Alice Blog
Question:
I actually came across the alice series when my sister picked up “Alice on her Way” at the library. I started reading and though I was a little confused, I couldn’t put the book down! Even though we started a little late, my sister and I are all caught up on the series and can’t wait for the next one. When “Alice in Charge” arrived at Border’s, we promptly drove to the store, each grabbed a copy, plopped ourselves on a chair, and immersed ourselves into Alice’s world for the next two hours, much to my mother’s displeasure.
While reading, I can’t help but feel envious of Alice and Patrick’s relationship. Both care deeply for the other and through ups and downs manage to stay on friendly terms. I’m currently seventeen and have had only one true boyfriend (but lasted only a month due to mixed feelings and i was unhappy) and I am longing for this type of relationship. If you don’t mind me asking, how long was it until you met your “prince charming?” Thanks and again love the series!
Phyllis replied:
I have never met a Prince Charming because I never looked for one. I met and married a wonderful man whom I love very much, but there are no illusions that he is perfect, nor that he is always charming, nor does he expect that of me. Both of us had been married before, so I was 27 when we married. I’ve heard it said that the success of a marrige is not so much WHOM you marry as WHEN you marry. What this is really saying is that if you marry when you are mature in your expectations and you know what you want out of life, you are far more likely to choose the right person for you. I think there is a lot more romance coming your way, but, thank goodness, no “prince charming.”
Posted on: July 28, 2010
Question:
i just love alice in charge it soooooo awesome !!!!!! lol i have a question
im 14years old and i love writing stories im actually writing two right now and my friend loves them lol she my first fan yay lol
of course i have to be carful with grammer and spelling because im not so hot on that but what am asking is how do u get ur books publish if u want to become an author as like a job?
Phyllis replied:
First, you need to rewrite and revise and rewrite and revise until you can’t find one page, one paragraph, even one sentence that you think could be made better. Then you go to the reference room at your public library and ask for “Writer’s Market Place,” which lists all the current publishers of books, the editor’s name, the address, whether or not you need an agent to submit something, and what type of material they are looking for. Then you send your manuscript in, with a stamped, self-addressed mailer for returning it to you if it is not accepted. Unfortunately most publishers these days only want material submitted by an agent. But you can also ask your librarian for a list of agents from the “Society of Authors’ representatives,” and you can choose several of these, write to them, tell them a bit about your manuscript, and ask if they would be willing to take at look at it. DO NOT pay anyone to read your manuscript–a good agent should be willing to read something without charging–and DO NOT pay a publisher to publish your book. A publisher should like your book enough to publish it themselves, and pay YOU for it. As you can see, being a paid professional writer is an enormous amount of work, but so do most jobs if you do them well.
Posted on: July 28, 2010
Question:
hi! i am a huge fan of the alice series, and i was wondering if you will keep on writing them. if you dont, then which book was your last book? i have some ideas for you.
1. you can write how patrick will propose to alice.
2. you can tell how they their lifestyle will be, if you keep on writing after they get married.
Phyllis replied:
Thank you for your suggestions, but many of you know that the very last book, “Always Alice,” that will come out in 2013, has already been written. It is sitting in a fireproof box in my office, ready to be sent to my publisher when the books in between are published.
Posted on: July 28, 2010
Question:
hi i have couple of questions for you. in one of the books dose alice keep the promise she and patrick made that when there going to meet for new years and dose she open the time calpsul.and also on the last book it goes from 18 to 60 does the book have ALL the ages intill 60 or do skip some.i’ve been reading your books since 3 grade and now my libray doesn’t have most of the books so i have to buy them. i will miss alice
Phyllis replied:
I can’t tell you all the things that will happen in the final book. You’ll have to read it yourself. And no, I don’t mention every single year of her life in the final book, but each chapter jumps to the next big event or crisis in her life. Otherwise it would be a very, very long book. For those of you who want to buy the Alice books that your library doesn’t have, remember that the three books of her freshman year have just been published in paperback, under one cover–a HUGE paperback of 630 pages, called I LIKE HIM, HE LIKES HER, for $9.99. Soon the next big bind-up will be out of Alice’s sophomore year, the next three books, and the title of this will be IT’S NOT LIKE I PLANNED IT THIS WAY, and the third bind-up, the 3 books of her senior year, is also in the works, this one called PLEASE DON’T BE TRUE. As each one appears in bookstores, I’ll let you know. Only the first one is out right now. Great titles, great covers.
Posted on: July 23, 2010
Question:
I am also an older reader of Alice (yikes, I am now 24). I started with Alice in oh, about middle school and since then one of my summer traditions has been reading most if not all of your Alice books. I savor your new books. I have enjoyed watching Alice grow up and have marvelled at how real you have kept her. Alice is not a perfect person. (I offer many of her escapades in Dangerously Alice and even Simply Alice as an example). However, she tries to be a good person. She is a good friend. (See Almost Alice).
Thank you for battling censors and ‘book banning’ to write a real series. On another note, I think your books (and website) are also good for those from less supportive families and girls with absentee parents as you address many of the issues that they face and give them advice in a non-preachy manner. (See Grooming of Alice.)
Thank you for being there for generations of girls present and future. As one of the previous e-mailers on the website said, I hope to encourage my children to read this series. If only to introduce them to reading and get them to realize in embarassing moments that other girls have gone through this and survived it.
Phyllis replied:
I truly appreciate your email. It’s difficult sometimes to convince readers that Alice represents one imaginary girl, not Everygirl. It’s not only censors who wonder why she isn’t other than she is, but readers who ask why are there never drunken parties and pot? Why do the girls always seem to have boyfriends? Why has she never had sex? Is she a Christian or not? All I can really answer is that when I get Alice up in the morning on any particular day, I have to ask myself what this particular girl is thinking, what she would most likely be doing, whom she would be spending her time with, and what are her long-range plans? Sometimes I want to hug her and sometimes I want to shake her, but she just goes right along, being Alice.
Posted on: July 23, 2010
Question:
i love the alice books my bestfriend and i read the alice books whenever we can. i liked how you sort of left the end of dangerously alice as a cliffhanger for almost alice. i just finshed reading: alice in the know,alice the brave,and outrageously alice.i’m 11 years old and i started eading them when i was 9. i love them so much that i even faked sick one day so i could finish the grooming of alice which is also the first one i ever read.They leave me laughing so hard that my face turns red. Usily i rush home to watch my favourite show on t.v but whenever i have an alice book i rush to read that. i hope you never stop writing them.
Phyllis replied:
You certainly are a good advertisement for the Alice books. I’m delighted to know that you enjoy them so much!
Posted on: July 23, 2010
Question:
hi my name is marianne, i hope this email finds you well, i LOVE all of the alice series, right now im on intensely alice. i have been reading alice since i was 14. i jus wanted to say that i LOVE the books, kinda wishing she was real. i can relate to all of what she went thru. i stayed up last night jus reading the book im on. im going to be REAL sad when the series end, but hey! i have almost ALL of the books, i jus need to get alice in charge, intensely alice, and almost alice. i cried when pamela —————–. lol i know i know lame haha jus wanted to say that i LOVE YOU PHYLLIS!
Phyllis replied:
I had to edit your letter a bit so you wouldn’t give too much away. There was a LOT in Intensely Alice that made me cry, but life is full of the sweet and the bitter, right?
Posted on: July 22, 2010
Question:
I know you have Alice in Charge out but when was the date it got released, and do u know if most library’s got them because i am on hold for Alice In Charge!!! I cant wait to read it all the other books are really good! You are a great writer and i hope u write many more books after the Alice series is over! Thanks so much for putting Alice as a part of my life and writing such good books.
Phyllis replied:
I believe the publication date was June 16. It takes libraries a lot longer to get new books than it does bookstores, but I’m glad you put your name on the reserve list; that should get the book to you a little sooner, anyway.
Posted on: July 22, 2010
Question:
I am a writer for the Dallas Morning News’ Dallas Mom’s blog created by Nancy
Churnin. I just stumbled upon the movie, Alice Upside Down and absolutely LOVED
IT!!!! I am an educator and an author. I write a series about a girl named
Abby Diamond. Abby, who happens to be blind, solves mysteries in the
neighborhood with a cast of friends.
I don’t think I’ve loved a character more than Abby until I watched Alice Upside
Down. I cannot wait to go out and purchase your books in this series.
Thank you so much for creating such a delightful character.
Phyllis replied:
Delighted to know that you liked the movie, and especially the character of Alice. I, too, thought the casting for the part of Alice was especially well done. I do hope you enjoy the books. Thanks for writing.
Posted on: July 22, 2010
Question:
| I am an older reader of yours but still young at age 22 🙂 I began reading the Alice series when I was in 5th or 6th grade after being introduced to you in the book Shiloh and have been reading them ever since. I just could not put down Alice In Charge the other night and stayed up until 3am reading the whole thing. I loved growing up and reading about Alice growing up as well. Though I will be sad when the series ends, I know that the time has come. I just wanted to tell you thank you for all the summers I have spent reading another Alice book. It is honestly a highlight of my summer when I have finished the latest book. I wanted to thank you for writing Alice and say that you have been an amazing part of my life.
Phyllis replied:
I will be sad when the series ends too, but for every ending there’s a new beginning, and there are SO many other books I want to write! Thanks so much for your email. It means a great deal to me. |
Posted on: July 20, 2010
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