Alice Blog

Does she die?

Question:

I am a great fan and have liked your Alice blog too. I truly feel that I can relate to Alice herself. I want you to know that you are a great inspiration and help when i write even though my stories 99% always ten to come out as a fantasy themed book. There is something I’d like to know, when I read that Always Alice ends at Alice being sixty years old, does that really mean that she’s going to die at sixty? If it does I’ll be so sad… I guess it’ll be spoiler alert if you tell, but I was just curious. What I’d also like to know is if Always Alice is going to be HUGE. Because all the other books were already somewhat thick and they weren’t even one year. I have troucouble finding the alice books in the bookstores because all I end up finding is alice on board or the three books in one. Oh well; My bookshelves are already a tight squeeze. I’ll probably buy Always Alice when it comes out in paperbaack though. My parents won’t let me buy hardcovers often. I see why…

Anyway, do you know if Alice is going to read her letter from seventh grade when they made the time capsle in Always Alice? I would find that pretty cool becasue that happened a long time ago and Alice has aged a lot since then. Imean, she’s going to college now! I have ‘liked’ your wordpress blog but can’t put a comment. I guess that’s why you have this email address.

Where do you get your ideas for all the crazy and embarassing things that happen to Alice? Are they based on real life? If I wrote a book based on the crazy things that happened to me you’ll probably be lauhing into next week!

Do you tend to notice things that other people don’t? I have a habit for doing that but my teacher seems to be okay with it…

Phyllis replied:

I don’t mind telling you that she does not die in the final Alice book, and yes, she reads the letter she wrote to her 60 year-old self. SO much happens in that final book, that it keeps getting longer and longer, and I’m about to send in my second revision. I think that all writers probably make a habit of noticing things that others may not notice or think significant, or perhaps it’s just an inborn trait. If we didn’t have a good eye and a good ear, we wouldn’t have so much to write about.

Posted on: August 26, 2012

Embarrassments

Question:

Well I’ve read Alice Alone, Simply Alice, and Patiently Alice separately since I had to find them from libraries because I don’t think I could buy some of them. I have way too many books already on my shelf so I’m thinking of selling maybe some of my books. But if I ever did buy any Alice books at all I know I would never ever sell them(: I just think that they’re wayyy too important too me. I’ve already read all the books from “Starting with Alice” to “Alice on her Way”, now I am looking forward to see “Dangerously Alice”. Cant wait! My friend Irma usually let me borrow her copies of the Alice books. When I reccomended them to her and my other best friend Lily, they both loved them(: I even read “Starting with Alice” and “Alice in Blunderland” with my younger sister who just LOVED them. She thought they were hilarious and very realistic. She and I just looooved the part of her talking with Lester, soo cute. You are the only author I can recall the actually made me laugh and cry in the same book. Your books are inspiring to girls everywhere. It can be ALWAYS related to since you know what Alice said in “Outrageously Alice” to Patrick, “Embarrassments become a part of us [girls].” Haha that was just soo true(:

Phyllis replied:

Yes, and they seem to just go on and on. I will probably never be at the age at which embarrassments stop. But I think we remember our own better than we remember the ones that happen to other people. I’m delighted that you and your younger sister could enjoy the Alice books together. Thanks for writing.

Posted on: August 26, 2012

Don’t Understand

Question:

Im a big fan of alice books – i read all of them lastsummer and recently read alice on board twice. I can’t wait for always alice and i was rly sad to find it will be the last book.
I myself am a writer and language arts is my favourite subject.
You are a great inspiration even tho i normally enjoy magic books. I am even writing my own book and have a wordpress writing blog.
Id like to know one thing i couldn’t figure out:
I dont umderstand that game alice plays with her father
Like me
Rivers
Love me
Oceans
Plz explain

Phyllis replied:

It’s one of those nonsense family things that only mean a lot to the two people themselves. It’s a little ritual to show how fond they are of each other. When Alice asks her dad, “Like me?” she’s asking how much he likes her. And his answer is “Rivers,” as in “rivers and rivers of liking her. ” And still not satisfied, she asks, “Love me?” to which he replies, “Ocean,” as in “oceans of love.” It’s lame, it’s corny, but it means a lot to them because it started when Alice was very young.

Posted on: August 26, 2012

From France

Question:

Hello! As you can guess, I am a great fan of your Alice books (i wouldn’t email you if I wasn’t)! I want to thank you for writing them, because I really enjoyed reading them (I didn’t read them all because I started with I like him he likes her but i’ll definately read the other ones at some point) I am always looking for some good books to read in english (i am french and i feel it’s a good way to improve my english) and I found exactly what I was looking for in your books. Even though I don’t have a lot in common with Alice I really felt close to her. She is so nice and thoughtful, it really made me think about how selfish I acted sometimes, complaining while doing the laundry or things like that. She is slightly older than me in the last books (I am entering the french equivalent of junior year) and I hope I’ll grow as altruistic as she is! I also have to say, your books really gave me an insight of how american life in the suburbs can je like, and of how an american high school is for an average teenager (and it felt à lot more realistic than some movies :p)
So really I would like to thank you for your books and I’m looking forward to reading the last volume! I was actually wondering if it was going to be longer than thé others, considering that it covers a big part of alice’s life?)
Bye! (as you can see, i don’t really know how to end an email in english :p so i’ll just say i hope you will continue writing great books and enjoying it!)

Phyllis replied:

Yes, the final book in the series will be longer than the others. I’m not sure of the number of pages, because once it appears in print, it’s much different than the numbered pages in the manuscript. All I can tell you is that the final manuscript was about twice as long as the usual one I submit.

Posted on: August 20, 2012

I’ll Cry for Days

Question:

I know you get comments like this every day, but I want to say thank you with all my heart for writing these books. I have managed to get my hands on all of them (about 5 times now! I have read every published Alice book, start to finish, during the summer ever since I was about 10 I think.) until this year though, I hadn’t cried in any of them. But reading Reluctantly Alice, I just sobbed. Probably didn’t help that I had my period at the time either, but that’s not the point. I FELT everything Alice felt, it was the strangest thing. I think it was nostalgia and the weird feeling when your favorite book character is younger than you in half the series (I’m turning 16 in a month.) I was trying to think “why this time?” and it’s not even that I’m watching Al grow up, or that I’m growing up, it’s that all of the funny things and tragedies that occur, in many ways, I am Alice and I don’t want to get too old to appreciate her. The books could not have been written better (although I did find a mistake in the Agony of Alice! Liz has pierced ears in that book and then she just….doesn’t in the others.) I know I’m going to cry for days (no exaggeration) when Always Alice comes out, but I know the book will be worth it. Thank you Mrs. Naylor for giving me the gift of my favorite books. I’ll always love them and I plan to own the whole series some day. The words of Alice McKinley are immortal, and even though the series with her may come to a close, my adventures with her never will.

Phyllis replied:

I’m afraid you will need a whole box of tissues for the last Alice book, coming out next year. At least, that’s what my agent seems to think. But hopefully there will be enough funny scenes and happy events and wonderful people to keep you happy for weeks. Thanks for writing.

Posted on: August 20, 2012

Will Alice Follow Me Into College?

Question:

I am a huge fan of the alice series! i have read every single book. I love how when I’m reading them i feel like i am growing up with alice and in every book i find something in her to relate to myself.

I was wondering if there is going to be another alice book because i have just finished reading alice on board! i am going to college next year and since alice followed me through middle school and high school it would be cool to read the books when she is also in college! if there is going to be one do you know roughly how soon! hope you keep alice going! i love her!

Phyllis replied:

The next, and last, Alice book in the series will be “Always Alice,” and it follows Alice through four years of college, summer jobs, old friends, new friends, on into her thirties, forties, fifties, and all the way up to age sixty. It will be published in the fall of next year, 2013. Enjoy!

Posted on: August 20, 2012

From New Zealand

Question:

I am a huuge fan of your Alice books, I started reading them when I was around 12 and now wait for the best part of the year when a new one comes out! I’m really excited for Always Alice and I really love how it’s going to be about heaps of Alice’s life!

I was just wondering because I was going through the list of Alice books in order and I remember reading a book called Alice, Woman of the House but it isn’t on the list? I’m really confused haha, was it renamed or something?

Anyway, thank you so much for writing the books – I feel like I’ve grown up with her because my last year of high school is next year, and I’m so excited to read what ends up happening to Alice!

From,

A big fan all the way in New Zealand!

Phyllis replied:

I believe that “Alice, Woman of the House,” was really the British edition of “Alice in April.” For some reason, publishers of foreign rights sometimes feel that they will have higher sales of a book if they change the title, and that’s what happened here. Sometimes they even change the main character’s name. That’s what happened in my witch books. I think the German publisher changed the main character’s name from Lynn to Holly. I think you will like the last Alice book, “Always Alice,” which will come out not next spring, but next fall. The publisher wants to do a big send-off, since it will be the end of the series.

Posted on: August 20, 2012

My Sister

Question:
Its been a long time since I’ve written to you, and something happened that I thought I could share with you.
Last summer I started reading the alice books to my sister who is now 10 years old. She really enjoyed them (I read her the prequels) but she is a slow reader and i never expected her to continue it on her own. Last fall I moved into a friends house because of problems at home, but I stayed in touch with her. I was disappointed that I couldn’t continue to read the books with her and talk about the things that come up like puberty or sex.
A few weeks ago I was talking to her on the phone and she mentioned something from an Alice book, the one where Pamela meets the older man on the train. I asked her how many of the books she read and she told me that she read all the ones in her elementary school library. She went on to tell me her favorite parts of each book, like when mark put potato salad in Pam’s swimsuit bottoms or when Alice learned how to swim, and I felt such a great connection to her even though she and I had been apart. She is moving with the rest of my family to California, and I stopped by that day with all my Alice books to give to her. She has always kept to herself, and I was so glad she had found a friend just like I had when I was her age. She has gotten better at reading too and reads other books frequently. Thank you so much for all the girls hearts that you have touched, you are truly amazing!

Phyllis replied:

What a wonderful story! I’m so touched that the Alice books have strengthened the connection between you two sisters. I’m forwarding your email to my editor. Thank you so much for writing.

Posted on: August 20, 2012

Failing the driving test

Question:

I've been reading the Alice books since right before I began fifth grade, and I'm about to be a senior in high school. I've always loved them, and I've finished them all except for the latest one, which I'm currently reading. (I also really enjoyed Ice; it's one of my favorite books of all time.) I live in Maryland, so
I've always liked reading about places I know of, and I also just love reading about someone like myself!

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I failed my license test. I was devastated, as I'd practiced repeatedly and perfected everything. I got anxious and failed on the parallel parking. Afterwards, I got home and was sitting around feeling bad about it all, and I remembered that in Alice on Her Way, she had the same experience I did. I decided I deserved to feel better, so I immediately got on Amazon and ordered It's Not Like I Planned It This Way, so I got three books for the price of one. It came the next day, even though I hadn't even ordered next-day shipping, so yay Amazon! Going through the books made me feel a lot better, and I'm scheduled to take the test again soon, so hopefully I'll get it the second time. It was nice to read about someone going through the same thing as me, so thank you for that. I can't wait to read the last Alice book, sad as it will be for me, but the great thing about your books is that they don't get old. They're easy to reread, which I plan on doing!
-A fan!
PS, I'm really sorry about your husband.

Phyllis replied:

I can sure empathize with you. I remember how scary the driving test was for me,
especially parallel parking. I almost never parallel park anymore, but it's nice
to know I can do it if I have to. Thank you for your email, and best of luck when
you take that test again. I'm sure many other readers have taken it several times!

Posted on: August 19, 2012

Do I NEED to read the previous books?

Question:

Hello! I have a quick question for you. I have never read the “Alice Series” before. But, recently I purchased “I Like Him, He Likes Her” from a bookstore not knowing there were A LOT of books before it in the series. I just assumed that it started at her freshman year, but now I know otherwise. Anyways, I was wondering if you thought I could start at that book and still understand the story? Or is there important things in the past books that I NEED to know to understand this book? Thank you so much for your time, and I am really excited to start reading!

Phyllis replied:

You do not NEED to read the previous books to understand this one, but the whole background of Alice’s life will make the current book more interesting. It helps, for example, to know that her mother died when she was very young, that she was raised by her father, with a little help from her older brother Lester, and all the different things that happened to her. But go ahead and read I LIKE HIM, HE LIKES HER, and when you get a chance, enjoy all the others.

Posted on: August 19, 2012