Your Questions Answered

What inspired you to become a writer?

Q.   I’m doing an author study.  Could you tell me what inspired you to become a writer?

Phyllis replied:  Probably the fact that my parents read aloud to us every night, even after we entered high school.  It was just a family thing.  I especially loved hearing my dad read books by Mark Twain, because he was so good at imitating the voices of the various characters.  I guess I figured that if listening to stories was so much fun, writing them must be even better, and I think it’s a draw.

I STILL HAVEN’T GOT MY FIRST KISS…

Question:
I LLLLOOOVVVE THE ALICE SERIES!!!!! I GUESS I LEARN THAT I NEVER KNEW SO THANK YOU!! OK WELL IM JUST WONDERING WHAT EXACTLY INTENSELY ALICE IS ABOUT? I KNOW ITS OUT IN JUNE BUT CAN YOU GIVE ME A DESCREPITION OR A PRE-FACE? AND I HAVE A PROBLEM. WELL I’VE DATED A FEW GUYS AND I STILL HAVEN’T GOT MY FIRST KISS. I USED THINK I WASN’T READY BUT I FEEL WAY MORE THEN READY NOW!!!! I FEEL LIKE I DON’T EVEN CARE WHO I HAVE IT WITH.

PHYLLIS Replied:
Eeeeuuuu! Man, are you going to be disappointed. My guess is that you huddle with your girlfriends who talk about being kissed, and you feel left out. If you want it to be a kiss you remember, please at least choose a guy you care about a little.

Question: How can I get him to be my boyfriend, again?

Question:
I hope I can do this, but I asked because I am single at the moment and I haven’t gotten that kiss. I wish I had a boyfriend that would kiss me. I used to have a boyfriend for over two years and then we didn’t see each other for two months and didn’t stay in touch so once we saw each other he had grown away from me. I had a boyfriend for so long I don’t know what to do without one. I just broke up with my recent boyfriend, but now he’s dating my friend. I still love the boy I dated for 2 years and he used to tell me he loved me, but not anymore. We are in two of the same classes, but he likes another girl. We text eachother and talk, but it’s not the same as him saying ‘Goodnight. l love you’ to me. Can you tell me how to get more familiar with him again so that he’ll be my boyfriend and kiss me? He invited me to a lake once and he told me ! he loved me and we talked and now, to my hypothesis, he still has some of tha t old feeling for me. I feel as sad as Alice was in Alice Alone only my friend didn’t put up a suicide watch. I love him more than anything and wished he loved me. Actually, all of my wishes I wish that he loved me and wouldn’t break up with me. Alice always seems to get a boyfriend even though she says all those not so good things about herself, like ‘I have fat knees’ and ‘I’m ordinary and dry and uninteresting.’ , and listens to Jill and Karen when they say those things about her. How can I get him to be my boyfriend, again, and have him tell me he loves me even if I don’t say those things? You are the only one I can rely on. I really look up to you. You are my rolemodel and I need your advice as to how he will love me again. Thank you for the advice about the kiss by the way.

PHYLLIS Replied:
If anyone knew how to make someone love you, she would be in the magic business. There is no magic. Reading your letter over again, however, it seems that what you miss the most is the closeness, the tenderness, the kiss, the words. You didn’t mention much about the boy himself, which makes me feel that it’s love itself, not especially this particular boy, that you miss. This is just something you have to live through. It’s a good time to get reacquainted with yourself; what else is missing in your life right now that makes you dwell on the guy who’s moved on? How can you use this time, sad as you are, to brighten up yourself, try something new, sign up for a project, get a new hobby? There’s something to the old saying that people who are bored are boring. We could also say that to be interesting to other people, you have to be interested in other people yourself–your girlfriends, your neighbors, in community and sch! ool activities, in sports or the arts or something that gets you outside yourself. I can’t promise this will bring your boyfriend back, but it may make you more interesting to guys you haven’t met yet.

Question: What exactly do you think of [The Alice Movie]?

Question:
So I’ve been reading the Alice Books since I was about 10 (maybe?) I’m 18 now and I finally found Alice Upside Down. At first i almost didn’t watch it because I was afraid of how bad it could be…but my curiosity got the best of me and I watched it. I was pretty surprised. I thought they did a great job with the characters. (Except for liz! what!?) and the boy that played Patrick was adorable. Mrs. Plotkin looked exactly like I imagined her. It has been a while since I read The Agony of Alice but I was pleased with the movie. So my question for you is, What exactly do you think of it? and Did they included you in the making of the film?

PHYLLIS Replied:
Some of the characters were not at all as I had portrayed them, but if you expect that some things will be different, and accept the film on that basis, I think they did a good job. I was able to read the screen play before it became final, and made some suggestions. They took some of my advice, not all of it, but I’m very glad you enjoyed it. I thought Lester was quite funny, though their character was younger than I had imagined. In my books he is seven years older than Alice.

I just wanted to tell you that I love your books…

Question:
I am a huge fan of your Alice books! I love them so much that just over this past week of spring break I read 3 of them! I just can’t get enough like I read them slowly because I don’t want them to end but then sometimes I read them quickly because I just can’t wait to see what happens next. I would be the most clueless girl in my entire school if it weren’t for your books. I feel like Alice and her friends are my friends as well, and whenever she is sad I’m sad and whenever she is happy so am I. And I love Lester and Alice’s relationship, he is so funny! I’ve read all of them so far and now I’m in the middle of reading Including Alice. I’m going to be sad when they are done and the last book goes from Alice at 18 to 60? That will be exciting because I am 18 right now and I’ll feel very close to her. When I read about Alice and how she goes through all those embarrassing moments and how she is ! not afraid of asking anything and how she tackles her problems, it makes me want to be just like her and do the same and it has made me feel more confident in myself as well. Sorry that I am writing so much but because none of my friends read them, I need someone to talk to about the books! 🙂
Anyway I just wanted to tell you that I love your books and I think you are an amazing writer and I am thankful for all the mistakes that Alice makes so that I don’t make the same mistakes, and we both learn from them! 🙂

PHYLLIS Replied:
I’m delighted that you enjoy the Alice books so much. It makes writing them all the more worthwhile.

Thank you for making a 30 something woman interested in her own past experiences…

Question:
I am a student at college. I am in a Reading Literature class and I have to do an author presentation. There were qualifications that had to be met, and you fit the bill. I went to the bookstore and started my journey for the author search. I kept the qualifications in the back of my mind and went through many books. I was about to give up and ask the teacher to assign me someone she knew, when I saw an Alice book. I started to read it and thought this sounds like something fun to read. (I am not an everyday reader for myself, but do read to my children) To my surprise I am hooked and want to know what Al is up to next. Thank you for making a 30 something woman interested in her own past experiences, even though they are someone else’s, they are my own in some way too. I am enjoying them and can’t wait to share them with my daughters when they get older.

PHYLLIS Replied:
It’s wonderful hearing from adults who enjoy the Alice books. It’s especially nice to hear that you are planning to share them with your daughters.

Question: I’ve been having a problem with a friend of mine, and I could really use your advice.

Question:
I was looking on your blog to see if there was any news about the new Alice book, and I realized that you have been posting people’s questions an d concerns and answering them with advice. I’ve been having a problem with a friend of mine, and I could really use your advice.
I’ve been best friends with this girl for almost four years, and at the beginning of our friendship we were really compatible – we loved the same things, and basically could read each other’s minds, we were so similar. This year, in tenth grade, though, she started getting really interested in going out. For her, now, having fun on the weekends means wandering around with random boys, drinking, and hooking up with about three people every weekend. She started hanging out with these girls who I like in general, but who are really sexually promiscuous and who love getting drunk and doing crazy stuff. I’m not opposed to maybe drinking a tiny bit every now and then, and I’m certainly not opposed to meeting guys, but she thinks it makes her really cool, and it’s really getting on my nerves. I’m more of a homebody – I’d rather stay at home reading than go out partying.
Even worse, she doesn’t even invite me when she does go out with them. I wouldn’t necessarily go, but that doesn’t mean I like being excluded like that. And then on Mondays she comes into school ranting about all the “crazy mad shit” she did. It drives me crazy, and it also kind of scares me. It seems like everyone my age is into this, except the super college-tracked types.
We also haven’t had any fights or anything, but she gets really passive aggressive and very competitive with me. For instance, she has been told over and over again by the newspaper staff that her articles are bad. I, however, have been told that they are good. She told me that she hates newspaper now, yet she is still applying for editor, limiting my chances of getting it. If she doesn’t like it, she shouldn’t do it! She’s also super, super geared towards going to Harvard, Princeton or Yale. I want to go to a smaller liberal arts school, like Middlebury or Swathmore. She told me that “if you don’t go to an Ivy, you’re better off not going to college at all.” She also thinks that we should be judged on our test scores alone, not our personalities at all. This was clearly a direct jab at me, because I am not a very good test taker, but I consider myself a talented writer. Does she think I don’t deserve to go to a good school because I’m bad at multiple choice?
Anyway, this got really long. I haven’t ranted about this in a while. You can shorten this if you post it on your blog. Basically what I’m asking is if there is any way I can fix this. My grade is REALLY small, so breaking off the friendship would cause a huge rift. Also, she’s really one of my only friends at school, so I would be left without many close friends. I just wish our friendship could go back to how it was in seventh grade, when we were content with going to Starbucks and going home to watch Harry Potter or something. I don’t think it can, though, not with the way she’s changed.

PHYLLIS Replied:
No, I don’t think your relationship is going back to watching Harry Potter. And I don’t, unfortunately, think you two are going to remain close friends. High school seems to be the big sorting ground and, sad as it seems, it’s doing you a favor. It’s helping you define your own values, who you are as a person, what is important to you in life, and what gives you pleasure and satisfaction. It’s so tempting, I know, to want to sacrifice what you like to do for what some of the other kids think is fun. Remember that you are not a judge. No one is asking you to put labels on what you or your friends do. But if you are untrue to yourself, you may be turning off other people who enjoy the things that are really you. My question: why do you put so much stock in this girl’s opinions? Why does her “crazy mad shit” make you feel you are missing out? How can you do anything but laugh when she says utterly ridicu! lous things, such as “If you don’t go to an Ivy league, you’re better off not going to college at all.” Since when would Swarthmore not be considered a terrific school? I think you know the answers to these questions. This girl is trying so hard to be considered attractive, hot, popular, smart…. Somebody that defensive has some serious self-esteem problems, and there’s a reason she would prefer to be judged by her grades, not her personality. My advice: Stay “friends,” but stick to what makes you feel good about yourself. She has a lot of changing to do, and don’t be surprised if somewhere along the line, she turns more conservative than you are, and you turn out to be the free spirit. And please don’t label kids who aren’t like her as “the super college track types.” Perhaps you ought to get to know some better. You may find they are more creative, more original, and more fun to be with! than this former best friend.

You are my favorite author

Question:
Oh my god! I am 13 years old Phyllis Reynolds Naylor you are my favorite author I have read many of your books including Shiloh and 18 of the Alice books and the 3 prequels. I am about to start the 19th book at first I stopped reading the books because they did not have those books yet but now that the library has them I am going to be the first person waiting at the school’s library to get it (most of the girls I know have read all the 21 books there is available at our library) . Your books are so nice so full of details, voice, they inspire me in my life I love your books so much that I get a book and I don’t let it go until I finish it (I read them in a day!) I am looking toward to that book were Alice is going to be 60! I hope I can convince my librarian to write a letter to you and ask you if you can go to our school

PHYLLIS Replied:
You probably know Alice almost as well as I do right now. I’m working on the 25th Alice book at present, and a lot is happening in her life. I’m delighted to know that you and your friends enjoy the books so much.

I just want to say you are my favorite writer in the whole world

Question:
I just want to say you are my favorite writer in the whole world. When ever I read an Alice book I can’t put it down it’s almost impossible for me to put it down. Once I read five of them in one day. I get so excited when I fine a new Alice book. I read all the Alice books in my school library and public library. I don’t want Alice to come to an end I will most likely cry. I’ve cried many times before reading your books. Thanks so much for writing about Alice.

PHYLLIS Replied:
I’ll cry too. I’m glad I still have four more books to write before I let her go.

You are my favorite author and the Alice series is my favorite series.

Question:
I have read 5+ Alice books and my brother has read SHILOH and I have enjoyed reading every single one of each Alice book. My favorite is Alice in Rapture, sort of. I can relate to many of the topics you write about. I have recommended many of them to my friends and they have enjoyed them, too. I have the Alice Upside Down movie and then I read The Agony of Alice and they do not really seem alike, but I can see how they used the book to create the movie.Every time my teacher tells us to clear our desks of our books, it is ALWAYS so hard to put down an Alice book.
I have just finished Alice in Lace. I especially like the parts where Pamela puts on Mrs. Price’s maternity tops and puts the pillow up underneath it. Sometimes I just have to read things over and over again and just laugh out loud. I LOVE the part about Mark Stedmeister in the very beginning asking Mr. Everett what kinds of problems there might be a Mr. Everett says “Anything from totaling a car from having a baby.” and Mark says ” Moi? A baby?” That was one of the times I had to laugh out loud.
I have really enjoyed reading your books and at first even I find it hard to believe, that Alice in Blunder land was just a fill in book while I was waiting for another book to get in at our school library. Since then, I have RARELY read a book other than that in the Alice series. You are my favorite author and the Alice series is my favorite series. I continue to be a fan of your books and am even thinking of doing an author study on you.

Thank you very much for reading my letter and my friends think you are an amazing author as well.

PHYLLIS Replied:
I’m delighted that you enjoy the books so much, because I have such a good time writing them!