Ally Carter Book Signing

Last week I was lucky enough to attend a book signing for Ally Carter's latest book, Perfect Scoundrels, at my local indie book store Joseph Beth.  Ally Carter is the New York Times best selling author of of The Gallagher Girls series, a middle grade series about a school for spies, and the Heist Society series, a YA series about a cat bugler gone good.

Ally Carter being awesome.

 We pretty much jumped right into the Q&A session, with lots of people asking for spoilers in Perfect Scoundrels and for the final book in the Gallagher Girls series.  Apparently Zach dies...(just kidding!  Carter loves to bait her readers, which is pretty hilarious if scary!)

Here are some of my favorite questions.

What is your favorite part of writing each series?

• Heist Society is wish fulfillment.  Carter could play the "what if" game
• Gallagher Girls was watching the characters grow up.

What inspired you to start writing?

• Carter read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton in middle school and discovered that not only did S.E. Hinton grow up near her hometown, but that she was only 16 when she wrote it
• Carter realized that writers weren't just rich old people, they could be anyone, even her

Do you know the end of the story when you start writing?

• Carter knows all of the major points she wants to hit, but doesn't know the exact paths she will take to get there
• The details are developed and changed (and changed and changed) during the writing and revision process

Signing my books!

What advice do you have for young writers?

• Read as much as you can
• Write as much as you can
• Don't worry about getting published!

How do you get over writers block?

• There are two types of writers block that Carter encounters
• The first is when she needs to write, but is getting distracted by TV, chores, friends, ect.
• To cure this version of writers block she makes a schedule and has writing incentives with her friends
• If she doesn't reach a certain word count by a certain date her friend is allowed to slap her in the face...I'd say that's pretty good incentive!
• The second type of writers block is when she is working but feels like she's pushing through a wall, every word is a struggle to get out
• In this instance she does take a break
• Going for a walk or getting a drink can help take your mind off the problem and allow new thoughts to pop up

The Heist Society Series, NYT best seller!

The discussion wrapped with the announcement that Heist Society would appear on the New York Times best sellers series list, alongside The Hunger Games and The Mortal Instruments.  Congratulations Ally and thank you so much for coming to Joseph Beth for such a fun event!

My signed copy of Perfect Scoundrels, in stores now!