So Sad the Series is Ending

Question:

When I was 10 years old I checked out The Agony of Alice from my school’s library and immediately fell in love with Alice McKinley. I was a curious, young girl who had all these questions but was too shy to ask them. I felt like Alice was experiencing all the same things I was and I felt like I finally had somebody to relate to. I discovered a couple of years later that there were more Alice books! I impatiently waited for each book to come back to the library so I could catch up on Alice’s life. My parents surprised me with the whole set for Christmas that year and every Spring I wait impatiently for the next book to reach the stores.

When I first learned that you were going to write three books for each year of Alice’s life, up until she was 18, I can remember thinking, “Wow I am going to be 26 when that last book comes out!” I turn 26 next year and I can’t believe that the time has come for my favorite book series to end. As I read the last pages of Alice on Board tears came to my eyes knowing that it was almost over. I feel like I am losing a friend. I grew up with Alice and I am so saddened when I think about reading that last book.

I had the honor of meeting you 6 or 7 years ago at a book signing you had in Bethesda. My mom was gracious enough to drive me up from North Carolina. I hope you know how much these books have shaped my life. I can’t wait for the day when I have a daughter of my own and can give her your series of books to read. I look forward to discussing each book with her and reliving Alice’s life all over again.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Phyllis replied:

Your letter means a lot to me.  I can hardly believe I’m at the age where the series is ending too!   Or that I took the risk, 28 years ago, to “promise” my readers a series lasting 28 years.  Most of you know, however, that I wrote the very last book in the series many years ago and put it in a fireproof box so that if I were ever run over by a bread truck, readers would know how the story ends.  It’s that manuscript now that I’m working on, which needed a lot of revisions and additions and polishing before I’d ever want it to be published, but the plot is the same.  I hope you’ll feel it’s been worth the wait when it comes out now in the fall of 2013.  Thank you for being such a faithful reader, and especially for your email.