STATUS: Back in the office after a wonderful RWA. A little sad though. Six terrific Rita nominations and one Golden Heart but alas, no wins on RITA night. Dems the Berries.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? GOT ME UNDER PRESSURE by ZZ Top
My author Ally Carter was out in San Fran for RWA (just for fun) and to do an event at Kepler’s Bookstore. While she was there, she told the real story behind how she ended up writing I’D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I’D HAVE TO KILL YOU.
If you’ve ever been curious, here it is–straight from the author herself. Tomorrow I should have a post-RWA bonus entry for you.
She is such an engaging and adorable speaker.
I love hearing stories about how ideas come along, it’s so interesting how an simple thought can lead to such thought-out, well-plotted novels.
what a great story, “my agent told me I was terrible so I kept going”… now I don’t feel soo bad.
That was very interesting — and I agree with Jude — she is an adorable speaker who is so great at engaging her audience (me included).
I especially enjoyed hearing about the setbacks and problems. Not that I was glad she had them, it’s just nice to be reminded that it’s normal to struggle along.
LOL! She’s got a great sense of humor! (I’m assuming you DIDN’T really tell her she could write teen novels because she was immature, but that line was worth watching the whole thing, even if it had been her only one-liner… which it wasn’t.) I’m definitely going to have to check out her books now. (You did that on purpose, didn’t you, Kristin?)
Her explanation of the difference between premise and plot is excellent, too! And it’s encouraging, because I made the same mistake when I started writing.
It is kind-of funny how books start. Mine started with the simple thought of how intriguing it would be to have a 22-year-old man sharing responsibilities with his 47-year great-grandfather. Of course, that’s only possible with a time-travel factor, which led me to all sorts of fun ideas.
Thanks for sharing that!
Thanks for the link. Ally is such a great speaker as well. I aspire to holding an author talk that goes as smoothly. 🙂
Great link. I aspire to have such an interesting, eloquent author talk one day. 🙂
She did a great job of showing how an agent keeps a writer on track. Loved hearing about your “Macy is staying!” 🙂
It’s great to hear her tell her story. Thanks for putting it up!
I loved getting to see Ally tell her start with the story. She has it posted on her site too. I can’t wait for GG#3 and Kat sounds really great too.
Video no longer available, but if you search Ally Carter on Youtube this is the first return.
She gave some really honest and insightful answers right off the top of her head! I loved the last bit about Macy because when I read the book, it really surprised me when Macy stuck around. I understand now that Ally Carter wasn’t expecting her to stay either! I wonder if that means the most effective surprises in books are the ones that even the author doesn’t anticipate? There might be a really great way to use that….
I love the video! 🙂