Are You Inspired?

Question:

Our seventh grade class semester project involves choosing an author and writing about the author’s career. In addition, we must read and present a synopsis of one of the author’s novels. I have selected you as my author and I am currently in the process of reading Jade Green.

I am aware of many other books that you have written but chose Jade Green because it sounded like a good story line to read. So far it is pretty scary! I was curious if there was any event in your life that inspired you to write such a ghostly story?

I cannot wait to read other novels of yours after I finish this one. What novel would you choose next for a twelve year old, seventh grader?

I was also wondering if you are inspired for ALL of your stories or do you just start randomly writing?

I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer my questions.

Phyllis replied:

If by “inspired,” you mean am I excited about writing the book? Yes, very much. Sometimes ideas come to me in a flash–almost the whole plot spinning out in my head–but more usually it begins with some small thing and grows and changes over months, even years, until I finally think, “I believe there’s a book in all this.”

Since you haven’t finished reading “Jade Green,” I can only tell you that I got the idea for it from a movie I saw twenty years or so ago, titled, I believe, “The Hand.”

Other books of mine you might enjoy, at age 12, are “Faith, Hope and Ivy June,” “Reluctantly Alice,” and “Night Cry,” among others.

Posted on: November 18, 2010