Your Questions Answered

“Please Don’t Be True”

Question:

 

Hi! I just want you to know that this book is truly amazing. Alice had touched my life and I would say, changed it. I like the way Alice being imperfect but she sure have perfect memories. I can really relate to her. I have to admit that this book is my all time favorite. Thank you so much for writing this story. This teached me an imporatant lesson and that is friends are important and you should have one. She’ll always be in my heart. Could you possibly write an endless series of Alice? I don’t want it to ever end. Thank you.

Phyllis replied:

 

There are 28 Alice books in all.  You read a collection of the three books about Alice’s junior year in high school.   If you want to read the entire collection, start with “Starting with Alice,”  (Alice in 3rd grade), and the very last of the series, in which Alice goes from 18 to 60, will be titled “Always Alice,” and will be published in 2013.    Phyllis

“Lovingly Alice” targeted in newspaper

 

Phyllis replied:

 

I just talked with a radio station in that area yesterday, and gave my views on the situation.  Those pages from Lovingly Alice are some of the favorites of Alice fans, typical Alice, typical Dad, typical Lester.  At a 5th grade slumber party, Alice and her friends are discussing menstruation, and how a sperm gets inside a woman in the first place.  They have some idea, but aren’t sure, and assign Alice to ask her Dad and report back.  These pages are not pornography.  They are simply the facts of life, told as simply, and as lovingly, as Alice’s poor bumbling Dad can manage, with Lester’s comments on the side.  I think that parents get blindsided when their child comes to them and says, in effect, “Look what I’m reading.”  I believe that children will take their cues from their parents.  If a parent says, “Hmm.  Let’s read this together.  Do you feel comfortable doing that, or do you want to wait and read this book when you’re older?” a child feels free to discuss it, if it bothers her.  This mother, on the other hand, reacted by going to the school and asking that it be removed from children like her daughter.  Evidently the daughter had been advanced a grade, and was reading the book at 8, even though the recommendation was 9 to 12.   My question is, are there no other books in that library a bit too advanced for the daughter?  No science or math books that are beyond her present understanding?  Is a library to dumb down their collection because a younger student might happen upon something too old for her?   The real problem here, I think, is that the mother felt she was on the spot.  She either had to help explain something she might not have felt ready to do, or was too embarrassed to do, so she placed the blame on the school library collection.  I hope that the school realizes that other children may have wished they had the answers to Alice’s questions long before this.  These are the questions I asked my own mother when I was 9, and to the best of my memory, she answered just as Alice’s father does in the book.  I’ve been forever grateful that she didn’t make a big deal of it and make me feel that there was something creepy or wrong or too strange about human sexuality for me to know.

More Alice?

Question:

I’ve met you before when you came to Joliet and I’ve asked you questions before about what you liked about Joliet the most. But that isn’t the reason I’m writing today. As you already know, I’m pretty much in love with your Alice books. I love your characters and I’ve read all the books except I’m in the middle of the book that was most recently released. =] I was wondering, are you going to be continuing with the Alice series after this book. It said on the website that you have finished book number 27. But I’ve read in placed that you were gonna end the series when she was 18 and that you already knew the ending. So I was just curious if you are going to continue with the series. I’ve grown up reading about Alice and every year I look for the next book. I’m going to be 21 in about a week and I still love reading about her. So, I just wanted to ask.

Phyllis replied:

There will be 28 books in all. I wrote the last book several years ago, to make sure that if anything happened to me, readers would know how everything turns out in Alice’s life. I just finished book number 27, and will be sending both of those manuscripts, together, to my editor. But they will still come out a year apart.

Message from Phyllis

Dear Alice fans:  I will be away from my computer for several weeks, and if you could hold your emails and questions until I return, there will be much less mail to answer.  I’ll post a message as soon as I get back.  Meanwhile, “Incredibly Alice” is in print.  I haven’t seen my copies yet, but my editor says they are on the way.  I don’t know exactly when they’ll reach bookstores, but it will be sometime soon.  And I’ve completed book #27, “Alice On Board.”  It still needs some revising and polishing, but it’s nice to know that much is done.   Happy spring!

Pancakes

Question:

I was wondering if you have a recipe for the pecan pancakes which Alice’s dad always cooks on weekends.
I live in Switzerland and have no idea about American cooking, but I’d be pleased to try it once!
I started reading your books a long time ago, until the publishers stopped translating them into the German language.
Now I read them in English, because I wanted to know, what’s happening with Alice, and it’s good for practising English, too, I think 🙂
And I’m in love with the books! Thank you so much for still writing them!

Phyllis replied:

 

I’m so glad you like my books.  I don’t have a particular recipe.  Use any basic pancake recipe and add pecans. (Or blueberries).  I like to keep things simple.

Would Make a Good Elizabeth

Question:

Could I audition for a part of one of the characters if they make another movie? I’d make the best Elizabeth in the world!!! I am always while I am reading the book thinking that everything she does and whats she looks like is me..For an example: I have long dark hair, people always tell me I have long eyelashes and fair skin, Some even say I am beautiful!!!!! Well I guess that’s all for now!!!! I hope we will be able to meet up someday!

Phyllis replied:

I have nothing to do with whether or not a new movie will be made of Alice, and if it was, I don’t have a part in the casting.  Casting directors look for many things when they are choosing an actress–not only in how well a girl looks the part, but whether she can bring something of herself–the inner feelings and character and worries–of the character in the book, and how good an actress she is.  Thank you for your email.

Do You Have a Process?

Question:

I’ve been reading the Alice books since I was about 9, and I’m 15 now. I
still love them very much and I continue to be impressed at how
realistic your characters are. One of my favorite parts of your series
is Alice’s strength as a person. In many books, teenage girls come
across as pathetic–they don’t ever think about grades or work or
anything except being good enough for a guy. When books, movies, and TV
shows try to stray from the “weak girl” image, they usually end up with
a totally unrealistic “violent girl” character. They end up
overcompensating by creating a machine that doesn’t feel emotion or
empathize with other people at all–she just goes around kicking butt.
What I love about Alice is her honest feelings. She’s upset when she’s
having friend problems or going through a breakup. She thinks about sex
and relationships, but she also thinks about school and getting a job,
keeping up with friends, and herself as a person, as we all do. When she
has a problem she overcomes it in time, even if she sometimes needs
help. Overall, she’s got strong convictions and values.

I’m wondering how you strike the balance between realism and power. Do
you have a process to come up with characters, or do they just come to
you? Has Alice ever done something that “surprised” you as you wrote it?
Do your characters evolve or do you have a plan for them from the start?

Thank you so much for your time! I can’t wait til the next book!

Phyllis replied:

 

I guess they “just come to me.”  I don’t have any process.  I simply try to become whichever girl I’m writing about–the whole girl–what her family sees of her, what her friends see, how she feels inside, what she worries about–all the things that are going on in her life.  Writing is always “striking a balance” with humor, serious stuff, body worries, boyfriend problems, philosophical questions….  I have a very good memory of myself growing up and what was happening to me–what I was thinking about–at all ages, and these probably form the basis of my books.

I Feel Like Tearing Up

Question:

So Many More Books!

Alice books in German

Question:

I’m 17 years old and I’ve been reading all of your Alice books since I
was 12 years old. I practically grew up together with Alice and was
pretty sad when I noticed that publishing and translating the books
takes such a long time over here in Germany, that’s why I started
reading the Alice books in English from “Including Alice” on. And I must
say, there is a difference, and it’s not because Alice is growing up . .
. The older Alice books had already moved me and I had absolutely loved
them, but I think they are even much better in their original language,
the “feeling” is more intense. I guess a translation can never be as
good as the original. Well, I wrote this mail because I think it’s time
to thank you for providing us girls with a great and realistic role
model to grow up with . . . and for improving my English. 😉 I can’t
wait for “Incredibly Alice” to be published in May! You’re a great
writer, in fact the greatest of all and there is only one more thing I
have to say: Please, please, keep on writing!

Phyllis replied:

 

Thank you so much for your email.  I’ve enjoyed writing the Alice series, and it will be nice to see them all in print.  “Alice Onboard” will be out next year, and the next–the 28th–“Always Alice”–will be out in 2o12.  It’s wonderful that you are also able to read them in English.