Your Questions Answered

Question: I would like to thank you for writing the Alice books…

Question:
I would like to thank you for writing the Alice books. The thing is, the series isn’t the most groundbreaking, or even the most popular, but this is the series that has affected me the most. And for that, I am eternally grateful. I am certain that this series will live, and live forever. Thank you.

PHYLLIS Replied:
You’re right. What I hear from readers is that the Alice books are the “most real” books they’ve read, and that’s what the series is intended to be–following one girl from third grade up to the age of 60 and see how she deals with the things that happen in her life. I’m so glad that you have found them helpful.

Question: I’m concerned about some of the things my boyfriend has been telling me…

Question:
I’m concerned about some of the things my boyfriend has been telling me. I’m beginning to see a pattern with what he is saying. For example, he told me a homosexual man asked him to lye down on the beach with him, and that this man also tried grabbing, well you know. Umm, he also told me a waiter hit on him at a resturant, that his neighbor’s 50 year old girlfriend said he was hot, and that his male swim coach said he was “looking sexy.” Oh, and two more things. For a school outing, he had to stay at a family’s house (this family vounteered to host him there) and he said the daughter looked like she was about to throw him on the bed and have sex with him. Also, one of our teacher’s asked him to pick something up at her house, and he said that she’d want to “screw his brains out.” Knowing the nature of this teacher, she did have two male students hang out at her house once. Mrs. Naylor! , something isn’t right here. I’ve never had a boyfriend before, and this is concerning me. What do you think it all means?

PHYLLIS Replied:
I’d be concerned too.  Sounds a little like a guy trying hard to convince himself he’s sexy, but it also sounds like a guy looking for sexual adventure.  Not that having sexual feelings is bad or abnormal.  But how are things between the two of you?  Does he ever talk about anything else?  Do you enjoy each other’s company?  Do activities together?  While you need to see the overall picture, it might be time to repeat some of his comments to him and ask what it’s all about.

Question: So I’m in high school, and I had my first love last spring…

Question:
Hey I know you get tonnns of mail asking for advice, but do you think you can help me out? So I’m in high school, and I had my first love last spring. We were just the lovely dovey type, nothing sexual or anything. Then, I broke up with him because I got kind of, I don’t know, scared I guess. I never told him that though. I just said I wanted a break. So months passed, and we still stayed really good friends. We never talked about going back out though.  In the beginning of fall I realized that I never really got over him, and I knew I still liked him. So, I wrote him a note saying the only reason I broke it off was because of me getting scared and etc. I didn’t mention me still liking him though. He never wrote back though.. so later I asked him why he didn’t, and he said he didn’t know what to say. So I just kind of waited. Then finally I told him I liked him, and he said he liked me too but didn’t want a gf right now. Now it’s just been kinda hanging at that. I don’t know what to do.. should I lay off, or what?

PHYLLIS Replied:
Yes, I would lay off.  You’ve told him why you broke off with him, and that’s good.  Then you went further and said you still liked him.  So he knows.  But he’s also been honest with you and said he doesn’t want a girlfriend right now, so you’ve g ot your answer.  Respect that.  Maybe he’s kinda scared now too, and you should understand the feeling.

Question: i am gonna be 16 in a couple months and i never got kissed before!…

Question:
hey! i just need some advice. i am gonna be 16 in a couple months and i never got kissed before! i like a guy…i REALLY like him. im pretty sure he likes me back too. i’ve been to his house twice and i met his family, and he met mine. we already really good friends, but i really want to kiss him and let him know how much i care about him. but the thing is, he’s had ONE girlfriend in his whole life and that was in first grade. he’s kind of a shy type guy and since he’s never had a kiss before either, he’s probably nervous too. i dont know when or even HOW i can do this. but i really really want to. he wants me to go to his house every other weekend, which i think would be a good time to do it…but i just dont know how to start it to move in that direction…please help! also, thank you for writing the alice books! they’re very helpful and entertaining!

PHYLLIS Replied:
Which do you love more, the guy or the idea of kissing?  Please hold off for awhile.  He’s invited you to his house, and that’s good.  You’re showing him you like him by coming over.  Sit next to him.  Sit a little closer.  Touch his hand once in a while when you’re talking.  Grab his arm when  you go somewhere.  The more comfortable you can make him physically when he’s with you, the more natural you can help him feel, the sooner you’ll get the kiss you’re waiting for.

Fan Mail: I love how Alice has real life experiences and I can relate to Alice…

Question:
Well hello Mrs. Naylor!

I have fnally finshed all the Alice  books except Including Alice.  That book I can not find anywhere!  I look forward to reading that book, I kind of read all the books out of order, I love how Alice has real life experiences and I can relate to Alice and her big brother Lester being liked by all her friends! Well I hope you continue to write great books for girls like me!

Happy New Year!

PHYLLIS Replied:
Happy New Year to you, and to all the readers who take time to write to me.  And all the ones who read my books but don’t.  I’m working hard on the next Alice book, the one that will come out in 2010, but I always look forward to your letters.

Question: I have a couple questions that aren’t related to your books…

Question:
I am in the ninth grade, and I have been reading them since the sixth grade. (I think, I didn’t keep track exactly when I started reading them.) I love your books! I haven’t read Almost Alice yet, and I was wondering if you could tell me anything. Like, for example, Do Alice and Patrick get back together? Is prom in this book or he next book? And last but not least, Do Alice and Patrick have sex in this book, the next, or the one after? (Don’t deny it, you know it’ll happen eventually. And you know it will be Patrick.) Thanks for writing them, without them, I would be the most “unknowledgeable” person in the entire state of South Carolina. (I learned a lot from friends, but your books set me straight.)

I have a couple questions that aren’t related to your books:

1.) Does it ever bother you that some people don’t use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation? (It bothers me, it makes me want to teleport to their house and coach them on all those things.)
2.) Do you think it’s weird that it’s hard for me to say things (and type things) like: penis, vagina, and other parts? People tell me that I’m going to have to suck it up and stop saying things like: thingy and nuts and “private parts”.
3.) How many teenagers do you know, that care about grammar, spelling, and punctuation? Do you think it’s weird that I do?
4.) (This one does have to do with your book): Do you think that you could add a Mormon character? I’m Mormon, and I think that religious discrimination is something that young men and women should know about.

PHYLLIS Replied:
You’ll have to read ALMOST ALICE yourself, I’m afraid.  I have a lot of letters to answer tonight, so I can’t take time to describe it for you.  As for punctuation, it’s sometimes hard to read a letter that is poorly written and spelled, but I don’t make judgments about that:  my job is to write an interesting book and to answer your letters, not to correct them.  As for penis and vagina, they sound a bit formal sometimes if you’re just talking with friends.  But if the people you hang out with can say them, then you could try standing in front of the mirror and saying them aloud to yourself until the sound no longer shocks you.  As for putting a Mormon character in a book, I don’t try to use characters to teach lessons.  There are all kinds of prejudice out there, and sometimes Catholics and Baptists get a bad rap too.  And anybody who doesn’t believe in God is particularly shunned in some places.  If you’re! secure in your religion, then that should sustain you, not what other people think about it.

Question: How come you seem so younger than you really are?

Question:
Hullo, Phyl. You’re very different. Most authors are. Quirky. Unusual. Odd. You’re a grandmother. How come you seem so younger than you really are? You don’t sound, feel old. I guess most grandparents are different from grandparents who are authors. I wrote to Judy Blume once. She’s like you. For crying out loud, she’s 70 something and she could pass for 20ish. Because of the way she writes.  Well, I just wanted to say that I’m kind of disappointed that there will only four more Alice books and the whole series will come to an end? That’s what I heard. That’s all.

PHYLLIS Replied:
Maybe writers have a more direct line to how they felt when they were your age, I don’t know.  But thank you very much for the compliment.  I’ll be sad too when the series comes to an end, but I think that the very last book, #28, will tie up all the loose ends.  Hope so.

Question: Could you give me a list of all the Alice books in order which the come?

Question:
If you could please respond to this, I understand that you get thousands of these a day but I was wondering more like hoping if you could give me a list of all the Alice books in order which the come. Thank You!

In other words, I am a HUGE Alice fan! I know this may sound weird but, I have taken Alice into my life I have also taken advice from her. I know she is not real but to me she is. The books are something more then amazinggg! The reason I have chose the Alice books then other teenage books is because Alice is someone who I can relate to and take her choices she has made into my own train of thought. The crazy thing is that when Alice is sad I get sad when she is happy I am suddenly happy, I put all my emotions into this book which is odd but, I do enjoy them(: Please, I wish you could NEVER stop writing the Alice books but, I do know she has to die sometime. I think you could carry on the books about her children maybe she could even have a boy, and a daughter. I would still love the books even if they weren’t about Alice because your an awsome writer and I think you put everything you have into these books and just so people all around the world can enjoy your books. Please respond to this as soon as you can, I know you are VERY busy but, if you could at least try it would be nice[= even if you send me a hello or hi it would be something[= please just try and give me a response,

PHYLLIS Replied:
All the books, in the order that they were written, are listed here on the Alice website: www.alicemckinley.com

Question: There’s this guy I like, (I’m in the 8th grade)…

Question:
Hey PN, it’s totally been awhile since I’ve written to you. Okay, so I just need some answers to a few questions I’m kind of confused about. There’s this guy I like, (I’m in the 8th grade) Let’s call him patrick ( like in ALICE heehee) okay, so I’ve been crushing on Patrick for quite awhile now, and I’ve told my friends that I like him, so most of them have pretty much told him that I have feelings for him. But like, when they asked him if he likes me back, he doesn’t really say anything. So like a few weeks ago, he sent a friend request to me on Myspace and I added him. My friend told me that Patrick has asked her multiple of times out during the summer, but she doesn’t like him back that way. That was like alittle while ago, so I’m guessing he probably move on. Anyways, we’ve been recently sending messages together back and forth all the time and I engoy talking to him. Sometimes our messages get alittle flirty,(Mostly I’m always the flirt) or we just talk about random stuff. At school, we don’t really talk much since I don’t have any classes with him. But he will sometimes bump hips with me in the hall or give me a knowing grin. I’m like always nervous when I see him, I get butterflys and I’m always ducking around somewhere when he’s in sight or when my friends embarrass me in his presence. He send me a message like a week ago saying that people say that I like him, and I was like yea, and later he told me that he liked me. alot. Then he asked me why I liked HIM and I told him because I thought he was cute blah blah…and he sai! d some things he liked about me too.  Now, he hasn’t asked me out yet, which is really weird. I’m like waiting for him to ask me out but he won’t which is kind of bugging me. I mean, if he likes me then he should ask me out right? I don’t know if he’s shy or if he wants me to make the first move, well I don’t know, should I? Or he probably doesn’t like me, he just said that because he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings.  I’m confused, what should I do? Ask him out? Because I really really like him.

PHYLLIS Replied:
Look.  There are no guarantees in life.  What does seem certain is that he likes that you like him.  That you think he’s cute.  Why not ask him to some event where other people will be present, so he’s one of a group, not a one-on-one date.  Then if he turns you down, it won’t seem so awful and at least you’ll know where you stand.  And if he really does want to go out with you and says yes, then yay!

Fan Mail: ive been reading ur books since about like 8 years old and i totally fell in love w/ them!

Question:
Hi lol ive been reading ur books since about like 8 years old and i totally fell in love w/ them! I started 2 think that they were a live! U put so much details in ur books I wanted Patrick as a boy friend to! And Alice as a friend! Lol don’t get me started about Lester he’s Hilarious! I have a bro and i can relate totally. Ur books made me laugh my head off1 Pamela and Elizabeth and Alice r so diff. but bff’s and i like that ! Ur books r funny,adventurous, loving and AWESOME!!!!! ur #1

PHYLLIS Replied:
It’s wonderful to know that some readers have almost grown up with Alice!