Your Questions Answered

You’ve Inspired Me to Write Books Too

Phyllis replied:

 

I don’t know that I would want to get into writing another long series of books.   The Alice books have been going on for 25 years, you know!  There are just so many individual books I want to write.  Best of luck with your own writing!   I’ll watch for your book….

I Loved your Books as a Child

Question:

My daughter is turning eight next month and this past summer (June
15th-August 30th) she read 52 books.  Of those 52 books, 24 of them
were written by you.  I think that says something.  Every time we
would go to the library she would go searching to see if any new
“Phyllis” books were available.  (I thought it was cute that she took
to calling them Phyllis books… that is before she found the Alice
series… now they are “Alice” books)

I just wanted to send you a note to tell you how much I appreciate
amazing authors, such as yourself.  As a child, I loved your books and
I am so happy to see that my daughter is able to enjoy the old
favorites that I read as a child and new ones as well.

My daughter is hoping to meet you at the Gaithersburg Book Festival.
We had no idea you were local!  Thank you for making childhood so enjoyable for my daughter!

Phyllis replied:

 

It’s great to meet fans who have been reading my books for a long time.   I’m looking forward to meeting you both, and would love to hear which books you’ve enjoyed the most.

The Very Last Alice Book

Question:

I was just wondering about the end of the last Alice book. You say that it will show Alice at 18, and then 60. When Alice is 60, will it be just one chapter, or the second half of the book, or one little page?

Phyllis replied:

 

The book will be whole chapters of Alice at different ages.  But each chapter skips five years or so, the first chapter when she’s 18, the last chapter when she’s 60.  We’re talking about the very last book in the series, which is already written and in a fireproof box here in my office, waiting to go to the publisher in 2012, to be published in 2013.

Loved Jade Green!

I Want to Grow Up, but Not Yet

Question: I’m seventeen years old and sometimes worry about growing up. There was some crazy stuff that went on at home and my father hurt me and my family in a lot of ways, and I feel like being an adult will keep me from being worth loving and protecting. Am I still a child? Am I still growing up? I do want to grow up, but not yet.

Phyllis replied:

 

This is so interesting, because Alice feels the same way in the book I’m writing now.  There’s a certain amount of mourning that goes on when we leave one stage of life and go into another, no matter how much we’ve looked forward to it.   You are both a child and an adult.  I remember a minister saying to a couple he was marrying, “Remember that in every man, there is a little boy, and in every woman, a little girl.”   There will always be things you miss, but new opportunities and privileges as well.  Don’t be afraid to be loved as a woman.  You don’t have to stay a child to be loved and cherished.

Tips for Becoming an Actress

Question:

I just read “Almost Alice”. I was so scared when ______ got Pregnant! But, I was happy with the results. Wooh! I was wondering, if you could give me some advice. I know your a writer, but I want to be an actress. Could you give me some tips? And I love to write short stories, I have 2 books full of them. No one has really inspired me to follow my dreams but you! So thanks!  And the Alice books make me So happy when I read them, all my fears and worries vanish. Thanks for making me smile.

Phyllis replied:

 

You should really talk with an actress, not me, but I would think that paying close attention to the way people express themselves when they are emotional would help.  Empathy–identifying with other people–will also help.  When you are angry, when you are sad, when you are embarrassed, try to remember when it’s happening where you feel the physical effects.  Does your mouth turn down?  Do you feel a tightening in your throat?  The more experience you have of life, and the more observant you are of your own feelings and those of other people, the better actress or writer you will be.

Mascara in Seventh Grade?

Question:

 love your books and thanks so much for writing them. So I need some advice. I’m 12 and Im in 6th grade, and this year I will start junior high. Well of course I don’t wear makeup to school because I’m in 6th grade. But in 7th grade I want to wear mascara or maybe eyeliner. I know my parents would never let me I ask them all the time. I will go behind their backs if I have to, I just don’t want to. So is there anyway you can help me?

Phyllis replied:

 

You only hurt your own cause by asking your parents what you can or can’t do before you’re ready to do it.  I wouldn’t mention it again until you are in seventh grade, and by then, you may discover that few girls are wearing make-up and that some who do look like raccoons.  This is not to say that you should or should not wear mascara in seventh grade.  But I’ve heard it said that girls change most dramatically in looks between seventh and eighth grade.  Maybe now it’s between 6th and 7th.  But the very fact that you keep bugging your parents about mascara probably worries them.  Show them you are mature in other ways and perhaps the cosmetic question will solve itself.

Is the Alice Series Good for 5th Graders?

Sorry

 

Phyllis replied:

 

Sorry.  I don’t do homework for my readers.

Was the Cover Not Your Choice?

Question:

    Why is the boy on the cover of Alice in Charge black? She and Patrick were still very much together (haha) at the end of Intensely Alice….I’m supposing the dance is at the prom….is Patrick black or something, or was the cover not your choice?

Phyllis replied:

 

The cover for “Alice in Charge” is definitely my choice.  You’ll have to read the book to see why.  My lips are sealed.