Ally Condie has taken to Facebook to announce her first event of 2013: She’ll be taking part in the Orem Writes: YA Writers author panel with Rob Wells and Jen Nielsen!
Here are the details:
Thursday, January 10th
Orem Public Library
Orem, UT
7 p.m.
There will be no formal sale or book signing at the event, but as Ally mentioned in her Facebook comments “…I’m sure if you came up to me with books after I would be unable to say no. 😉 “
Ally Condie is the subject of a fun new profile in The Washington Examiner written by the Associated Press that discussed the success of the Matched Trilogy, but also pays homage to how the best-selling author made her way into the business:
So, with three best-selling books in three years, it appears that Condie, 34, has just suddenly hit the jackpot. In an interview before a recent program for teens in Bethesda, however, Condie is quick to correct the record, noting that she earlier had published five novels for teens with a small, religious-focused publisher, Deseret Book Company in her home state of Utah, before even beginning “Matched.”
In fact, Condie now credits those early novels as a type of apprenticeship that gave her the skills to eventually write her best-selling trilogy.
“The editors there [at Deseret Book] were the first ones to see some promise in me, and I’m grateful,” Condie added.
Ally Condie recently spoke to Amazon.com’s book blog Omnivoracious all about the Matched Trilogy, writing, and reading! Check it out!
Do you have a Matched trilogy lover in your life who might appreciate some books suggested by Ally Condie? Check out Ally’s favorite book ideas for children and adults!
FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS by Diana Peterfreund. I’ve posted about this book before, but it bears repeating–this book is a lot of fun. It’s a dystopian retelling of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, and it’s extremely well-written, AND you could give it to anyone from age 9-90. It’s fast-paced and cultured and clean and gorgeous.
IN A GLASS GRIMMLY by Adam Gidwitz. I’m giving this to friends with kids who will love a gory, glorious read-aloud. And, frankly, I should give this to some adults too, because it’s hysterically funny. In addition to the impeccable pacing and excellent humor, the writing is also extraordinarily beautiful, with passages that you’ll want to underline. Yes, it’s hilarious, but there is also so much heart.
PAPER TOWNS by John Green. Yes, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and LOOKING FOR ALASKA are both dominating the NYT list right now (as they should be–both wonderful books). But I have always found PAPER TOWNS particularly haunting, and there’s a particular passage near the end that I love so much it ranks up there with the opening line of Stegner’s CROSSING TO SAFETY as a beautifully written description of what it means to be human.
If you didn’t know, REACHED has been doing increasingly well since being released just about 2 weeks ago. Ally Condie, our awesome author, took to her blog to post some links to articles, reviews, etc. Check them out below!
In case you missed it MTV.com posted the official Reached playlist!
Amazon has named REACHED as one of the best books of 2012 for Kids and Teens. It’s currently #1 on the list!
Entertainment Weekly posted a review of Reached.
“There’s no shame in crying at the end.”
There will also be an interview with Ally in the November 23rd issue of the magazine (the one with Star Wars on the cover).
USA Today featured an article on the series.
Author Ally Condie says a “casual conversation about marriage” with her husband, an economics professor at Brigham Young University, triggered the most popular series of books for teens since The Hunger Games.
John Green, author of The Fault In Our Stars, mentioned Reached in a tweet and on a Tumblr blog post (Ally mentioned that she’s a fan of his work).
Seventeen and Just Jared Jr. both chose REACHED as their book club pick.
We could never imagine our free will being taken away or having our lives pre-planned for us or having arranged marriages come back into style.
-JJJ
Penguin Teen (publisher of the series) did an author spotlight of Ally.
What’s your favorite thing about your book? I like the endings of each of the books in the series. It’s fun to take a character to a specific point in their journey and have that sense of arrival…and also that something new might be on the horizon for them.
Also, just a reminder, Ally is on a book tour for REACHED right now. Check out the schedule here to see if she’ll be in your city soon.
Make sure to check out Ally’s blog posts here for her personal and book-related updates!
Just Jared Jr. recently covered Reached in their book club, at which time they unleashed a great quote from Ally Condie that was previously published in Entertainment Weekly. It’s all about her favorite fancasts for the upcoming Matched movie!
Here’s her take on it all:
Nathan Fillion
“I’m 34, so I’m mostly thinking about whose dad Nathan Fillion could play. [Laughs] A lot of fans have been sending pictures of actors. I just saw Logan Lerman in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. A lot of fans have mentioned him, and I was kind of dying because he’s the cutest thing ever — he would be a great Ky. Also, Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries.”
We wouldn’t be opposed to the inclusion of Nathan Fillion, either!
If you want to ask Ally more questions about the books or her fancasts, submit them in the comments here as we’ll be interviewing her in two days!
Ally Condie posted a great Thanksgiving message on her blog along with a lovely photo from her tour stop at Anderson’s in Naperville, Illinois!
Photo credit: Cayt O’Neal.
I want to thank all of you wonderful readers for your supportive emails, comments, tweets, etc., this past week. They are always great, but this week they’ve been especially supportive, and I am so grateful. Being in the public eye is not an easy thing for me and you make it easier/less scary. You make it possible. I know it is a big investment of time to read a book/series, and I appreciate it more than I can say that you would be willing to give your time to these books and characters.
And for those of you taking the time to post reviews on your blogs, or on Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc.–that’s an additional amount of time taken, and I am VERY grateful for that too.
Also, word-of-mouth cannot be overestimated–when you take the time to tell someone about a book you love (whether it’s mine or not!) that does the reading community and us as a culture a great deal of good. You’re letting people know that books and stories are worth their time.
THANK YOU.
Thank you for your wonderful stories and inspired writing, Ally! We hope you’re enjoying your book tour!
Anorie’s Whimsies on Etsy (aka our very own Annie!) is one of the few retailers with fantastic original Matched themed jewelry. She’s too modest to have ever mentioned her own jewelry on the site, but we love it so much that we just had to!
We’re especially attached to this beautiful pendant featuring Cassia’s poem to Ky, the featured lines of which originally appear in Crossed:
by Anorie’s Whimsies
“I climb into the dark for you
Are you waiting in the stars for me?”
Reached may only have been released three days ago, but it’s already gathering plenty of accolades!
Amazon has added Reached to their list of the Best Teen Books of 2012! The list is based upon current sales and Reached is currently at #1! Congratulations to Ally and the team behind the Matched Trilogy!
Happy Reached day! Along with the release of the book, Ally Condie has also released the official playlist for Reached through Hollywood Crush. Here’s what she had to say:
I love making playlists for the books, and it’s one of my favorite ways to interact with readers—it’s fun to hear their responses to the songs on the list! When I was writing “Reached,” these are the songs I listened to most. I tried to arrange them a little in the order of the story—which songs seem to fit the beginning, middle, end, etc., but they all work for the whole story.
Here are some of the songs and their significance:
1. “Save the World” by Swedish House Mafia. I picture Xander walking down the street to this song at the beginning of “Reached,” and I love the mood it sets.
5. “All the Rowboats” by Regina Spektor. Love this song, its allusions to museums and art, the way it fits the story…especially a certain scene involving Xander in the middle of the book.
12. “Land of Hope and Dreams” by Bruce Springsteen. I love the line about the “brother” and being a good companion for the ride. This song, with its epic-sounding feel, is great for the end of a series. Substitute the word “ship” for “train” and it’s pretty much an exact fit.
You can listen to them here:
You can check out the entire list of 13 songs and their significance over at Hollywood Crush right here.
Matched Fandom 