We chat with author Ally Carter about her new release The Blonde Identity, which is a fast-paced, hilarious road trip rom-com about a woman with amnesia who discovers she’s the identical twin sister of a rogue spy… and must team up with a rugged, grumpy operative to stay alive.
Hi, Ally! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m Ally! I grew up on a farm in Oklahoma and have been writing books about spies and kissing for more than a decade. People probably know me best for my YA novels like I’d Tell You I Love You but Then I’d Have to Kill You and Heist Society. Now I’m writing books like that—but for grownups!
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
When I was in middle school I read The Outsiders by SE Hinton. I still remember my father telling me that the author was actually from Oklahoma (like me.) When I learned she’d written it when she was a teenager, I thought, “Well then that’s what I’m going to do.” Never in a million years did I think I’d be lucky enough to actually get to do it.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first book I remember not being able to put down was Nancy Drew and the Secret of Shadow Ranch. The Outsiders made me want to write. And the book I’ve been obsessed with recently is The Love Hypothesis. I was in a massive reading slump a few years ago, and that’s the book that got me out of it. So it’s one I go back to time and time again.
Your latest novel, The Blonde Identity, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Ooh. So hard!
Lost City-meets-Bourne Identity?
Spy amnesia roadtrip rom-com?
Gallagher Girls all grown up?
Basically, I just want people to know that it’s not just a rom-com and not just a thriller. It’s truly a blend of both.
What can readers expect?
This book is fun! It was fun to write and (hopefully) fun to read. And very fast. This book doesn’t just start on page one—it’s shot out of a cannon on page one. So go to the bathroom and get you a snack because (I hope) you’re not going to find a good place to stop until you’re finished.
Where did the inspiration for The Blonde Identity come from?
I’ve been wanting to do something with identical twins for ages. Years ago, an image came to me. A young woman in the snow, waking up beneath the Eiffel Tower when a guy appears out of nowhere, shouting, “Get up, Alex! Run.”
I didn’t know anything else, but I knew this: that wasn’t Alex.
Just like that, I knew I had my twin idea. For ages, I tried to make it work for YA or even middle grade, but then one day I was on the phone with Rachel Hawkins (AKA Erin Sterling) and I told her I was giving up on it—that it would never work.
And Rachel said, “That’s because they’re not kids—they’re adults.”
Instantly, all of the problems I’d been having faded away. It was meant to be.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Some of these scenes have been living in my head for going on ten years. Waking up beneath the Eiffel Tower. Wandering down snowy streets with a super hot secret agent. Jumping onto boats and off of trains and just, generally, running for your lives across half of Europe.
I loved researching all the possible settings and set pieces, but the most rewarding part was digging into the characters of Sawyer and Zoe—taking them apart and figured out what made them tick. The characters are always the meat of the story.
This is your adult debut! Did you face any challenges in making the “shift” when it came to writing?
Well, I actually wrote two chick lit novels a million years ago, so in a way it was coming full circle. But I haven’t worked in that space in forever, so it did take some getting used to, but, overall, the changes were hugely freeing.
I no longer had to worry about how kids were going to get around without a licensed driver. I didn’t have to come up with a million reasons why they couldn’t just call 911 or go to an adult for help. It wasn’t until I started writing this that I realized I’d essentially been swimming in a weighted vest for years. Once you can set aside those constraints, an action-heavy book becomes vastly easier.
Lastly, what’s next for you?
I have another high-concept rom-com slated for 2024. I’m afraid I can’t share many details at this time, but I will say that there are no TBI characters in it and it’s not a spy book, but I think it fits my brand well. I’m certainly having fun writing it! Hopefully I’ll be able to do another spy book soon.
