Alice Blog

A Second Series?

Comment:

Maybe you could make a second series of books about Pamela or Elizabeth’s daughter or son or something like that. That would be so cool. Do you think you could send me an autograph?? That would be awesome, because the Alice series are one of my favorite book series.

 

Phyllis replied:

I really don’t want to start another series about anyone, though I’d never say never.   When you begin a series, you are committed to the next book and the next, and there are so many different kinds of books I’d like to do.  After I do a humorous book I may want to write a mystery…or a novel for adults…or a chapter book for second-graders…or an adventure story.  I did enjoy writing the Shiloh books very much, as well as the series that begins with The Boys Start the War and The Girls Get even.  I can’t send you an autograph unless I know your home address.  Your address will never appear on this page, however.  Readers’ names and addresses are always private with me.

I LOVE ALICE

Comment:

I love Alice. Most of the books my sister and I read over and over again. I feel like Alice is a real character.
Can there be a movie like for most of the Alice books????
Pllllleeeeaaasssseee!!!!!!

 

Phyllis replied:

Perhaps you  know that there is one movie out, Alice upside Down, which is based very loosely on “The Agony of  Alice.”  You can see it on DVD.   While I thought that the girl playing Alice was very good, as well as the actress playing Mrs. Plotkin, some of the other actors were so different from the characters in the book that it was hard to identify with them.  People who did not know the Alice books, however, liked it very much.  I have had no word about any other  Alice movies in the making, but it often takes years before movies are made, based on books.  I’m delighted that you and your sister enjoy the series so much.

The best thing ever!

Comment:

thank you so much for making alice she is the best thing ever. i am homeschooled and i have a lot of reading with the ciriculum we have. but every morning and night i read two chapters. it would be a dream come true if i got your autograph and got to meet you in person.:]

 

Phyllis replied:

I’m so glad you’re enjoying the series.  I don’t currently have any talks scheduled in the area where I live, but I’d be glad to send my autograph if you give me your address.  It will not be published on this website.

 

alice in so funny!

Comment:

I love Alice and think she is so funny sometimes.She was the only thing that kept me going through grade school. My question is how did you get the idea about her?

Phyllis replied:

When I wrote the first book,  “The Agony of Alice,”  (the three prequels came later), I had just intended to write about a motherless girl who is looking for a role model, being raised by her dad and older brother.  But after the book was published, I got so many letters, and reviewers said things like, “Alice’s many fans await her further adventures,” and I said, “Whaaat?”  So I talked with my editor about starting a series, and agreed to do one if I would only be expected to write one book a year (I wanted to be able to write other things) and if Alice could grow a little older in each book.  She agreed.  I figured out that if I wrote about 3 books for every year of Alice’s life, up to the age of 18, it would take about 28 books, and now they are all published, with one final book taking her from 18 to 60.  I’m so glad you like the series.

 

Alice and Patrick [spoiler alert]

Comment:

I love Alice more than every other book. I started reading them in German (I’m from Switzerland) and because the second half is only in English, I must read them in English. It was so exciting I couldn’t stop read them. These books helped me for speaking better English and I love this language.
Is the love story between Alice and Patrick real? That they know each other since sixth grade, then Patrick went to Spain and to the Peace Corps and that they met on the airport in Chicago again? Happened this between you and Bill or have you imagined that?

Phyllis replied:

Ummm… Who is Bill?   The Alice books are all from my imagination, though based loosely on a few things that happened to me growing up (the Tarzan story in “The Agony of Alice,” for one.)  I loved hearing that the books helped you learn English better.  Since I have no second language at all, I’m impressed at how well you are doing.  Yes, I’m afraid Germany published only the younger books, before Alice begins to develop sexual feelings, but it certainly has helped dozens and dozens of German readers learn English!

 

Alice Is Part of Me

Comment:

I’m 14 now, and last night I reread Now I’ll Tell You Everything for the tenth time. I just have to say how much of an impact Alice has made on my life. I read the Agony of Alice for the first time when I was ten, and I’ve read every single book since then. I know people tell you this all the time, but thank you so much for writing this series. I can relate to Alice in every single way. She’s the perfect role model: always one step ahead of me, going through the same things as me and showing me how to handle them. I don’t always think about it, but the Alice series has really had a big part in how I’ve grown up and thought about life. Even when I graduate high school and can no longer compare my life to hers on a semester-by-semester basis, I’ll always have the last book to refer to throughout my life.

Phyllis replied:

I’m happy that you enjoyed the series so much.  I truly loved writing the books, as much as I’ve written anything else.  When I read back over some of the books now, I see that emotionally I invested a great deal of myself, and perhaps that’s why it was always so gratifying when it was time to write about another semester or another summer.

Thank you for writing, and practically saving my life.

Hello! I’m sure you get a lot of messages that start off like this and sound similar to this…but I don’t think that I could live peacefully without writing this to you. You have saved my life, without even knowing it.

When I first started reading the Alice Series, I made a new friend. I had just transferred to a cyber school and I pretty much had no one. I was in a tough place mentally and was self harming and suicidal. But, reading your books make me feel better. And I can honestly say that I’m not sure where I would be without them. (Hopefully that doesn’t sound too crazy.)

Moving on, I ended up having an accident that lead me to the hospital for a spinal injury…the scans revealed a disease that I have that will make me end up in a wheelchair and not having good use of my limbs. Things are already hard, but I am trying to make the best of things while I can.

 

Phyllis replied:

I feel honored that my books have meant so much to you, and wish that I could say something now that would make your life easier.   What I do hope for you is that before things get as difficult as you tell me they might, medical science will have advanced to the place that better treatments and better outcomes will change your future for the better.  Every person on the planet will some day face an illness or physical challenge that medicine cannot overcome, because medicine will always be advancing.  Some people simply face it sooner than others.  That’s why it’s so important to make every day count, and it sounds as though you are living by that philosophy.  Thank you so much for your email!

Are the Alice books also printed in Braille?

Comment:
My 15 year old LOVES your Alice series; she did not care for reading much before this series!
I also have a 14 year old who is blind & reads braille. I am curious if you know if the series is printed in braille at any of the online braille bookstores? I would really like to try them with her, its a struggle to get her to read. Thank you!

Phyllis replied:

I feel quite sure that they are.  Last fall I gave a talk at the Maryland Library for the Blind in Baltimore.  I know that many in the audience had read a number of my books in Braille.  Please contact them and they will be able to give you the information you need.

❤️

Comment:

Alice seems so real to me, and is almost like my best friend

Phyllis replied:

I’m glad you feel that way.  For the 28 years I was writing about her, she was a real person to me too.  When she cried, so did I.  And her conversations with Lester always made me laugh.

 

in-love

Comment:

In-love with the series. Can’t put them down.

Phyllis replied:

I know the feeling.  Whenever it was time to write a new Alice book, I couldn’t wait.