Shiloh Blog

Movie or book?

Comment:

I loved your book. We read Shiloh in my class and watched the movie. It was great. My aunt and her family had a dog named Shiloh and looked like Shiloh in the book. Which ending did you like better? The movie or the book.What made you come up with the backers dog. Hope you can respond to me. Thank you.

Phyllis replied:

I liked my ending best for the book, but movies like to have a lot of action, so the producer’s ending worked well for the movie.

Was Shiloh actually hurt?

Comment:

Hi! I love your Shiloh books and movies! So did Shiloh actually get hurt? Or was he just faking it. Anyways bye!

 

Phyllis replied:

In the book, Shiloh really got hurt.  In the movie however, he did not.  There is always a representative from the humane society present when there is an animal in a movie, to make sure that the animals are not harmed in any way.  In the scene where it looks as though the German shepherd is attacking Shiloh, the dogs are just playing and “acting,” the producers assured me, and it’s possible to add the sounds of a dog growling after the action is filmed. And Shiloh is definitely acting when he looks as though he is dead.   (There were two beagles, looking almost exactly alike, who were trained for this movie.  When one got tired, the other took its place.)

Why is Marty’s friend a girl?

Comment:

Hi, I am a 4th grade student. We just read and watched the movie Shiloh. I have one Question,why is Marty’s friend a girl? Also will Judd change in the up coming books since he gave Marty a collar? Thank you for your time and I hope you can get back to me.

 

Phyllis replied:

In the Shiloh books, Marty’s best friend is named David Howard.  But the movie producer felt that they should add a girl, just so girls would like the movie.  But of course they gave her a boy’s name, “Sam,” short for “Samantha.”   If you read the last three books in the Shiloh quartet, you will find out a lot more about Judd and his relationship with Marty and Shiloh.

Your book Shiloh and the movie

Comment:
I would like to start off by saying my 4th grade class and I recently read Shiloh and we loved it. I cried (in a good way) from all the unhappiness and love. What caused you to write such moody sections in Shiloh? Did you fall in love with Shiloh when you were writing the book and feel that he was truly live or was he just your imagination? My class and I think that Shiloh is a work of art! My favorite part is when it was so tense and you didn’t know if Judd would keep his deal.

Phyllis replied:

I found a dog like Shiloh in West Virginia when we were visiting friends, and I cried all the way back home again, wondering what would happen to it.  Then I immediately sat down and tried to figure out what could have been the history of that dog.  Three weeks later, I was overjoyed to hear from our friends that the dog was still hanging around, that they had adopted her (it was female) and named her Clover.

How about some cat books?

Comment:

My class read your book, and it is amazing. It has all the aspects of an award winning book. I could just go on, and on felicitating your book, but I have questions.

My question is have you ever seen an abused animal near YOUR home? If you did,how did you feel?

I also have a suggestion.You should write a book about a cat. It might increase your revenue because you’d have a book for cat fans, and dog fans.

Could you please retort to my question, and tell me what you think about my suggestion.

 

Comment:

Hmmm.   I will try to retort and felicitate, but to answer your question, no, I don’t ever remember seeing an abused animal near my home–only the dog I came across in West Virginia, who became Shiloh in my books.  I did, however, when I was in middle school, find that a box of new kittens I had set out in the back yard, thinking they could use some air and sunshine, had been attacked by a dog when I went inside, and they were either dead or dying.  The mother cat was so upset that she crawled under our porch and died.  I can’t tell you how guilty and sad I still feel when I think about it.

As far as writing about cats, you will be glad to know that I have written 4 books about the two  housecats I had after I grew up.  I think you would love these books–the  Cat Pack books:  The Grand Escape, The Healing of Texas Jake, Carlotta’s Kittens, and Polo’s Mother.

Goodbye Shiloh?

Comment:

I love your Shiloh series and want to say that I have a suggestion for a new book which is Goodbye Shiloh but at the end Marty gets Shiloh back

 

Phyllis replied:

That would certainly be a cliff-hanger, but I think that “A Christmas Shiloh” is the final book I’m going to write about this dog.  There are just too many other books I want to write.

Where did Judd come from?

Comment:

Your book Shiloh is amazing and one of my favorites. We just finished it in our 4th grade class everyone loved it. Whenever our teacher finished a chapter we always wanted to read more.We are watching the movie on Wednesday. Some people cried in the sad parts,everyone was scared when Judd came around. How did your come up with the character Judd? How did you make him act the way he is?

 

Phyllis replied:

Since the dog I found in West  Virginia had obviously been abused, I tried to figure out, and understand, why anyone would mistreat a dog, and Judd is the character I came up with.  Most people who mistreat animals have a history of abuse in their own backgrounds, and that was true of Judd.  If you read the rest of the books in the Shiloh quartet, you’ll find out a lot more about him.

How old was Shiloh?

Comment:

I just read Shiloh and watched the movie too. One question is how old was Shiloh? I think you should make one about Judd when he was little. Thank you for making Shiloh.

 

Phyllis replied:

When I first found the dog who became Shiloh in the book, the vet estimated that she (it was a female dog) was about two years old.  That was 1988, and Clover, the dog, died in 2000, so that would make her about twelve years old.

Judd Travers

Question:

What would Marty and his family do if Judd killed Shiloh?

Phyllis replied:

It’s hard to tell.  It might be difficult to prove that Judd was responsible.

 

 

Lies

Comment:

Hello, I was wondering why Judd always lies to Marty’s parents but then tells the truth to Marty?

 

Phyllis replied:

He figured that Marty couldn’t do much about the things he says and does, but an adult might be able to take some action.