Your Questions Answered

When will I Get my Period?

Question:

 

      my breasts arent growing quickly enough. im about to be 11years old and im still flat chested. i no everybody grows at different times but i really wish i would grow a bit faster. when will i get my period and when will start wearing a bra? i want to grow faster but im not growing.

A Book for Adults?

Question:

 

 

 

Hello. I was wondering if there’s going to be any more alice books coming out and will you ever write a book for adults?

 

Phyllis replied:

 

There will be four more Alice books.  Yes, I have written a half dozen or so books for adults.

 

Collecting the Books for my Daughter

Question:

I read The Agony of Alice the year it came out. I was a fifth grader. 🙂  I've
been an Alice fan ever since.  I recently re-discovered your blog after having a
broken link bookmarked for months.  I was pleased to read that you have the
final book written and tucked safely away. I hate waiting a year between new
books, but knowing that you have the final book written somehow makes the
waiting easier.

I wanted to say thank you for the series.  I appreciated Alice as a pre-teen and
teenager, and I appreciate her even more as a mother.  I'm collecting the books
in hardcover for my preschooler.  Alice has aged well, and I suspect she'll
still be relevant a decade from now when my daughter is ready for the books. 
Technology changes, but the sorrows and embarrassments of teenage girls has
stayed very much the same.

Phyllis replied:

 

I love it when I hear from moms who read the Alice books when they were younger.  How wonderful that you are collecting the books for your own daughter.  You're so right--times change, but feelings--love, embarrassment, sorrow, and all--remain the same.  Thanks so much for writing to me.

Love to Write

Question:

 I’m thirteen years old and I love to write. I wanted to ask you some questions about writing. I read your autobiography How I Became a Writer and loved it. It really inspired me to keep writing and I see a lot of myself in you. Like any writer, I have trouble writing everyday. You, however, seem to have it come so easily. I think the ideas come to me fine–the characters, the plot, and setting. But its the persistance that gets me. I’m the type of writer that will write a few pages, come back to it later and read over it only to realize that it sounds ridiculous so I throw it out. I’m sure it’s not the healthiest way to go about writing a novel but it keeps me going.  

Phyllis replied:

I seem to be getting a lot of mail these days from readers who want to write a novel and get it published before they have written short stories or tried to get anything published in magazines or in teen writing contests.  It’s fine to write a novel for yourself, for fun, even with the idea that some day you may want to rewrite it and send it out for publication.  But at this point, age 13, you should not be thinking about writing a novel and having it published.  You should be writing for the joy of it, the fun of it, the look and sound of words on the printed page–testing yourself on how well you hold up, how excited or unexcited you are to get back to your project, how it appeals to you after you put it aside for a few weeks or months, then get it out and read it over again.  Writing is hard work; there’s no getting around it.  I’m getting too many emails from young readers who ask about writing something that will become a movie, or asking about getting an agent.  The craft, the art, of writing comes first.  You need to first persuade yourself that what you might lack in talent, you will make up for by persistence.  Your talent will grow as you keep reading other people’s books, seeing how they do things, and then writing your own.  What you need to work on first is planting yourself in your chair and keeping at a story until it’s something you truly like.  THEN test it out on other people, including editors.

The Movie

Question:

 

I just LOVE your Alice books!!!! I read all of them up to Alice in the know and still reading them…

Is it OK?

I Take Something Out of Every Book

Question: I know you get probably tons of fan mail a day. But i hope this one stands out. Ever since i was little i have loved your books there funny,awesome and at the end you always feel like you know the characters like your own family. In every book i took something out of it. I read your books because it gives me inspiration to maybe own day right a book. I do right and i pick up skills for u, Meg Cabot, Elizabeth Scott… romantic comedies if you get my drift. And i usually would read your books over and over picking every detail to death: ). But i learned about boys lol, and friends, family, and sometimes i would want to be Alice i mean she has an adorable red head! I think reading your books also gave me a taste for red heads named Patrick who play drums. If there’s a guy out there by this description and i find him i will be totally sure its fate ; ) but i usually read about 6 or 7 books a week me and my librarian have b/come gr8 friends and according to all my friends we are the cool book worms lol ; ). But I just wanted to say you are a really acomplished author and i enjoy your books and can’t wait till the next one comes out in 2010 or 2011? I don’t really remeber but it would be awesome if you could email me back if not it’s cool. But keep writing tons of books b/c everyone loves them alot. And is this upcoming book the last one of the Alice series?       ~ A future Author~                    Phyllis replied:   It’s wonderful that you find something in every book and every author that appeals to you or makes you think.  No, Intensely Alice is not the last book in the series.  The next book, Alice in Charge, comes out in June of 2010.  The very last book in the series won’t be published until 2013.

My friend introduced me….

Which book to read first?

Just a Druggie

Phyllis replied:

 

If what you told me is actually true, I think that far more important than your being a druggie or slut  or lier or drinker is that you seem extremely unhappy to me, and that’s what’s behind it all.  You say that your parents don’t seem to care about you but, true or not, you don’t seem to care much for yourself.  At the same time, you do have insight into how far your grades have dropped, how much your behavior has changed, and yes, you do need outside help, far more than I can give.  The way you change is to take the next step: find an adult whom you can talk to, an adult in a position to connect you with the right people who can help.  And while you are working on getting back to a self you can respect, be honest with the people around you.  To kids at school who look at you as a slut, don’t excuse yourself and don’t ask for their pity.   Simply say, when you catch rumors whispered about you, “I’m not proud of the way I’ve been, but I’m working on changing, and I hope you’ll respect that.”  I respect you for your honesty in writing to me.