Your Questions Answered

Witch Saga, original Gail Owens Illustrations

Comment:

Hi there, it may be a stretch to reach out via your website, but I figure it is worth a shot. As a child, I read and became enthralled with the Witch Saga. My elementary school library had the books and I would constantly check them out. I had and still do have an affinity for the magical and macabre. I believe Ray Bradbury’s stories were my next love after your books. I recently have set out to find copies of the exact books that were in my childhood library. The books were published by Atheneum and had beautiful blue and purple illustrations by Gail Owens. I have looked high and low for the rest of the series in this style, but so far have only been able to find copies of Witch’s Sister and The Witch Returns. Are these the only titles that were published with this cover style or are the rest just very rare? If the other titles in the Saga were published in this style and you know where I can find them, I would be forever grateful. Thank you for your wonderful work. Take care.

Phyllis replied:

I’m glad you liked those books so much.  That series was a lot of fun to write.  The first three books were published by Atheneum.  Then Delacorte got interested in the series and published the last three–The Witch’s Eye, Witch Weed, and The Witch Returns.  Their illustrator was Joe Burleson, but the covers are very similar to Gail Owens’ work–purples and blues and greens.  See if you can’t find them in used book stores or those specializing in rare books.

 

The Boys Start the War

Comment: Where did you get your ideas for all the pranks in “The Boys Start the War?”

 

Phyllis replied:

I made them all up, and it was lots of fun.

We love Roxie!

Comment:

My third grade class loved Roxie and the Hooligans. We are so excited that there’s a new story. My class created a book trailer for Roxie and we wanted to share it with you. Can I email you a one minute video? Also, do you ever Skype or Facetime students? We’d love to say hello sometime. Thanks for such a great book!

Phyllis replied:

I’m so glad you liked the book, and hope you like it’s sequel too–Roxie and the Hooligans at Buzzard’s Roost.  I’m sorry that I’m not set up for Skype or Facetime.

Thank You for Alice

Comment:

I am very thankful of you writing the alice series. I started reading when I was nine, and finished at age ten, which I am now. I am a very fast reader. I do not have a particular question, just a comment: I love the series. I have probably read your books 3 times and still like them. I did not yet see the movie, but i am going to. All I just wanted to say was THANK YOU!!

 

Phyllis replied:

Wow!   With 28 books in the series, that means you must have read about two books a week!   And if you read them all three times…..!  Whew.  Yes, you are a fast reader.  Another series I think you would like is my boy/girl battle series, beginning with The Boys Start the War and The Girls Get Even.

Boys Versus Girls series

Question:

What inspired you to write about the life of children in the Boys vs. Girls series? Also, how did you find the inspiration to write the children’s perspectives?

Phyllis replied:

I was asked by an editor to start a new series for her publishing company, and I said I would have to think about it, that I would have to have a universal theme.  Then one day I was preparing to speak to a large group of grade school students, and they were coming in so noisily that one teacher yelled, “If you don’t quiet down, I’m going to seat you boy-girl-boy. And instantly, the whole room was silent.  Their noise hadn’t bothered me at all but I thought this was quite funny.  So I had an “aha!” moment.  My universal theme would be the boy/girl friction at this age, and that it would be fun to have a whole household of boys trying to drive out a whole houseful of girls.  And though they wouldn’t admit it, they are all having a marvelous time.  It’s not hard for me to write from a child’s perspective.  I was a child once, and I have a good memory of how I felt then.

Roxie and the Hooligans

Comment:

Hello again. We just finished reading your second book about Roxie and the Hooligans and were so glad you had let us know that you did indeed have another book with these great characters. We are wondering if you are working on yet another book with Roxie and the Hooligans. We hope you are. We loved them. Thanks for inspiring us.

Phyllis replied:

I’ve got an idea for one.  We’ll see……

I wrote you as a young Navy wife

Comment:

I guess I’m emailing you because I’m glad you are still around. I wrote you a letter as a young Navy wife who fell in love with your book, Revelations. I eventually bought a copy and treasured it. I wanted a friend like your character’s Jewish friend. I have since lost the book. I am now 72 years old and am writing to thank you, again. I couldn’t find a friend like your character’s friend, so I patterned myself after her and became my own best friend. Your writing has meant a lot to me. Thank you.

 

Phyllis replied:

How great to hear from you.  Revelations was my first novel written for adults, and I really enjoyed writing it.  You  might be interested to know that Sally Field bought the movie rights to it.  She was still going with Burt Reynolds at the time, and one of Burt’s best friends was to be the director. Waldo Salt was to be the screen writer.  I met the director when he came to the area, and they scouted out a house in Maryland for the location, and set the production to run from June l to Sept. 1, I believe.  Then…. the directors union called a strike, and any movie that could not be completed by August lst could not be started so mine was canceled, and of course all the actors drifted on to other things.  I’m so glad you remember the story and that you wrote to tell me so.

Ice Sequel

Comment:

I recently finished the book ice and i enjoyed it very much! I was wondering were you ever planning on publishing a sequel to it? Maybe about Chrissa reuniting with her father? Just a suggestion. I love your way of writing and how much detail you put into your books.

 

Phyllis replied:

Thanks so much for your email.  I had a lot of trouble with that book–my editor originally thought that it should be two books–that two different plots didn’t seem to come together right.  But I stuck with my original idea, and I’m so glad you liked it.  No, I had enough trouble with it in the first place to attempt a sequel.  Actually, so many of my books could have sequels, but I have to be selective, and hope I’ve made the right choice.

Advice for Aspiring Author

Comment:

How excited I am to find this site! I am a school teacher, and as I was cleaning off my bookshelf in preparation for summer cleaning, I ran across your book, “How I came to be a Writer”. It is a joy to read, and it spurred me on to find out more about you. I love to read but unfortunately, in this technology-ridden society, and being the mother of a very busy household, I don’t get to read often. However, I have recently written a manuscript, and just reading the early portions of your book have inspired me. I was wondering if you have any advice for me about writing, and I was curious to see if you ever review such things informally (or formally), and give feedback.
Phyllis replied:

I’m sorry but I get many requests for this and can’t possibly do it.  But almost everything I know about writing for both children and adults is in my book  “The Craft of Writing the Novel” (see Amazon for paperback copies).  I think you would find that very helpful.

Blizzard’s Wake

First Comment:

I have taught your novel, “Blizzard’s Wake” several times to my past middle school students. Unfortunately I have moved schools and my current school does NOT have a classroom set of this novel. I have tried to order it from many other places, but have been unable to get a classroom set from anywhere. Any ideas where or how I could get a classroom set of 30 copies of your novel “Blizzard’s Wake” so that I can teach it to my fall group of students?

Phyllis’ first reply:

I’m sorry you aren’t able to find 30 copies of that book.  I called my publisher who checked with Simon Pulse, the division that published this book, but it is out of stock.   Their edition came out in 2004, so that’s not too surprising.  I only have a few copies of that book myself.  I’m so sorry I can’t help.

Second comment and Phyllis’ reply:  You then wrote to ask if it would be permissible to make copies of the book yourself.  I passed it along to my editor’s assistant, but have not heard back from her.  I suggest you email Michelle Lee, who is marketing manager, Education & Library, at michelle.lee@simonandschuster.com and ask her advice.  Perhaps she will connect you to subsidiary rights.  When a book is out of print, I would think they might work out something.