One of the top YA authors in the country, Ally Carter spent Wednesday in Frisco talking to students in the school’s library before making an appearance at Barnes and Noble. Carter is the author of more than 20 books and has made numerous best-seller lists. Before talking to fans at Barnes and Noble she sat down with Wingspan’s Rahmin Jawaid.

Wingspan: When did you decide you wanted to be an author?

Carter: “Probably the idea first landed when I was in middle school. I read the book The Outsiders for the very first time and I realized and found out that she [the author] was from Oklahoma. She lived nearby and that was the first time it ever occurred to me that people from Oklahoma could write books. Up until that point, we were reading people like William Shakespeare and Jane Austen, and it felt like if you weren’t a dead European, you couldn’t have written a book so it was really nice to find out that real people did that.”

Wingspan: Why do you choose to write for the young adult audience primarily?

Carter: “My first two books were adult books, and I had fun writing them, but YA is just so much more fun. It kind of felt like, I’ll use the analogy that it kind of felt like I was wearing shoes that were the wrong size. Once I went up a half size, it was like this is what it is supposed to feel like.”

Wingspan: What inspires you to write the stories you’ve written?

Carter: “Lots of different things. For example the series that I am writing right now, which is called Embassy Row, the first book is All Fall Down, the second book is See How They Run, and it was inspired when I was talking to my librarian. She mentioned that her son, who is in college, was thinking about going into foreign services, but she didn’t know how she felt about the idea of her grandchildren growing up in embassies around the world. I thought how cool would it be to grow up in embassies all around the world. You never know where inspiration is going to come from.”

Wingspan: What do you hope to accomplish at your book signing events and author visits at school?

Carter: “It’s just always really fun to connect with readers and hear their stories and find out what they like, what they’re into. If I can help somebody stay interested in reading, then that’s a good day’s work.”

Wingspan: What is your most memorable experience going on a book signing tour?

Carter: “It’s not a flattering story, but my favorite story is this one time I was touring with another author. I was touring with Rachel Hawkins, who wrote Hex Hall and Rebel Belle, and she’s really, really funny. We were taking a train from Washington D.C. north, and we thought we were going to Philadelphia so we got off the train in Philadelphia, but we were actually supposed to go to Trenton, New Jersey. So we had gotten off in the wrong state, and we were like, we are morons.”

Wingspan: What would you say to students who are currently inspiring to be authors or writers in the future?

Carter: “I think the most important thing, especially for young people who want to write, is that they need to read as much as they can, and write as much as they can. I think we have a tendency to try to get in hurry and go pro, but why do that? You are in a position right now where you can take your time and just really enjoy writing for the love of it, and get good at writing before you try to worry about getting successful. Just enjoy the craft right now.”

Wingspan: How does it feel to have come this far in your career?

Carter: “It feels really surreal most times. It happened pretty gradually. I didn’t just one day become a best selling author, I kind of eased into it, the book started doing a little bit better and a little bit better. At the end of the day, my life is still pretty much the same because, you get the call that maybe you’re on the New York Times list and then in the next moment, your trash bag at home has broken and you’ve got trash strewn all over the house, so you worry about things in your ordinary little life. That’s just life, life goes on, regardless of anything else.”

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YA author Ally Carter on campus Wednesday