Crossing Condie's Matched

Yesterday I met Ally Condie...sorta. She signed the copy of Matched my LA teacher gave me (he's a very generous man and probably one of my favorite teachers of all time. He would say that I'm using a trite platitude, but seriously, HE IS AWESOME) and then, she being the  nice lady that she is, she answered some questions for me. Three questions that you guys are going to think are really lame, I do too, but I'm writing a report about writing (kinda like thinking about thinking) and I wanted to hear some stuff from a real author. My Questions?

 Here they are:

1.  Q: How long does it take you to write a book?        
     A: Between 6 months and a year

2.  Q: How much time do you spend writing everyday?
     A: 3-4 hours when I don't have a deadline and 5-6 when I do.

3.  Q:What do publishers expect of you?
     A: That you edit your own work. Your editor can give you suggestions, but otherwise you do it on your own.

Really, I' just proud that I had the nerve to talk to her in the 1st place. Writers who I meet are like sacred prophets from the promise land. They leave me in awe because they've managed to get to the place that I dream of. Which is why I plan on continuing to write on here once I'm published. Humble beginnings people, we gotta keep in touch with them. Anyways. Cool stuff now, not my utter failure and awestruckyness when I met my first well know famous author.

Matched Review (as promised)

By: Ally Condie (Very nice person)

Pages: 336 (Hardcover)

Stars:  

If you like love triangles, read this book. If you liked Hunger Games, read this book. If you like dystopias, read this book. If you like future societies, read this book. If you like books about people breaking free from the bonds of society, read this book. I only gave this book 4 stars for a few reasons. Many are because I'm already biased against it. I like battles. I like hearts stop adrenaline stopping moments. Not a lot here. True, it is a bit slow,but honestly, not big on the whole love-triangle idea. Mrs. Condie went a bit over the top, but otherwise, this book was all good. I love Cassia, I love the struggles she faces, they're struggles we all face at some point or another. There's that big identity question. Cassia is someone the readers can relate with, and that's great.

Matched is about a girl named Cassia. She lives in a very controlled society. The society decides where she works, what she eats, who she loves. The decision making process has almost completely been eliminated. Few decisions, if any, are needed. On her 17th birthday, Cassia is Matched. That means she is shown who she iis going to marry. She gets matched with her best friend, a boy named Xander. She is given a chip with all his information n it and when she goes to learn more about him, something strange happens. Another by's face comes up, and she knows that boy too. The rest of the book is Cassia struggle to decide whether or not the Society is always right.

It's one of those beautiful metamorphosis books, and I honestly cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel.

Oh, one more thing, you know that " Do not go quiet..." poem I posted a few days ago? That poem plays a key role in this book. I suggest you take this book slowly. It's like a peace of chocolate, every word is beautiful.

Now a bit on Mrs. Condie. I know that I keep saying that she's a nice person, and as far as I'm concerned, it's true. She took the time to come to my school, then let me ask her some silly questions.  I have to say this though: she talks more about her inspiration than the books and the whole why-I-wrote-this thing and "oh yeah, funny story about that..." than the books and the things that seemed more interesting. For those of you who want to know, Matched is based off of three main elements:

1. The beautiful designer dresses the sorority girls she looked after wore
2. The Junior prom at the school she used to teach that took place at City Hall
3. The fact that cursive is a skill that s becoming less and less common. 

Frankly, I thought these little tidbits were OK , but you might think that they're cool. I almost forgot, I learned some things about Crossed that I thought were interesting.

• Cassia and Ky run away to some canyons because of all places, even though the government is so advanced, it will take a while to find them and get them out of there.
• There's going to be a new character named Vic who is either Ky or Cassia's guide through the canyons
• There will be a stronger focus on the visual arts, and one of the characters is a secret painter. 

To find out a bit more about Matched, you can visit the official site by clicking here.