Your Questions Answered

WHY?

Question:

I am a BIG fan of your Alice Series! Right now i am reading them all! I was just wondering though why did you have Oatmeal die at such a young age in Lovingly Alice?

Phyllis replied:

Unfortunately, that’s life.  Not everything waits until it’s old, which is all the more reason to love people and pets while they’re alive.

I Screamed!

Question:

A month or so ago I wrote to you asking for a poster, and I just received it yesterday. I had been expecting a letter from my best friend who’s at sleep away camp, so I ran to the mailbox and skimmed through the mail. No letter. I was so disappointed! But then I saw the letter from you and I screamed! I was so happy and excited! I love the fact that you do this for fans. It makes so many people happy. I put the poster up right next to my bed, and now every time I go to bed I can think of my favorite author and my favorite book series and character. I am obsessed with Alice! I started the series a few weeks ago, and I’m currently on Alice Alone. I still have a ways to go, but I think it will be impossible to wait a whole year for the next book! And I can’t wait for the last one. Does it have a title yet? (You don’t have to say what it is if you don’t want to.) 
  I also just finished watching the Alice movie. I thought it was pretty good, but I wish that they didn’t make Alice’s hair so long, and made Pamela’a either really long or really short. And why did they make Elizabeth black? (Not that I have a thing against black people.) I also wish that Mrs. Plotkin was fatter, and a lot of other stuff, but you can’t make the movie exactly like the book, and I know that you can’t really help it. But anyways, thanks so much for the poster, and keep on writing! 

Phyllis replied:

I’m so glad the poster pleased you.  The title of the very last book in the Alice series will probably be “Always Alice,” a title that a number of readers have suggested.  I would have made the movie differently if I had been the producer.  None of the characters were exactly as I had imagined them, and I wish they could have brought in Gwen, but Alice doesn’t meet Gwen until later, and they were sticking fairly close to “The Agony of Alice.”  Yet they wanted to include different races among Alice’s friends, as indeed there are in the books, but they’ve made it hard for themselves if they develope these particular characters into a series.  Still, they stuck to the spirit of the Alice books, and the spirit’s really what’s important.

Leave Him Wanting More?

Question:

Hey so i was wondering if this guy liked me. hes friends with my sister and this whole past school year we havent talked at all. i met him 3 weeks before school ended. he does drums in the school band (and im always attracted to drummers for some reason. haha) and im doing colorguard (flag twirling and throwing). so the day all the older band kids were meeting the new ones i saw him and recognized him from him talking to my sister and i was like “hey im caitlins sister!” and he smiled and said hey. and was like “oh your doing colorguard” and i tolf him i was and he smiled and said cool. i didnt think much, because obviously he was just trying to be nice. the next couple days when id see him, he’d notice me and smile at me.

a few days after that, it was raining really bad, like hurricane weather, and i planned this whole thing out about running over to him and looking helpless asking for his phone. haha and it worked! we stayed after school in the band room alone (well the band directer was near, but not close). i was waiting for my mom and he was playing the drums. i was sitting and he was playing and i think he was showing off, but im not sure, because he would look over at me a lot and smile. finally i did my cute little clap thing and he said “omigosh im so bad” so i said “well i think you were really good” and started to walk away for my ride. he said “your leaving?” and i told him yeah. which i think was good, right? leaving early so he’d like the chase of getting me or something..?

then he and my sister were texting and without telling me (till after she texted it) she told him i was cute. and he replied “is it because im in the drumline?” what does that mean??? and when she mentioned us hanging out but with her “guarding me” (aka coming with us) he said “why would u need to come with us? im not a sex demon.” soo…does this mean he WAS interested in hanging out with me?

but i guess i can answer that myself, because a couple weeks ago on myspace (im on vacation 500 miles away from florida and hes vacationing in puerto rico…so we cant talk in person) i told him i wanted to see transformers 3. this was basically our convo online:

him – i saw transformers 3. it was AWESOME!!
me- i wanted to see that
him- then go see it
me- my dad would never take me
him- that sucks
me- i want to go when i get back home but everyone i know has seen it already and it probably wont be playing. plus no one would want to see it again anyway.
him- just ask
me- would you want to go with me?
him- sure when will u get back?

and thats when we decided it wouldnt be playing when i got back so we decided to see a different movie together. i think he likes me but im not sure!!!! does it sound like he does? and what are some tips to get him to like me. my friends told me about leaving him wanting more. but what else?

Phyllis replied:

Why does this sound so much like a play script, I wonder, or like you’re following a “Guide to Getting Your Guy?”   Your cute little clap thing and running up to him in the rain and leaving him wanting more, and….?  Where’s the real you in all this?  Yes, I think he likes you, but can’t you just be yourself?  You can’t “make” someone fall for you, and if you do, and it’s all play-acting, how long can you keep it up?  You’re going to a movie when he comes back, and he’s willing to see it again, so just enjoy it.  Talk.  Don’t worry about tips and what does everything mean.  And please don’t try to pin him down as to how he feels about you.

There’s So Much I Want to Know

Question:

Hi! I just wanted to say that I absolutely adore the “Alice series.” Growing up I had always loved reading the books, and as I finished Intensely Alice, it just hit me that the series is only a few books short of its end. I remember when I was 12 and discovered these books, I found a friend in Alice. Now I’m 18, and I still love them as much as ever. Thank you so much for writing these books.

I also wanted to ask, if you would consider, writing about Alice throughout her university years. I know that you said you would finish Alice at eighteen and write about her life at sixty. But there’s so much I want to know about Alice’s life, in detail, like her and Patrick’s New Years date at twenty-one, her life at university, if she ever had kids or got married early. Thank you so much for Alice. J

 Phyllis replied:

Oh, but you will find all that out!  The very last book, #28, begins with Alice at 18, and each chapter will jump forward five years or so, so that you will see Alice at the University, and then read about all the important events in her life up to age 60.

Alice Upside Down

Question:

I really REALLY enjoy the Alice series! I always read them! Every time I go to the library I get like 10 Alice books!
I even watched Alice Upside Down. I loved that too! I was wondering how many Alice books you have wrote?

Phyllis replied:

Twenty five Alice books so far.  Three  more to go!

Turned On

What Keeps You Motivated?

Question:

wow i cant believe i’m e-mailing you ! you are so amazing you give out your msn for fans like me! you right amazing stories! i don’t like some books and coming from me that’s saying a LOT because i love to read ! Espasially your books! iI some times try to right a book (im only under 13) but eventually i stop . How do you keep going ? what keeps you moivated? You are my number 1 book hero . well i have to go so ill talk to you later . Bye , your number 1 fan .

Phyllis replied:

Thank you very much.  I guess the only answer to your questions is that I love to make up stories.  I love to think of a plot, and the characters that will act it out.  Perhaps it’s because my parents read aloud to us every night until we were well into our teens.  I guess I figured that if listening to stories was so much fun, writing them must be even better.

Would Love to Volunteer

Question:

In Patiently Alice (probably my favorite Alice book), Alice works as a camp counselor in the summer for underprivileged kids.  I was wondering if there are any camps like that in real life.  I live in North Carolina and I’ve been trying to find a camp like that because I would love to volunteer, but I can’t find one. 

 Phyllis replied:

There surely must be camps like this, sponsored by the social service departments of cities or counties.  Call your library and ask if they have a list of volunteer jobs  at various camps for disadvantaged children.

Should I Bring My Sister?

Question:

hey this was the girl who asked about flirting at the movies. i had one more question about that. since me and my crush dont know eachother too well and since he is friends with my sister, should i bring my sister and her boyfriend along for a double date or could that cause problems?

Phyllis replied:

Well, if I wanted to flirt with a guy at the movies, I sure wouldn’t bring my sister.  Did this boy invite you to the movies or did you invite him?  If you think you would be more comfortable with your sister and her date there, ask your boyfriend if he would like them to come along.

Why Do I Feel So Bad?