My wonderful, talented, beautiful agent, Kristin Nelson, is in New York for a few days doing lunch and winning friends and blogging about the experience--more specifically, what interesting tidbits editors are sharing over cobb salads.
What's hot? What's not? What are their dream submissions at the moment?
I think this is a lot of fun; and the economist in me is all about market trends and the supply and demand of great books. But the writer in me knows to take this in the way that Kristin intends: as something interesting and possibly helpful but not as a guaranteed roadmap to a six figure deal.
Kristin does this a couple of times of year, and every time I read her blog with interest, and then I sit back and watch the general panic/euphoria/craziness that happens among writers in the wake of this insider scoop.
Which leads me to say again--one more time. For the record.
There is no secret handshake, magic bullet, pink paper method to instant success.
An agent had lunch with an editor. They talked about a certain type of book. You write that type of book. Does that mean you should hop on a plane, fly to New York, put on your best suit and stroll into the publishing house with your future bestseller under your arm? No.
Does that mean you should carefully hone your manuscript and actively pursue publication? Maybe. When the manuscript is ready.
And if the editor didn't mention your type of book over lunch, does that mean you should ceremoniously burn it in the barbecue grill? No. I seriously doubt JK Rowling's editor and agent ever had lunch and said, "gee, I wish we could find a 700 page book about an orphan where a lot of the words are made up and hard to pronounce."
Folks, success in this business isn't about knowing what editors and agents talk about over lunch--that's interesting; or thought-provoking; or maybe even fascinating. But that will neither make nor break you.
I've gotten in trouble before by saying that if you want a better writing career, write a better book. (And amazingly, the only time I ever take greif is for saying it among writers.) But I'm going to say it again. Don't worry about lunch talk or trends or what color paper to print your query letter on.
Because, ultimately, what does a writer control? The book.
I'm bracing for the outrage and irate comments; but still, I had to say it....
I think I may be a snob--specifically, a sports snob--because I'm traveling for business this week, and tomorrow night the group I'm with is going to an NBA basketball game. They made sure to tell me that they have an extra ticket for me if I want it, and I immediately cited deadlines and pressure and the tons of work that have piled up in the past few months.
Then they said the magic words: VIP suite.
My response: I'M THERE!!
So what does that say about me that I have no interest in attending a major sporting event unless it also comes with excellent finger foods and private bathrooms?
And the really crazy thing is that this is not my first luxury box experience.
I once sat in the President's Box at a college football game; a luxury box at an NFL football game; and even though I've never had the VIP treatment at a major league baseball game, I did throw out the first pitch at one once.
AND I DON"T EVEN LIKE SPORTS THAT MUCH!!!
I feel so greedy. I don't deserve all of this athletic specialness because I am in no way athletically special!
But I should say that the one big sport-centered thing I haven't done (yet) is watch a game in the skyboxes at Oklahoma State University that overlook the football field on one side and the basketball court on the other. That's what I really want, people. And I'm willing to work my way up the ladder to get there.
I'm thrilled to tell you all that I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU has been nominated for the Georgia Peach Award--yea!
I love Georgia!
Have I mentioned that Designing Women is my favorite TV show ever? Do you know how much I love peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream?
It's always such a surprise and an honor to be included on state lists with so many books that I love and admire, so thank you, Georgia! I owe you one.
In other news, the Love You Kill You paperback will be out on April 1. In fact, I'm wondering if it might already be out in some stores because, unless you're Harry Potter, many stores will put a book out whenever it arrives instead of waiting on the official day.
So, this gives me an idea. I hereby challenge all of you to be on LYKY paperback watch! And the first person to email me a picture of yourself holding a copy of the paperback will win an advanced reading copy of Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy.
How does that sound?
Just send it to my ally at allycarter email.
I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about the paperback release. Hasn't everyone who was going to buy the book bought the book?
Of course I know that's not true. Personally, I love paperbacks. But am I alone? Don't know.
So here's the question of the day: what makes you buy a paperback? Is it different than a hardback? I know adult paperbacks are a lot cheaper, but for YAs there only seems to be a couple of bucks difference... Oh, the stress!
I so don't have time to be expounding on this, but it calls to me. I must write it.
This is a feeling I think most writers know--when there's something that's so close to the surface of your subconsious that you have to just get it out of you before you can move on, so that's why I'm writing this--to have it someplace other than the forefront of my mind.
What makes good TV? And furthermore, what makes good TV shows stay good TV shows?
I think great TV series have a lot in common with great book series. And basically, I think long-lasting dramas start with the situation and long-lasting comedies start with the characters.
Take the longest running drama on TV for example: Law and Order. How many characters have run through that show in its 10+ years? I don't even know. All I know is that every week there is going to be a new dead body somewhere in New York City, and the police and the prosecutors are going to have to work together to solve it.
Same goes with CSI. Or ER. Every week there's a new problem walking through the door. The fuel for the show isn't coming from characters alone. There's a perfectly believable source for fresh conflict. That's the stuff great dramas are made of.
In contrast, take a show like Dawson's Creek. Where was the conflict for that show? In broody, self-involved kids and the drama of their daily lives. No wonder it ran out of steam when a show like Buffy--about a bunch of kids--had staying power because, you guessed it, each week there could be a fresh conflict walking through the door.
So that brings us to Veronica Mars--the number one show on my Tivo.
Veronica and gang are on life support, and as badly as I hate to admit it, I'm not entirely surprised. Something is missing this season. The whole show seems to be a little out-of-step. So why? What's going on?
It's a show about a college student-slash-private eye. There is plenty of sources of conflict when you're a pint-sized crime solver, so why is it struggling?
The same could have been said for the latter seasons of Alias. She was a spy! And yet like most shows, I didn't realize how much it slid until I went back and watched some of the earlier episodes.
So why do really great shows with plenty of external conflict slide sometimes?
I think it's because they forget about the internal conflict.
Season One of Veronica Mars was nearly perfect in my opinion because Veronica had a perfect external driver for her internal conflict.
Internal conflict: she's a misfit at a school where she used to be popular; she's just broken up with the school's golden boy; her family is the town joke; she has been violated and traumatized and the people who were supposed to help laughed at her; and finally, she's mourning the loss of both her best friend in the world and her mother.
Those are the things that are going on inside of Veronica's head in season one. None of those things are really all that unusual as teen fiction and TV goes. What's different and, I daresay brilliant, about VM is the external conflict that drives her.
Veronica's internal conflict stems from a very external source: Lilly's murder. Find the murderer--things get better.
Alias was much the same way. In the beginning Sydney was hiding her life with the CIA from SD-6, and all of it from her friends. Then the friends went away. Then SD-6. And by the end it was all about the external--the missions--we no longer had amazing scenes of her talking to Francie on her cell phone, listening to her friend complain about her terrible day while bullets flew around her.
Great dramas have characters with meaningful internal conflicts and external conflicts that drive them.
That, in my opinion, is why Grey's Anatomy is the best show on TV right now. Every week there's a new case walking through the door; and every week it relates to what the characters are going through in some way. Brilliant, brilliant writing. It's a testament to this show that it's still good after Meredith and McDreamy are together and happy and virtually conflict-free. If the only reason people are watching is to see if two people get together, then you've got problems.
Okay, this has gone on way longer than I intended. But there's my take on great TV. Take it or leave it.
Vernica Mars may very well not be back next fall! The CW thinks that the combination of "Pussycat Dolls" and "Reality TV" is more worthy of TV time than VERONICA MARS?!?!?
But evidently there is a chance that they may revamp the show, skipping the rest of Veronica's college days and skipping to her as an FBI agent (or trainee?)
As you can see from this, my favorite of the Brotherhood2.0 posts, John and Hank Green are all about Nerd Fighting (as long as it's about nerds fighting for truth and justice and not about other people beating up nerds, because that has another name--bullying.)
Now over on href="http://www.brotherhood2.com/">Brotherhood2.com there's a challenge where people can pick which nerd they are and what their power would be, which has been cause for a lot of introspection here in Allyville because I honestly have no idea what type of nerd I am.
I blame going to a small school, because in small schools everyone does a little bit of everything.
The homecoming queen (not me) was frequently in FFA and honors English. It wasn't at all uncommon to see guys dressed in full football gear playing a tuba and marching with the band at halftime.
Make no mistake--I AM a nerd. But type of nerd I do not know.
Is watching too much TV adequately nerdy? If so, it seems that's an obvious choice for me. (My superpower could be Tivo-related, pausing and rewinding injustice.)
Or I could also be "Baking nerd" since I do love my Kitchenaid mixer a little too much. (I could use my wooden spoon and rolling pin to drive back the forces of evil.)
I could also be Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet nerd since I have spreadsheets for everything from shopping lists, to budgets, to break-even analyses for how many books I have to sell, to blueprints for the Ally dream house. (But doing battle with a mouse and laptop could be a little awkward.)
Book nerd seems a little obvious for an author. Plus, frankly, there are plenty of people who know more about books than I do since I haven't technically had an English class since high school. (But it was a really good English class--hi Mom!)
I could also be cattle nerd, since, of the Brotherhood2.0 viewers that's the one I'm probably most uniquely suited for, but that might just be a little too unique, since I doubt most people will be intimidated by my vast knowledge ofstructural correctness and EPDs. (Even though this one could lend itself to some excellent weaponry.)
I would be March Madness Nerd, but I really have no desire to watch the NCAA tournament this year since my cowboys blew off one third of their season and are now sitting home inStillwater watching the people who want to still be playing ball...play ball.
So see, I'm really a hard-to-fit nerd. It's difficult. I need help.
So here's your challenge. 1. what kind of nerd should Ally be?
And 2. what kind of nerd are you and what is *your* superpower.
So there's a line in Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy that goes something like, "there is no such thing as black and white. For a spy, your whole life is, by definition, at least a little bit grey."
(note: that's not it exactly, and I'm too lazy to look it up, so the jest will have to do.)
I find lately I'm completely fascinated by "the grey". In fact, I think that's why I've become BDO (Black Donnellys Obsessed). I've always loved characters who might be the good guy in one story and the bad guy in another.
Take Jason Bourne for example--a good bad guy.
And the character Morgan Freeman plays in Shawshank Redemption.
And all of the guys in Motherless Brooklyn.
And pretty much everyone Dennis Lehane has ever written.
And both Ranger and Morelli (for the Stephanie Plum fans out there).
And Sirius Black.
And George Clooney's character in Out of Sight.
And many, many more.
So there you have it--in the immortal words of William the Bloody (aka Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), the girl likes a little monster in her man.
There's just something so compelling and yummy and real about that kind of character to me, so you might want to keep that in mind as you read Cross My Heart in a few months. In fact, that might explain a lot about someone you're going to meet in Cross My Heart...
Well, the good news is that there's a new episode of The Black Donnellys tonight.
The bad news is that I'll have to watch it one billion times.
The good news is that I've started a new walking regiment and there's no greater treadmill motivation than last week's episode when Tommy takes his shirt off.
The bad news is...oh, who am I kidding? There is no bad news to Tommy taking his shirt off.
The good news is that I didn't lose a dime last week when I was in Reno.
The bad news is that I've now been to Reno THREE TIMES but I've never been to Vegas (how is that fair?)
The good news is that I FINALLY got my hair cut!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The bad news is that I'd forgotten how freaking curly my hair is when it's not weighed down by six months worth of extra length, so now it's a little...uh...shall we say, big.
The good news is that we're fast approaching the point when I can no longer make changes to Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy.
The bad news is I will probably ALWAYS want to make changes to all of my books.
The good news is that the Love You,Kill You paperback will be out on April 1!
The bad news is...well, like a shirt-less Tommy, there's really no downside to that one.
The good news is that I'm still loving my new internet setup.
The bad news is that I STILL can't send email--so I'm answering my reader mail here again, I'm afraid.
HI Elysia~! Thanks so much for writing. I'd love it if there could be drawings in my books, but I'm afraid that's really out of my hands since all the book design types of things are done by my publisher. The Japanese version of LYKY does have these really great drawings of the girls, though. I love it!
To Kelley! Thank you for writing, too. I'm afraid I don't have any autograhed pictures. I do sometimes send out signed bookplates (kind of like stickers that go in your book), so if you check with your parents and write back with an address, I'll send you one.
Hi Chris! Oh my gosh, you wrote a song? A freaking song??? I'm totally in awe. Especially the chorus (posted below)
not to tell you i love because things could go so wrong id tell you i love you, but i have to be strong id tell you i love you because its true but if i told you i love you, then id have to kill you
My email is STILL messed up! I can receive, but can't send, so Brooke, I hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna have to answer your questions here.
What made you want to write about a secert spy school?
Well, the whole story is outlined here, but in short, the main part of spy school that appealed to me was the type of girls who would go there--how they'd deal with the exact same issues that ALL girls deal with, but in a very unusual way.
Does the main character resemble you as a teen?
I'm not really sure. I wasn't a genius. I have both of my parents. I didn't go to boarding school. But like Cammie, I probably did feel invisible from time to time (I think we all do). And I really felt like Cammie in Cross My Heart where a major theme is "be yourself." I used to HATE being told to "be myself" because--hello--who the heck is that?
What are you thinking when you write a story?
Honestly, the less I think the better I write. I think writing well is all about turning off everything inside of your head and becoming your character--feeling, hearing, thinking what she is during that point. When I can do that and stop thinking about what my editor or agent or readers or reviewers will thing the process is a lot better.
okay. That's all I've got time for today. It's a crazy, crazy weeks so forgive me if I'm not able to answer follow-ups.
Many people have been asking me what I'll do now that CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO SPY is finished (sort of).
Well, the short story is that there will still be edits and proofreading and promotion for the book.
But I'm also going to make some time to do some non-book things. Like, for example...
I am thoroughly excited about Easter (and the opportunity to defend my world's greatest egg-hider title. And by the way, Abby, if you're reading this, you should know that my sister is STILL finding eggs in her flower beds!!!)
I am going to get my hair cut and highlighted, which is maybe the most exciting thing of all since it has been SIX MONTHS since I've had my hair cut and highlighted. That's right--I haven't had a free weekend in six months. And my hair has paid the price.
One word: taxes
There are many little fix-up things around the house that aren't going to do themselves.
I have about three different writing projects that may never see the light of day but I need to write them so that I can stop thinking about writing them.
I also intend to devote a great deal of time to the new TV Show in my life, the Black Donnellys. I know, I know, it's violent and maybe sends the wrong message about how to deal with life's problems...But if loving Tommy Donnelly is wrong, I don't want to be right!
Oh, and it'll probably be a full-time job freaking out about what people are going to think of the new book and anticipating all the "I didn't like it as much as the first one" comments that will show up online.
But I shouldn't think about that--I will--but I shouldn't.
Okay, my OSU cowboys are getting ready to play ball and, for the first time in MONTHS, I'm getting ready to watch them!
Several months ago I said that writing a book is NOT like washing your car. And I'm so exhausted this morning that that sounds really profound to me again.
I guess what I mean is that even though Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy is out of my hands for a few days doesn't mean the work is over entirely. There will be more edits and proofreading, but the heavy lifting (I hope) is done.
And of course, in celebration, I got sick...because I've been clinging to my last thread of health for weeks just looking for a chance to fall onto the couch and stay there about a week. So that's where I am--the couch. This is also where I hope to be until Monday morning.
Ally Carter is the author of the Gallagher Girls series. Right now she's hard at work on book three, the title of which is currently classified, and she could tell you more, but...well...you know...
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