Contemporary Summer Interview: Ally Carter

I am SO excited for today's post...we have an inteview with one of mine and Liz's favourite contemporary authors...Ally Carter! Ally very kindly answered the questions we sent, so thank you so much =]

-------

Hi Ally! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer some interview questions for us, we’re both huge fans of your books and we really appreciate it.

First up…just how exactly do you go about researching how to rob an art gallery?

Well, I have a huge advantage in that I get to plan both the heist and the security system.  Robbing an art gallery is far easier when you get to play both sides.

On the topic of research, a lot of the information in both the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series seems totally genuine (in terms of spy techniques etc) how much of this is real and how much did you invent for the purpose of the books? 

I tried to get all of the theories as close as possible, especially in the first couple of books when I was setting up the school and establishing the world.  I have never been trained as a spy (obviously) but there are a lot of declassified training manuals and other things, and I drew upon those heavily.  The very specific things (like names of devices or maneuvers) are generally made up, but the overall principles are as close as I could make them.

We’ve both read GG5 so we obviously have to ask….any hints/teasers for GG6??

I’m really excited to write GG6, I can tell you that.  When I was working on GG5 it felt very much like I was setting up a GG6 to do list.  When the book ends, Cammie knows a lot about the past, but she also has a very clear sense of what she’s going to have to do in the future.  Some people need saving; some people need taken down.  And she’s going to try to do all of it.

With GG6 being the last of the series, do you have any other projects you can tell us about?

Nothing that I can talk about just yet, but I do have a lot of ideas.  I’m just going to have to really think hard about which one is the right one to tackle as my first post-GG project.

If the characters of Gallagher Girls and Heist Society ever met, what do you think would happen?

I get this question a lot!  I honestly don’t know.  Perhaps I will have to explore it someday.  I am sure that it would depend entirely upon the circumstances.

 Can you please make Zach (for Liz) and Hale (for me) real?? (and also a little older….)

Oh, if I could do that then you girls would have to get in line!

 All the characters in both series have vey clear-cut and diverse personalities/characteristics, how hard is it to get so much depth into characters, especially the more minor ones?

Thank you.  I think I’m at a huge advantage because I have had (so far) several books to accomplish that.  Someone who has a very minor role in book one can have more significance in book two and so on.  Everyone (hopefully) gets their time to shine.

We’re currently hosting a Contemporary YA event on our blogs, what other contemporary books would you recommend for fans of the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society books (or just in general)?

If your readers haven’t yet discovered E. Lockhart then they are seriously missing out.  Her books The Boyfriend List (and later books in the series) and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau- Banks are some of my absolute favorites and great reads for fans of my series.  I’m also currently reading Code Name Verity which a World War II spy girl story.  Super great stuff.

And finally….what’s Hale’s name??

No comment.

Thanks so much Ally!

If you're in the UK, you can win a complete set of Ally Carter books (and trust me you want to!) here. If you're outside the UK, you can win a contemp book of your choice!

Today, Liz is posting an interview with Cora Harrison, author of The Debutantes!