Alice–I was crying like crazy

Comment:
I have been reading to alice series since I was about 9 years old, I have always been a big reader and have also enjoyed books but how I felt with the alice series was something I can’t even put to words,(does that seem strange) I am now 13 years old and I have been reading your books for awhile, I didn’t read them in order and had just read a couple. It was just something to entertain me when I was bored at first then I started to really like them. The first book in the series I read was “Outrageous Alice”, I read it 3 times in a row and then I found more of the books, then soon I searched for the first few books and I started to read the whole series properly. So just about 10 mins ago I had just finished reading,”Now I’ll Tell You Everything”, and I was crying like crazy, with Alice’s dad died, and Aunt Sally( How I loved aunt Sally) and Patrick’s parents dying and more sad deaths. I just felt like turning into a big ball and do nothing else but that stare at the wall.I don’t want to say that i’m just like Alice and that I feel the same connections with her but I sure can’t say I have her curiosity either, she is for sure way!!! braver than I am, I mean I am not shy I am able to speak my mind but I am sooo not comfortable saying half of the things she thinks and says that’s for sure. Okay, well I hate to drag on I bet you have much better things to be doing right now like maybe possibly writing a new amazing lovable book series (wink, wink) well i guess that’s all i wanted to say that your books have really made me laugh, cry, and think about things more than i ever imagined thank you for giving me that amazing memorable life experience, you have really gave a incredible gift to the world by writing these books, I hope you always remember that, I sure will.

(P.S. okay so I guess i have one thing in common with Alice, when someone tells me to forget something I will remember it for the rest of my life.)

Phyllis replied:

Thank you so much for your email.  You know, I cried too when I wrote some of the scenes in the Alice books.  In fact, there are a few paragraphs I’ve tried to read aloud in public when I’m speaking, and I’ve broken down and cried while I was reading them.  I know she’s just an imaginary girl that I invented, but she’s become so real to me–in fact, is a part of me–that I go through all the different emotions and feelings that she does.