Your Questions Answered

Guest Speaker 4th grade?

Comment:

I am a 4th grade teacher for an elementary school in Kansas City, Missouri. I am working on next year’s class and was hoping to add some excitement and engaging lessons by inviting writers to talk with my students. I know that if you could Skype with my class it would be very exciting and motivating for them to do their best during our writing lessons. I know you are very busy and I appreciate your time and consideration in this matter.

 

Phyllis replied:

I’m sorry, but I’m not set up for Skype.  Still in the dark ages as far as technology is concerned.

Help Me With My Book?

Comment:

I have started writing a book but am having trouble with the details.  Could I send it to you for help in using details?

 

Phyllis replied:

I’m sorry that I can’t read or edit or help revise other people’s manuscripts.  I get many requests to do this, but I would have no time to write my own books if I did.  Using the right amount of detail in a book is the writer’s own responsibility, and something that beginning writers need to practice doing on their own.  So I wish you good  luck with your book.  The more you read and see  how other authors do things, the better your own writing will be.

Roxie and the hooligans lover

Comment:

 

My second grade class would love to share our thoughts with you and other “Roxie lovers” as we read, think question and explore with Roxie with others around the world.

 

Phyllis replied:

 

Yes, this blog is a good way for your students to ask questions.  I may not have time to check it every day, so a few good questions rather than a lot, coming all at one time, would be better.  By the way, a sequel will be coming out next year, “Roxie and the Ransom of Smoky Jo.”

Movie??

Comment:

 

Hi! We just finished reading ALL 12 of your Boys V. Girls books and we are so sad to be done!!!! We are wondering if and when a movie of this series has been made???? We would loooove it!! We want to tell you how fun this series has been for all of us, including our teacher Mrs. Greenberg:) Thank you!!

 

 

Phyllis replied:

 

Oh,  I wish a movie could be made of those books too.  I think they would make a nice children’s movie series.  But I’m not the one who decides these things.  I know that a lot of 4th and 5th grade teachers are reading them aloud to their classes, just as a fun thing to do.   I had a great time writing those books, especially when it came to writing about Caroline, Wally, and Peter.

Crazy Love

Comment:

 

I just finished crazy love…I went through the same thing with my 1st husband. I am now happily remarried but my son from my first marriage is struggling like his father. I know all the ins and outs of this territory and I try to be resolute about the reality of the situation
My question is this…what finally happened to Ted? I feel like I want to prepare myself for the ending of things for these loved ones in my life. A personal question that I understand you may not want to answer..But it was like a light to know you had a similar experience.
 

Phyllis replied:

I’m so sorry.  One reason I wrote “Crazy Love” was to let others know that I’ve been through a similar situation.  As many readers know, my first husband became paranoid schizophrenic five years after we married (when I was 18), and this book, written for adults, tells the story of the beginning of his illness, and how it progressed.  After his parents took him out west and had him committed and I had married again, I heard from a psychiatrist who had read my book, wondering what had happened to “Ted,” and I told him the last address I’d had, which I traced to a men’s shelter.  I was so upset, trying to imagine him living in a shelter, but the psychiatrist said, “That’s in my city, and it’s a wonderful place for veterans who are having trouble adjusting to society.  They live two to a room, have home-cooked meals, and are taken care of very well.”  And he volunteered to visit the home occasionally to check up on Ted.

I was so grateful.  I found out that Ted had a part time job and a car, but that he kept to himself and did not socialize much.  I don’t know what the job was.  Ted loved books and records of classical music, and the psychiatrist told me there was a used-book and record store next door to this shelter.  So I made a sizeable donation to that store so that any resident of the shelter could get books and records for himself.  But the psychiatrist later told me that there was no record of Ted ever going there.  One day the psychiatrist called me to say that Ted was dying of throat cancer.  (He never smoked). It was one of the saddest days of my life.  He was buried in a veteran’s cemetery.  I wondered if I should have gone to see him, but decided it would not be a good idea, and the psychiatrist had agreed.  Ted’s story need not be your husband’s fate nor your son’s.  None of us know what will happen to us, but I want you to know how well I understand your pain.  I wish you strength and courage and time also for yourself and things that make you happy.  I appreciate your letter.

 

 

School Project

Comment:

Hello I’m doing a school project in English about you and I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for it in an email?

 

Phyllis replied:

Yes, but please limit your questions to five, since answering emails takes up a large part of my day, and I’m so eager to get back to a book I’m writing.  This website, www.phyllisnaylor.com answers most of the questions readers want to know.  If you can’t find your answer here, then email me at Phyllis_naylor@comcast.net

Write a review on “How I came to be a writer”

Comment:

The students in my class are being challenged to write a review about your book, “How I came to be a writer”. Is there an address we can send the reviews to?

 

Phyllis replied:

Hmmm.  I could give you my address, but what am I supposed to do with them?  Is this a contest?  Writers are generally not given an opportunity to respond to reviewers, since how you feel about a book is your own personal business.  I may love it, or think it’s unfair, but it’s still your own opinion, and that’s what counts.

How Do You Get an Editor?

Comment:

I’m a new fan, and I was introduced to you by your autobiography, How I Came to be a Writer. I was so inspired by it, that I wanted to tell you what I thought about it. I also have a few questions too.
First off, It’s a great book, and I took a lot of great advice from it. Your writing process is similar to mine, except you use a chair with binders. I instead use a desk full of post-it notes. But when I have an idea, “It’s like a rock in my shoe. I just can’t wait to get it out.” I’m still only in the 5th grade, but I love to write. I wrote an autobiography myself too. But now I have some questions.
1. Your first story was about a mother chopping her child’s head off. Why did you take this violent approach on your books at such a young age?
2. How do you get an editor?
3. You write based on “What if this happened” ideas. How do you think of things and get ideas in this fashion.
Thank you for reading through this message. I enjoy you’re writing, and your style.

Phyllis replied:

It’s nice to hear from another writer.  First of all, that story about a mother chopping off her child’s head was an old story from a fairy tale book my parents read to us–along with much better stuff by Mark Twain and other authors.  Somehow that story must really have affected me, because the one I “made up” for my kindergarten teacher was obviously plagiarism!  As far as getting an editor, you need a book publisher first, if it’s a book manuscript, or a magazine that publishes short stories.  There was a much larger market for short stories when I began selling what I wrote than there is now.  If I were you, I would enter your work in every contest you can think of.  When you get to middle school and high school, try to join the school newspaper staff.  For story ideas, I suggest that you think of the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you, or the saddest, or funniest, or that made you most angry or happy, and write a short paragraph about it.  Then rewrite it making it happen to a fictional character.  Perhaps change the beginning, or the ending.  Add things, subtract things…in other words turn your story over to your imagination.  You are starting with something very personal, with feeling, and giving it wings.

The Witch Series…continued?

Comment:

I loved reading the first 3 Witch books as a child. Imagine my excitement when a few years ago I discovered there were 3 more books in the series! I bought them all and they were as good as I remembered.  I’ve often thought it would be a great series to revisit. Perhaps a few more books with Lynn and Mouse as adults?I’d love for the story to continue – have you ever considered that?

 

Phyllis replied:

Oh, my goodness!  Lynn and Mouse as adults?  I don’t know….they’re more vulnerable at the age they are, so I wouldn’t try that.  I have too many other books I want to write, but it was a blast writing those six.  Scared me half to death just thinking all that stuff up.  The two scariest parts for me were the girls in Mouse’s bedroom alone at night, and suddenly all these cats and crows are scratching at the windows trying to get in.  And then…the scene in the cellar, with Mrs. Tuggle coming for them, and at the last minute they draw the circle around them on the floor….  I have goosebumps right now, just thinking about it.  I’m so glad you enjoyed those books.

Can I have your autograph?

Comment:

Can I have your autograph?

Phyllis replied:

Yes, if you send me your home address, complete with your full name and zip code.  Your name and address will not appear here, however.