Inspiration?

Question:

Wow! I don’t even know what to say. Let me start by telling you that I am a HUGE fan of your Alice books, I am 12 years old and have read (almost) every book. When I find out that a new one is out I jump to get it and that is all on my mind until i can get my hands on the book! I know you probably get letters like this all the time, so i’m pretty sure i won’t be getting and answer from you. But let me just say that I think you are an incredible writer, i envy how in these books you feel like you are a part of Alice and I know when you write them that you have to put yourself in her place. I have always found peace in writing, but don’t know where to find inspriation for my story. Can you please tell me how you found inspiration for the Alice series? And for a writer like me, how can I learn to do what you do by connecting yourself to your books?

Phyllis replied:

I just wanted to write a book about a girl looking for a role model, and because of the good  response I got from readers and reviewers, decided to make it a series, providing Alice could grow older in each book.  You should simply look into yourself and decide what you most want to write about, what you most want to say, and what voice you will use when you write.  Will you write in the voice of one of your characters?  Or will you write in the voice of a narrator?  Sometimes you need to write the first few paragraphs of a story several different ways to see what reads and sounds best to you.