do you have any ideas for how we can help more people hear about the Gallagher Girls?

Thanks, guys! I really can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

Have a great day,

Ally

The Friday wrap-up

Let's start with some more great questions!

How did Josh come to live at 601 North Bellis Street?

Hum…let me think…if only I knew someone who lived at such a cool address at such a cool time in their lives… Hummm….let me think.

What is Ally short for? :) The obvious Allyson, Alyson, or Allison? The more exotic Alexandra, Alexandria, or Alejandra?

Great question. Lame answer: it’s actually not short for anything. I’m just a plain old Ally, I’m afraid.

How does one exactly kill a person with a piece of uncooked spaghetti? Or did you just think of a completely random object and decide that they can kill someone with it?

How and why that sentence came out of my head I will never know. Probably I was just thinking about really random and unlikely things that can be used as weapons. But having a piece of spaghetti shoved way up your nose or in your ear can’t be good for you—right?

If you could pick any actresses in the world to play your main girls (age, availability, cost didn’t matter) who would you pick?

I’ve spent many, many hours mentally debating this, and now the list is mega long. All the time I was writing, though, I pictured Amber Tamblyn as Cammie. Of course she’s probably not excited to keep playing 15-year-old girls, but I love her! I would love for Bex to be played by a British actress, and Rachel…well…I have a list of about 30 talented women for that one.

Do you have a MySpace?

Sure do. Come see me at http://www.myspace.com/allycarter

Oh, and I have to offer the following correction courtesy of my mother:

May I remind you that your writing career actually began at a very early age with an imaginary friend who ate with us regularly, and I had to frequently be reminded he did not like green beans?

So there, I wasn't always a writer, but I was always pushy and vegetable-averse.

In other news, did anyone else watch Brittany Spears with Matt Lauer last night? Does anyone else kinda sorta feel sorry for her now—the media...how she didn't really have a childhood...the fact that she really can't get a sensible stylist...

And I got my copyedits for LEARNING TO PLAY GIN today which means it’s almost over! We’re dotting I’s and crossing T’s, baby!

Finally, my beautiful cousin is getting married tomorrow (best wishes Kylie and Josh) which has its pros and cons. Wedding cake: pro. Having to clean my house before my parents see it when they pick me up: CON!

Have a killer weekend, everybody. I'm off to proofread, brainstorm, and vacuum.

Ally

Day three of the Qs and the As

Wow! You guys are GOOD!

Here are the latest questions:

Did you enjoy writing this book?

I don’t know. What day, specifically, are you curious about?

I jest. Seriously, this book was a blast to write most of the time. But I did do a fair amount of FREAKING OUT because I wanted it to be so good.

Disney had already optioned the film rights, and my very cool editor, Donna, had really gone out on a limb for me with the publisher—and the book wasn’t even finished yet! So there I was, trying to act all cool, but on the inside I was totally stressing. Still, I knew these people wouldn’t have said I could do it if I couldn’t do it.

So I did it.

When you were young did you ever aspire to be a spy, or did you ever aspire to be a writer?

Who says I’m not a spy? This could just be the best deep cover legend ever, you know!

I have never had a creative writing class (even though my mom taught one at my high school.) And I had the most uncreative major possible in college. But yes, probably somewhere in the back of my mind I always knew this is what I wanted to do. But I also wanted to eat and have health insurance, so I got a career that I would enjoy and would provide for me.

You don’t have to go to college to be a writer. You can—and a lot of great writers have. But publishers buy books, not degrees, so that’s the approach I decided to take.

PLEASE tell me that you are going to write more than two or three books in this series!

I would love to! But you know what? If the first two books don’t make money then they won’t buy any more. That’s the sad truth of the business.

Soooooo, if you guys want to see what I have up my sleeve in the future then I’m going to need you to tell your friends and beg them to buy a copy and talk to your librarian about getting a copy and all that stuff. It’s not something I like to talk about, but the book needs to sell a lot of copies for it to be “a success.” I hope that happens for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that I think there’s a ton of story left to tell.

I had a contest with my friend, where we tried to guess what 14 languages Cammie was fluent in. What are they?

YEA! I was hoping someone would ask this!

I actually have a list somewhere, but since I’m knee-deep in notecards for my book 2 storyboard, I’m going to try to swing it from memory. Here goes:

1—English

2—Spanish

3—French

4—Portuguese

5—Russian

6—Chinese

7—Japanese

8—Arabic

9—Farsi

10—Swahili

11—German

12—Latin (I know it’s a “dead” language but I figured they’d know it because of old texts and stuff.)

13—Korean

14 I think I left blank because I wanted some wiggle room in case something comes up in the future—like Cammie goes on assignment somewhere that doesn’t speak one of the other thirteen. (A good spy always leaves herself an exit, you know.)

Plus, a lot of languages are derived from each other. For example, a good use of Russian would probably help them pick up Romanian very quickly.

And in their graduate work and later school years other languages may get added. These are just the ones she knows as of the fall semester of her sophomore year.

Incidently, I really want to include a good cross section of those languages in the book, but it's not as easy as it may seem. For example, I have a wonderful friend who is Japanese who would gladly do Japanese translations for me, but it's harder for languages that have a different alphabet and characters. So that's why the girls are always jabbering in French and Portuguese and stuff. If I could do something in Arabic--oh boy would I.

Do you know if and when there are going to be some type of auditions for your movie?

I get this question a lot, and sadly, I don’t know. All I really know is that they’ve hired two incredibly cool writers to adapt it from a book to a screenplay (something I wouldn’t be good at.)

After that they’ll start getting people like directors and actors in place. Chances are I won’t know about any of that until after it’s done—which is okay because it doesn’t have anything to do with me at that point. I need to focus on writing the new books and so that’s what I’m doing. The movie stuff is in good hands, though. I swear!

And again, guys, not to sound needy or anything, but for the movie to actually get made and released in a studio and everything the book probably needs to sell really well. So every time you tell your friends, you're helping out more than you know!

Questions??? Any more questions???

XOXOX,
Ally

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

The Writer takes your questions...

THANKS, guys—for loving the Gallagher Girls and buying Cheating at Solitaire, and just being so incredibly cool. Love you!

Now, for some questions:

So was Cammie always going to be the main character? Or did she start out as just a friend of the main character?

Yes. The story started with Cammie and Josh—a girl who goes to spy school who falls for a “normal” boy. The specifics about their personalities and the details about the school evolved along the way.

How did you think of Cammie’s friends? Did you base them off of what Cammie wants?

Initially Cammie was going to have three roommates and Macey was going to come and go. But then I wrote Macey and she just had to stick around, so I eliminated one girl and wrote Macey in. The biggest challenge was finding a reason why the Gallagher Academy would admit Macey in the first place, but a lot of great creative things have been born out of challenges, and I’m really glad it worked out.


Are Cammie and her friends opposites on purpose?

Yes, I think they all have different strengths for a reason. I wanted them to all be more extreme than Cammie and in their own ways more secure—for now. Look for a lot more to happen with the “core four” in book two!


Which of the teachers came first?

I remember writing my agent and saying, “Can her mom be a teacher at the school?” And my agent wrote back and said, “I don’t know—can she?” And that’s when I realized that I wasn’t just writing a book—I was creating a world. At spy school anything is possible!

So Rachel probably came first. I made her the headmistress because my mom was a very influential and popular teacher at my school, and that totally shaped my high school experience. After Rachel, I knew I had to have Mr. Solomon. Then probably Mr. Smith—how and why I knew that he gets a new face every summer I’ll never know—it just came out while I was typing (love it when that happens!)


Are there only Americans in the school (besides Bex), and are there girls from lots of different ethinic backgrounds?

All the girls (besides Bex) are United States citizens. However, there are a ton of races and ethnicities represented—Asian, Middle-Eastern, African American, you name it. As Cammie says in book 2 “There’s not a corner of the world we can’t disappear inside.”


Any more questions? This is really fun for me!

Ally

The writer's commentary

I love everything about movies. Everything. I love sitting in dark theaters with warm popcorn and watching the trailers and seeing the lights go down.

But as much as I love going to the movies, I'm beginning to love DVDs too, and the reason might surprise you.

I love the director's commentary!

Yes, I know I’m probably the only person in the world who does this, but can I help it if I crave the inside scoop?

And how cool would it be if there were "writers commentaries" of our favorite books?!? Like I'm dying to know which came first for JK Rowling, Scabbers the rat or Peter Pettigrew the traitor. Ooh. I want to know!

Now I'm wondering if any readers out there have similiar questions about my books?

For example, do you guys care that the Gallagher Academy is named after Gallagher-Iba arena at Oklahoma State University—a place ESPN has consistently called one of the best basketball arenas in the country?

And originally, for some truly bizarre reason, the Gallagher Academy was located outside “Oxsnot,” Virginia--not “Roseville.”

And I first thought Macey would come visit the Gallagher Academy but not stay. And there was a fourth girl named Rachel--before Cammie's mom was Rachel.

But Mr. Solomon? Always Mr. Solomon and always hot.

So if anybody has any questions about the books or how they came to be I'd love to hear them and answer them (if possible.)

Ask away!

Ally

Coming to a radio dial near you!

Please tell me IPods have not been the death of radio. Please. Because, for starters, I don’t have an IPod yet, and furthermore I’m going on tour next week to talk to a whole bunch of cool radio people around the country and I really hope some of you (and a lot of other people) will be there to listen!

If you do, in fact, still listen to the radio, and if you receive any of these stations, it may be worth turning in to see…

A) exactly how strong my accent gets when I'm nervous
B) the number of times I can say "um..." when I don't have a clue what to say
C) whether or not I will break into hysterical laughter for no reason
D) if I totally go off-track and start recommend books *I didn't write*

Here are the places and times where I'll be live:

(all times local)

THURSDAY, JUNE 15

Colorado Springs, CO KCMN- 1530 AM
8:50 a.m. “Tron Talk”

Sacramento, CA KAHI-950 AM
10:20 a.m. “Good Times with Dave and Jen”

FRIDAY, JUNE 16

Everywhere in US National Cable Radio Network
8:30 est/7:30 cst “Digital Talk with Jack”

North Central Missouri KRES - 104.7 FM
10:00 a.m. “Mornings with Stephanie Ross”

And there are some other stops that are going to be taped--which means I know what time I'm calling but not what time they'll air. So, if one of these is in your area, check it out, and if I get a more concrete time, I'll pass it along:

Hunington, West Virginia WKEE- 100 FM
“JB and Shelia in the Morning”

Northeastern US, WAMC- AM/FM (NPR)
“Midday with Joe Donahue”

Benington, Vermont WBTN- 1370 AM/ 94.3 FM (NPR)
“Daybreak with Rich Ryder”

Northeast Missouri KJFF- 1400 AM
"Straight Talk with Matt West”

So that's the big "tour"--I hope y'all can listen. I noticed that several of the stations will let you listen online or download programs in MP3 form. Surely some of you potential Gallagher Girls can figure that out--right?

In other news, I heard something really great today. I can't and shouldn't go into specifics, but it is the kind of news that makes me want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone out there who has bought the book and told people about it.

Things are going very well for the Gallagher Girls!

And I owe it all to you guys!

--Ally

PS...the great people over at Bookburger.com were kind enough to post a new interview. Check it out!

Coming to a radio dial near you!

Please tell me IPods have not been the death of radio. Please. Because, for starters, I don’t have an IPod yet, and furthermore I’m going on tour next week to talk to a whole bunch of cool radio people around the country and I really hope some of you (and a lot of other people) will be there to listen!

If you do, in fact, still listen to the radio, and if you receive any of these stations, it may be worth turning in to see…

A) exactly how strong my accent gets when I'm nervous
B) the number of times I can say "um..." when I don't have a clue what to say
C) whether or not I will break into hysterical laughter for no reason
D) if I totally go off-track and start recommend books *I didn't write*

Here are the places and times where I'll be live:

(all times local)

THURSDAY, JUNE 15

Colorado Springs, CO KCMN- 1530 AM
8:50 a.m. “Tron Talk”

Sacramento, CA KAHI-950 AM
10:20 a.m. “Good Times with Dave and Jen”

FRIDAY, JUNE 16

Everywhere in US National Cable Radio Network
8:30 est/7:30 cst “Digital Talk with Jack”

North Central Missouri KRES - 104.7 FM
10:00 a.m. “Mornings with Stephanie Ross”

And there are some other stops that are going to be taped--which means I know what time I'm calling but not what time they'll air. So, if one of these is in your area, check it out, and if I get a more concrete time, I'll pass it along:

Hunington, West Virginia WKEE- 100 FM
“JB and Shelia in the Morning”

Northeastern US, WAMC- AM/FM (NPR)
“Midday with Joe Donahue”

Benington, Vermont WBTN- 1370 AM/ 94.3 FM (NPR)
“Daybreak with Rich Ryder”

Northeast Missouri KJFF- 1400 AM
"Straight Talk with Matt West”

So that's the big "tour"--I hope y'all can listen. I noticed that several of the stations will let you listen online or download programs in MP3 form. Surely some of you potential Gallagher Girls can figure that out--right?

In other news, I heard something really great today. I can't and shouldn't go into specifics, but it is the kind of news that makes me want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone out there who has bought the book and told people about it.

Things are going very well for the Gallagher Girls!

And I owe it all to you guys!

--Ally

PS...the great people over at Bookburger.com were kind enough to post a new interview. Check it out!

oops, maybe I should say...

Sorry, folks. I just realized (after reading comments and emails) that it sounds like I'm on a book tour, but I'm not. I just have some day-job traveling for the next few weeks, and everywhere I go I stalk my books.

If/when I have some official signings set up I'll post them in BIG, bold letters!

thanks guys!
Ally

More tales from the road

So I spent most of today hanging around the Chicago airport where I saw a lot of people, including two priests, a nun, and a rabbi. That's when I turned to the woman next to me and said, "if they all walk into a bar I'm going to lose it."

Then I really did lose it because I went to the Hudson Bookstore to see if they had my books.

Let me tell you something: Every author wants to see his or her books in an airport shop, but very, very few ever do, and they're usually already bestsellers. But newbies like me keep looking, always thinking today may be the day.

Do you know what day today was???

Well, it wasn't the day I saw my books in an airport, but for some reason I gave the salesgirl my name and she checked the computer, and GUESS WHAT?????

They had had a bunch of Love You Kill Yous.

And they'd SOLD them all!

At the AIRPORT!

In other news, if the annoying dude from "He's just not that into you" gets to be on Celebrity Poker, then shouldn't I?

Come on Celebrity Poker people--I write card-themed books! I love this show! I am a terrible poker player who is prone to bizarre verbal outbursts when under pressure! Celebrity Poker was made for me!

Shuffle up and deal!

Ally

The signing bandit

The signing bandit has struck again. Autographed copies of I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU and CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE are now available at the Barnes and Noble across from the Michigan State University campus. So if you live in the East Lansing area and you're dying for an autographed copy, stop by!

Other thoughts from the road:

"Recall last channel" buttons are absolutely key to hotel TV remote controls.

Ditto room service.

Not all hotel bathrooms have tubs. Or showers. Sometimes they just have a drain in the bathroom floor and a showerhead in the ceiling and a big curtain that you can pull around.

Wireless internet is the best (and the worst) thing ever!

Paperback books fit in a carry-on way better than hardbacks.

Always carry bottled water.

Bandaids are your friend.

That's all, folks.
-Ally

Why don't you pass the time by playing a little Solitaire?

Ooooh. Just typing that title line gave me the chills. Any Manchurian Candidate fans out there? Anyone? If so, you know what I mean. If not--go read it!

So lately I've been feeling sorry for Cheating at Solitaire--my first born. Kind of.

I guess all authors do this when they have a bouncing new book to promote, but I've been spending most of my time talking about Love You Kill You--which is totally irresponsible of me because, Cheating at Solitaire deserves my attention too!

So it was totally nice to see that the Library Diva spent this weekend reading both Cheating at Solitaire and Love You Kill You, and here's a little of what she has to say:

• This book had everything I love about Chick Lit: humor, great characters (both main and secondary), fun plot, and an instant relatabilty to the main character. What makes this book extraordinary to me, however, is that Julia is one of the few heroines in recent memory that is fine with who she is. She doesn't spend the entire book bemoaning the fact that she doesn't have a boyfriend, her job sucks, her family doesn't understand her, etc. Instead Julia serves as a role model to the women in her world, an ideal of being comfortable in your own skin. It was so refreshing and enjoyable. Each chapter of the book begins with a piece of wisdom from Julia's 101 Ways to Cheat at Solitaire, and I found myself looking forward to reading those bits of advice just as much as I looked forward to seeing the story unfold. I would recommend Cheating at Solitaire to anyone who enjoys reading Chick Lit, as well as anyone who has heard of the Chick Lit genre and wondered what the fuss was all about.

I swear I don't know her and I didn't pay her to write that--seriously. But honestly, I can't imagine a higher compliment since that's EXACTLY what I was going for! Did you read the part about how the heroine doesn't moan about her bad job, bad boyfriend and bad family? Do you know how happy I am that someone noticed that? Whoo hoo! Love it when that happens.

And I just got this super cool email from a YA reader who loved Love You Kill You and decided to give Cheating at Solitaire a try:

• I just finished Cheating At Solitaire. It is absolutely FABULOUS. I know it´s an adult book and I´m only twelve, but I really enjoyed reading it.

So, if you liked or loved The Gallagher Girls you may want to give Cheating at Solitaire a try. Sure, it's an "adult" book--but the only thing "adult" about it is that the characters are in their thirties, not their teens, but believe me all of life is like high school. I wish it weren't true, but it is.

Oh, and The Library Diva also had kind things to say about Love You Kill You:

• This book is the first of Carter's Gallagher Girl books, and it is just as smart, fun, and unique as Cheating at Solitaire. While reading it I couldn't help but think what a lovely alternative it made to books like Gossip Girl (for those of you who have parents coming in and schnarring at you about that series and others like it). It's just as cool as the Gossip Girl books, only smarter.

Pretty cool, huh?

Plus, Cheating at Solitarie's sequel Learning to Play Gin will be out this November and Gallagher Girls 2 won't be out for a long time after that, so please, pass the time by playing a little Solitaire. I mean...if you want to.

--Ally

Long-Lost Tomatoes

One of the best things about being on the literary D-list is you achieve enough psuedo-fame that long-lost friends come back into your life.

For example, I just got a cool email from my good childhood friend, Carlie (yea!). Carlie recently married our other good friend, Jason, and, in addition to attending law school, has morphed into Super Bride by planting a garden with 17 tomato plants.

Seven-freaking-teen.

I happen to know that one tomato plant can keep a person in tomatoes for months. Seventeen plants are enough to open your own salsa factory. Carlie, being quite intelligent, has realized this. And she's scared.

If you knew Carlie, you’d be rolling on the floor laughing right now. Like I am.

Attack of the killer tomatoes. Rotten tomatoes. So many tomato jokes I so very much want to make. I’m almost in physical pain.

And the thing that makes me laugh most isn't the image of Carlie and Jason having to move out of their house because there isn't room for both them and their tomatoes.

Oh no, I'm laughing because all through school, Carlie was my pace car—the Paris to my Rory (not that she’s Paris-ish—it’s just that the person making the analogy always gets to be Rory, right?) and so upon hearing of Carlie's new tomato endeavor, the first thing that popped into my head was maybe I should grow tomatoes?

But I don’t really like tomatoes. And I'm busy. And it's not like we're talking about growing chocolate here, people, so in what I see as a moment of real growth, I’ve decided to let Carlie win the tomato war instead of going out and buying eighteen tomato plants.

Yep, this is a big moment for me. Don’t ever let it be said I’m not maturing.

In other news I just finished a book—which is NEWS! And no, I don’t mean that I finished writing a book. I finished reading a book, which is a surprisingly big deal, because lately, if I can put a book down I probably won’t pick it back up.

But then I started Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist.

Warning: it’s not PG rated like my stuff—so if that’s one of the reasons you like my stuff, this probably isn’t for you. But if you don't mind a little mature content and want to see what truly talented writers can do, then check out Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. They’ve got chops.

I’m on the road a lot and very busy this week, so forgive me if I’m not super-blogger.

It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. Honest. I do.

But not enough to buy eighteen tomato plants and keep you all in salsa.

-Ally

My life on the literary D-list

Long live Kathy Griffin. She says what everyone wants to. Only funnier. So that’s why I started watching the fabulous spectacle that is Kathy’s life on the D-list.

But watching tonight I realized oh my gosh! I’m on the D-list! The literary D-list.

For example, on Thursday I went to a store to sign stock at 4:00, then Friday I went back at 6:00 to see if any copies sold in the past 26 hours. I’m betting Janet Evanovich doesn’t do that.

But one copy had sold--whoo hoo!

So from a D-list writer, I'd like to thank my A-list fans for buying books and checking the website and writing emails and telling your friends.

C-list here I come!

Ally