Her life is either very ordinary or the best deep-cover legend ever. She'd tell you more, but...well...you know...
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I absolutely loved the Gallagher Girls series, and was beyond excited to do an interview with Ally Carter. Welcome to the Reading Room Ally!
Is there a spy academy for college-age girls? If so, how do I apply?
Not to my knowledge, no. Drats!
What has been your biggest challenge in dealing with two series at once?
Time. Always time. People frequently ask where authors get their ideas or their character names or their inspiration. What people forget (or simply don’t know) is that one of the most important ingredients is time. And when you double the number of books you’ve got to keep up with that just cuts your time in half. Without a doubt, that’s the hardest thing.
Cammie and the Gallagher Girls series is very clean and innocent. Was it a deliberate decision to make the series this why? If so, why do you feel that it was important to write it that way?
It just came out that way. I don’t know if I could write “edgier” or “darker” if I tried. But while it wasn’t a conscious decision, I’m very grateful that it worked out the way it did because there is a subset of the reading public that wants a clean read. I think a lot of people assume it’s the “gatekeepers” that are really looking for that, but I’ve found that a lot of teens do as well. It’s a misnomer to think that all teens want to push all barriers at all times. Are there 12-yr-olds out there looking for gritty, edgy stuff? Sure. But there are also 17-yr-olds who enjoy a book with no cussing or adult content. In publishing we need to have something for everyone. I’m very happy that my books fit within a very valuable and in-demand niche.
Have you ever thought that maybe a career in writing wasn’t worth it? What do you do when you get discouraged during the publishing process?
Every single day. This is a hard business—it really is. The pressure from fans to write faster, the pressure from publishers to deliver, and, most importantly, the pressure from ourselves to make each book better than the one before. It’s a lot to process some days. And on the days when the characters and plot just aren’t cooperating it’s very tempting to dream about the day when the series is over and done and you can go back to accounting or whatever it was that paid the bills before starting on this crazy adventure.
What is one thing that you wish people knew about publishing or writing?
It’s a job. It’s work. It can sometimes be a very exciting job and very fun work, but it’s an occupation nonetheless, and like most jobs it’s not very glamorous most of the time. Also, I can’t get anyone a role in any movie.
Name one thing about yourself that people would be surprised to learn.
I have terrible, awful—I mean truly hideous—handwriting.
Thanks to Ally for joining us today. And, now I have a fantastic giveaway that is going to rock your socks off. Included in this prize pack is:
Signed Gallagher Girls 4
Signed Heist Society
Heist Society sunglasses
Holla! All you have to do to enter is fill out the form. Giveaway ends October 27 at 12:01 am. US Residents 13 and older only.
