Alice Blog

Penny and Alice

So, I was reading Simply Alice- Incredibly Alice and I have to say I was so happy when Patrick broke up with Penny. I don’t know how Alice befriended Penny because I don’t know if I could after what she pulled. In incredibly Alice, penny says she didn’t think Patrick really ever liked her because their relationship never felt like the real thing and he called her Alice on several occasions. Is it true he didn’t really like penny like he did Alice? And if I was ever in Alice’s place and that happened to me, how can I handle it? Also I hope you and your family are Healthy and Happy and I’m wishing you nothing but the best!!

Hey, how Patrick really felt about Penny is up to you to figure out.  You’re the reader.  I’m just the author.

Book covers

As an Author, did you get to choose what the covers looked like on your books? And also I wanted to say that I LOVE how things ended in the Alice series especially when it turned out Alice was became the author and every time I read where she reunited with Patrick and they fell in love again or when they found the time capsule my heart just leaped! I love how you’re realistic in your writing and I love how you made Alice marry her childhood sweetheart because to me as a young woman is the best kind of love story. I also liked seeing how those two acted as parents. I’ve laughed with Alice and cried with her and I know I’ll just turn right back to the first page. 💌

I’m so glad that you liked the series. Things did not always go perfectly for Alice–she faced a number of difficult events and decisions in her life, but that’s how life is for many of us.  Some of us get a much bigger helping of sorrow than others, but that makes the good things all the sweeter.  I usually was content to let the illustrators read the manuscript and decide what scene or idea they wanted to communicate with their drawings or photographs.  Naturally, I liked some better than others.  Sometimes I was shown a sketch ahead of time to comment about, or several different photographs, and could choose the one I liked best.

Alice Wedding song & timeline

Hi Phyllis! I just wanted to know what was Alice and Patrick’s wedding song and who was it by? Also what year was Alice born and what timeline did the books take place because I noticed they had e-mail and cellphones later on and Pamela had a perfume that came out in the 80s

The story says that the name of the song was You, and I wrote the words.   It’s impossible to say when Alice was born, because–except for the first few books–it takes three books to fill out a year of Alice’s life–winter-spring semester, summer vacation, and fall semester.  Whatever was current appeared in that particular book.  So in that sense, Alice is “every-girl,” you can place her in whatever year seems true to you in your own life.  It took me 28 years to write all 28 books.

 

 

Alice and Patrick

Hello! I saw the last person ask a question about Patrick and Alice and I’ve been re reading them too. And I can’t help but notice Patrick was kind of a jerk to Al when they were teens, why did he choose Penny over Alice when he supposedly loved her and then turned around and dated the witch named Penny, sorry but I don’t like her and she was a bad friend to Alice at that time. And then he broke up with her again and admitted his attraction to other women in his letter, I hate that he kept reeling Al in just to break her heart again. I Do love your books though! And I’m glad things finally ended well with them and they settled down and got married, I also wanted to ask how do you get over anger and jealousy for someone? I’m not good at it so I wanted to ask you.

I’m not very good at that either, but I remind myself that there are a few people who feel anger and jealousy at me.  It’s really difficult when we think that we should win a particular prize to see it go to someone else.  Or to feel strongly attracted to a particular person and have him or her fall for somebody else.  The best thing to do is to build on the things you do best; look best; enjoy the most, and you will become most attractive to the people who are looking for exactly those characteristics and talents.   Try to get to know better the people who have won the prize or the person you wanted for yourself, and you may eventually decide that they deserved what they earned.  Yes, Patrick was a jerk at times.  And he was simply slower to really love than Alice was.  It was good that they both had time away from each other to fall for other people so that they could compare their feeling for others and for each other.  And in the end, Patrick chose Alice, and loved her enough to never want to hurt her.

Not a question just an appreciation

Hi, Mrs. Naylor! I know I write to you a lot and I’m sorry about that. I just wanted to say thank you for answering my questions. I read the first Alice book when I was 11 and it literally felt like someone had written the book for me since my mom was out of the picture most of my life and I grew up with my dad and little brother and the Alice novels helped, guided and inspired me and helped me build up my writing skills to be the author I want to be. You are my Idol and I feel like I owe everything to you. When I have questions about love and life I turn to your books because you have all the right answers I’m not allowed to date and I’ve never seen people actually in love and it working out thats why I love Patrick and Alice cuz they were the definition of love. I love Alice because she always gets through things better than I think I could so I try to be like her in some situations and they worked out and I thank you for your guidance 💖 Im almost 17 now and dealing with the death of my mom and your books helped me with that too! Once again you’re a wonderful author and I will treasure and pass along your books to others. 💖💖

Thank you for the kind words. I hear a lot from girls who have lost their mothers, and that’s something I never experienced.  But I can imagine it’s really tough.  And one thing that makes it even tougher is that when we grow up without something, we often imagine it as spectacularly wonderful.  To never live in a house, for example; to have no boyfriend yet; to never have the physical shape you think is the most attractive.  So that makes you want it all the more.  Mothers can be loving, supportive,  funny, sharing, and fair.  But they can also be moody at times, dismissive, argumentative, unkind….   Both things and people have good and bad associated with them, but we can’t help but miss the mother we never had.  Some day the death of your mother may appear prominently in something you write, and that will be very special for you.  I’m wishing you the best.

Question about a question

In one of the previous responses, someone mentioned prequels! Can you specify what they are? I think I read all of the Alice Books and I really enjoyed them! Thank you so much for the VERY BEST series a teen girl could ever read!!!!

After I wrote the original Alice series, I found out that very young girls wanted to read the series too and were reading about sexual feelings and experiences long before they were ready for them.  So I wrote three prequels in which Alice is in third, then fourth, then fifth grade.  It was a lot of fun to see Lester as a teenager in those books, and get more insight into the family dynamics.   You can find these three books listed under the Alice series on this website:  Starting with Alice, Alice in Blunderland, and Lovingly Alice.

 

First boyfriends

I’m sorry to bother you with more questions but I’ve been re-reading the Alice series because they’re wonderful & I was wondering if Donald was technically Alice’s first boyfriend, why in Alice in Rapture sort of it said “Summer of the first boyfriend” with Patrick? And again, I can’t say enough how much of an Amazing writer you are! I’m a young writer & you’re one of my inspirations 💕

I think that with Donald, it was more like “playing boyfriend and girlfriend,” where with Patrick, there was real feeling on both sides–taking a first step into romance.

Not a question, just a Thank You!

 

I just wanted to take some time to thank you. When I was 12 I had such a hard time reading, so much that I even got placed in ‘reading detention’ because my teachers thought I was not reading enough, when in reality I just wasn’t engaged in the book and I had a harder time since English is not my first language. Then I stumbled onto the first Alice book. Afterwards it’s like something clicked in my brain and I was able to enjoy reading. I went on to become a reading over-achiever which helped me become a better student and person.

I was never able to find another book past the second until after I graduated from high school and ordered the first half of the series. Then just this year I graduated from college and ordered the rest of the series. Although I wish I could have grown up along with her, I’m happy to finally find out the rest of the story.
I look back at how far I have come as a first generation college student and don’t know if things would have gone the same way if you hadn’t taught me to love reading through your books, Thank you!

It was so thoughtful of you to write to me and tell me your story.  I’m just delighted that as a first generation college student, you identified so much with Alice and her life.  Wishing you the very best in whatever you do….

Alice Mckinley novels

Hi, I just want to say I’m a HUGE fan of the Alice books and I just wanted to ask something only you would know, Was Patrick really in love with Alice the whole time they were married? Even though he was tempted by another woman, were they really Soulmates? I hope to get an answer back soon, your writing has touched my heart and soul and helped me through life! Thank you Mrs. Naylor! ❤

Yes, they were.  And Patrick showed his love for her in resisting the attraction of the other woman because he simply would not do anything that would cause Alice grief.  The very fact that he could tell her about the other woman and his attraction showed they were soulmates.  No big secrets.

Eye Color

What color are Patrick’s eyes? I can’t find any descriptions of his eyes in any of the books nor in the Alice Bible.

I’m not sure that I ever said.  So why don’t you imagine them any color you think would be right for him.