New Post has been published on http://www.matchedsource.com/live-chat-with-ally-condie-april-10-2013/
Live Chat With Ally Condie April 10, 2013
Hi everyone! Ally will be on in just a few minutes. I just want to take this time to thank you all for coming and to let you know that we will get to as many questions as we can tonight. Donāt worry if you donāt see your question pop up right away, I promise that we have them here to pass on to Ally.
Please remember that if you are asking a question about CROSSED or REACHED to include SPOILER at the beginning of your question to warn our viewers.
Hi everyone! Iām here now.
Excellent! Welcome, Ally!
Hi Ally is there any future plans for a movie Matched?
There are movie plans for MATCHED. Disney purchased the rights back in 2010, and the Mulroneys (the husband/wife team behind the second Sherlock Holmes movie) are writing the screenplay. Beyond that, who knows! Iāll be sure to update on twitter, etc., if I hear more.
What advice would you give to students who are interested in pursuing writing as a career?
For students interested in pursuing writing as a career, I would say to treat it like a job (the best job in the world, but still a job)! For me, before publication, that meant spending several hours a day writing, reading great books, and going to writing workshops. It was hard (I had a full-time job and a baby) but I was willing to give up a lot of sleep. For me, at least, I wasnāt ready to be a writer until Iād spent a lot of time learning to write.
Ok, so are all your books out now? Or are they still pending?
All of the books in the Matched Trilogy (MATCHED, CROSSED, REACHED) have been released in the US. Iām working on a new book now (as yet untitled) and hopefully many others after that. But they wonāt be part of the Matched Trilogy.
Hi Ally, Do you have any suggestions for teaching Matched in the classroom? I am hoping to get it added to the curriculum and would love some advice regarding topics or themes that you feel are essential to cover, aside from the whole dystopian-esque topics.
Hi Gena! As a former teacher, I think/hope it would be pretty easy to bring MATCHED into a classroom, since it has so many ties to the canon (Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and, of course, poems by Dylan Thomas and Alfred Tennyson). There are also some great resources over at the official site for the series (www.matched-book.com) that would be good springboards for lesson plans. I especially like this oneāit would be fun for students:
http://www.matched-book.com/party.html
And there are discussion questions as well for the books that I think are great.
what advice would you give for a teenager cassias age if the world ever became like the society in matched?
Hi Tayler! To be honest, itās a little scary to give advice to someone who would have to live in Cassiaās world because I really, really hope we donāt end up there! I think Iād tell her/him, as cheesy as this sounds, to follow their heart. Itās like Ky says when he tells Cassia the story of Sisyphusāthe only thing you can really control are your own thoughts and inner life, but there is a lot of power in that.
If you were in Cassiaās place, would you have picked Xander or Ky? and Which character, of any of them, did you like writing about best?
Hi Maggie! I actually put half of my favorite things about my husband in Ky and half in Xander, so it would be impossible for me to choose. I think Cassia makes the right choice for her at the end of the series. I loved writing from all three main characterās points of view, and I also really enjoyed writing about Indie. Every time she was on the page, something interesting (well, to me, at least!) happened.
Hi Ally, what YA books are you excited about now?
Hello, Dawn! That is a great question! I am excited about so much in YA right now. One of my favorite authors is Ann Dee Ellis, who wrote a fantastic book called EVERYTHING IS FINE that I devoured in one sitting. Iām also really looking forward to new work by Diana Peterfreund and Anna Jarzab.
will your new books be like the trilogy? or a completely diff genre
Hi Kayla! The new books will be something different. You can find out about them in more detail at my websiteāI just wrote a blog post with a little summary about the story.
Out of the trilogy Matched which one is your personal favorite?
Thatās a great question, Emily. I like all three of them for different reasonsāMATCHED was a lot of fun to write because I had no idea it would ever be published, CROSSED was the book where they became who they had to be for REACHEDāand REACHED was the book where all three characters finally had their say. I guess if I had to pick one right now Iād say REACHED, but my answer could change tomorrow!
How did you come up with your characters? Where there people who inspired you?
There are definitely people who inspired me in creating the characters, but they are also not really based on specific people. For example, I had really awesome grandparents who believed in me, and so Grandfather in the story is sort of a conglomeration of my four grandparents, plus his own person, too. Bram exists because I have a little brother who I love very much, but my own little brother isnāt very much like Bram. Most of the characters are that way. Indie, for example, isnāt based on anyone I know, but I borrowed her name from a cute girl in my sonās preschool class.
Hello, Ally! Iām a big fan of the Matched trilogy and actually got my English teacher into it! How did you choose which poem out of all in the world to use as the fuel that builds Cassiaās fire to seek change?
Hi Alex! Thanks for getting your English teacher interested in the books. To be honest, it was really easy for me to choose which poem to use for Cassiaās revolution. Iāve always LOVED āDo Not Go Gentleā by Dylan Thomas, and I also think itās a poem that just about everyone responds to instantly. Some poetry can be tricky to understand, but this one is beautifully written AND instantly powerful.
Ally, if you could spend the day with one of the Characters you created who would it be?
Hello Julie! If I could spend the day with any of the characters, it would probably be Cassia. Even though I love the two boys as well, sheās the heroine of the series and it would be cool to āmeetā her.
Other than your books, what is your favorite novel or series?
Hi Charissa! My favorite novel of all time is CROSSING TO SAFETY by Wallace Stegner. And my favorite series would probably be the ANNE OF GREEN GABLES series. I read that SO many times when I was a kid. I was obsessed with it! In fact, that series was the first time I read the poem āCrossing the Barā by Tennyson, which ended up playing an important part in the Matched series. My eight-year-old self would be so surprised to know that!
What did the Society want to know when the characters had to wear the discs when sleeping? Did they control their dreams?
Hi Micah! The Society wanted to know how their citizensā bodies/brains were functioning while they slept (we have a lot of this technology now). They also implied that they could āseeā what people were dreaming, but weāre never entirely sure whether that was true or notā¦
Comment From Margaux- Book Lover
Do you think the dystopian society you talk about in your books relate to society today?
Hello, Margaux! I think the dystopian society does relate a little to our society todayāwe are losing the ability to write by hand, for example (I know people can still write, but cursive is no longer being taught in many schools, etc.). I think we are also losing out on a lot of great reading/poetry because we donāt take the time to search it out.
Ally Huge fan. I bought your books and they spread through our home like wildfire, then we passed them on to the school with the same result! Iām constantly defending books like Matched Trilogy and the Hunger Games when parents tell me they are too violent or too scary. What do you tell people when you are asked about the āappropriatenessā of a book?
Hi Alicia! Thanks for passing the books around! Whenever people ask me if one of my books is appropriate for their child, I usually say, āI donāt know your child, so I really canāt tell you, but I can tell you that my series has implied violence, a controlling government, and a girl whoās in love with a boy.ā I think the definition of āappropriateā is different for each reader, so itās a really tricky one to address.
If you were in the Society and you had a Match Banquet coming up, what color dress would you choose?
If I got to choose the dress for my Match Banquet, it would definitely be blue. Thatās always been my favorite color.
Hello Ally! I absolutely love Matched and Iām reading Crossed right now. I was choosen to find out background information and I am struggling to find information that my classmates are interested in. I am interested in when your birthday is, and where you where born, if possible. Thank you!
Hi Myah! I actually donāt give out personal information on the internet like birthdates, etc. Iām sorry! Thereās just too much craziness in the world (even though Iām sure you are lovely, once info is out there it canāt be taken back!) But I can tell you that Iām 34 years old. I hope that helps!
I own the 1st and 2nd, but I have only read the first one. Where did you find the inspiration for having 100 hundred songs, 100 poems and so on. Also why would they not want their society turn learn how to write
Hello, Hanna! I got the idea for the Hundred Songs, etc., because we as a society are always making lists like that (the 100 Best Movies, for example). I thought about how scary it would be if all we ever referred to were those lists. And about the handwritingāI thought the Society wouldnāt want them to learn how to write because writing is private. On the other hand, everything we send electronically (even now!) can be viewed/hacked by hundreds of other people and isnāt private at all.
Love the series, Ally! How long did it take you to write the first book? Was it easier to write the second two?
Hi Dana! It took me about 9 months to draft the first book (but then there were still months of revisions afterwards). It wasnāt easier to write the second twoāIād say it was much harder, in fact, because I added Ky and Xanderās voices, and because I had to make sure everything tied together!!
If you had to choose one scene from the trilogy live out in real life, what would you choose?
Hello, Heather! If I had to choose one scene to live out, Iād live out Ky and Cassiaās reunion in the canyon.
Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what kind?
Hi Katie! I donāt listen to music while I write (but I do often turn on my white-noise headphones). I listen to music BEFORE I write to get me in the mood. I have official playlists for each book in the trilogy over on my website. Those are the songs Iād listen to before I wrote.
If Matched was made into a movie, who would you want most to play the role of Cassia?
Fun question, Kaitlin! I honestly have no idea who Iād want to play Cassia. A lot of readers have suggested Nina Dobrev, and I think she is a great actress and would be beautiful in the partābut again, Iām pretty clueless.
Just 15 more minutes, everyone! Get those questions in!
Comment From CharissaAbigail
I love your series!!! As a young aspiring music artist, I was wondering, do you write your own poetry? If so,have you ever tried writing lyrics, music, or both?
Hi Charissa. I do write my own poetry (I wrote some of the poetry in the series). I donāt write music or lyrics, but my husband is great at doing both!
SPOILER Hi Ally ! Did you ever consider putting Ky and Indie together which would have cleared the path for Xander and Cassia? At one point Ky wasnāt sure if Cassia was alive and Indie had feelings for him. I think he also had feelings for her except there was Cassia. I thought the book might have been taking us for a huge mix up of Ky and Indie falling for each other, Xander and Cassia ending up together and all of them finding each other after the fact. That would have been a mental mess for all of them to work through.
Hi Patrick! SPOILER: I knew that Indie would fall in love with Ky, and that he would care a LOT about Indie, but I knew that as long as Cassia was alive, Ky would never end up with Indie.
How do you say Cassia? I know people that say it different ways, what is the correct way?
Hi Jane. I always tell readers that they can say Cassiaās name however they want! I use the classic Greek pronunciation, Cash-a.
The compact was such a prized secret of Cassias. Have you ever been given a family heirloom that meant that much to you? What and from whom?
Hope, you have such a pretty name! I do have a family heirloom that I love. My grandfather brought my grandmother a bracelet from Italy when he was serving in WWII. And she gave it to me. Iāve always felt so special that she would trust me with such a gift.
Have you ever thought of making a second series about Xanders point of veiw?
Hi Maya! I havenāt thought of that, actually. I think Iām happy with where weāve left everyone. But I did really love writing from Xanderās POV in REACHED.
Is there a reason why you chose her name to be Cassia? And how do you go about choosing other charactersā names?
Hi Suzanna! I actually wrote a whole blog post over on my site about Cassiaās name (and the boysā names too). But the short answer is that I wanted a beautiful, classical, unusual name that was also a botanical name. Cassia fit all the requirements.
Do you often get writerās block? And when you do, do you have a special method to get out of it?
Hi Charissa! I do get writerās block almost every day. My tricks are to work on another project for a few minutes and then come back, take a short walk, go for a run, or, in dire circumstances, give it a break for a few days and see if I canāt come up with something.
Hi Ally! Will you be going on tour any time soon?
Hi Abbey! I just finished up my tour for REACHED in November, so I wonāt be going out on tour again soon. I have four little kids at home who need me. But hopefully Iāll go out on tour again in the fall for the paperback release of REACHED. Weāll have to see what my publisher decides!
If you were Cassiaās parent could you have supported her choices? Why or why not?
Hi Olivia. I think I would have been able to support Cassiaās choices because I do believe people should get to choose their own path. But of course, Iām sure it would stress me out that her path is kind of a dangerous one!
5 more minutes, weāll get to just a few more questions!
When did you start writing? Iām been writing since third grade. Any Tips?
Hi Stella! Iāve been writing since I was really littleāIād dictate stories to my babysitter when I was four and then as soon as I could write, I started putting my own stories down on paper. My best tips are to read a lot and writeāeven if itās just a little!āevery day.
I really just want you to know you are by far my most favorite author. You really are an inspiration for me and my writing. I would really like to know what your favorite part was when writing your trilogy?
Erin, that is so sweet of you! Thank you! I actually really loved writing the last chapter in REACHED. It was a really bittersweet, wonderful experience.
I love that Cassia and Indie are such strong women, do you have any women who inspired you?
Elena, what a great question! Yes, I do. My own mom is an artist (I recently posted about her on my blog) and a very strong woman. And so was my grandma, who took care of me every day when I was little. I was so lucky/blessed to have them in my life.
How did you come up with a character like Ky? So rebellious
I liked the idea of Ky being someone who knew what things looked like on the outside of the Society, and I liked the idea of him being artistic and interesting. Iām drawn to guys who are arty.
Did you get to choose the design of the books? Theyāre so cool!!
Ginny, I didnāt get to choose the design of the booksāthe publisher has a designer who did all of thatābut I LOVE them. She did a fantastic job!!
Did you ever have a problem with who Cassia would choose
Hi Janie! I did wonder who Cassia would choose. I wasnāt certain until I started REACHED who she would end up with. But after writing the first chapter of REACHED, I knew.
And thatās it, everyone. Thanks for all your amazing questions and thank you so much for joining us tonight, Ally! And if anyone came in late, donāt worry, a full transcript and recap of the chat will be available tomorrow!
So many thanks to all of you for such great questions, and a huge thank-you to Preeti for organizing this! It has been awesome! Iām over on twitter (allycondie) if some of you didnāt get your questions answered. I can try to catch some of them there later. Happy reading to everyone!