Biggest Fan Alice

OMG!!! i am such a big honor of all your books. i read them over and over again. i still have “starting with alice” and i had it for  years! i have read the books when she was so young ’till when she was ready to drive! she has grown so much and sometimes i cry remembering that alice is not real! i am so proud of your work.  im thirteen and remember that i am your biggest fan alive!
 
Phyllis replied:
 
You really did start with the first book, didn’t you?  You have watched Alice grow, and when you read the final book coming out in October, well…..   But I think you probably have a lot of books in between, and that’s wonderful if you do.  All the more to look forward to.

Still Loving Alice at 24

Question:

I was reading the Alice blog (as I do every year, right before the latest book is about to come out), and since the last book is coming out so soon, I felt compelled to write you and thank you for bringing Alice into my life.  I bought The Agony of Alice at a school book fair in the third or fourth grade, and it really did change my life.  I’ll never forget the comfort I felt at knowing that Alice was always embarrassed about something ridiculous too, and thinking that maybe I wasn’t so awkward and weird after all.  It’s funny how well I could relate to Alice back then, and how nothing has changed for me now, at 24 as an almost attorney (I just took the bar).  I have loved reading every single book, and still eagerly await each Alice book every year all the same.  I know that Alice is a fictional character, but she feels so real to me, and the thought that after October I’ll never have another Alice book to wait for both boggles my mind and makes me incredibly sad.  I am sure that you receive similar e-mails all the time, but I just really wanted you to know how much I love Alice, her friends, her world, and most importantly, her flaws.  I can’t (and don’t want to) imagine growing up without Alice, and I can’t wait to share her with any daughters I may have in the future.  So again, thank you a million times over!

Also, I saw on your blog that you will be going on a book tour–I live in the DC metro area, and I would more than love to come.  Do you know where I could find details?

Phyllis replied:

I feel a little sad too about letting her go, and yes, I am hearing from readers all over the globe.  The first stop on my national book tour will actually be here in Maryland, at the Takoma Park Library on the evening of October 15th (pub date) in connection with the Politics and Prose Bookstore.  Please check the library for the exact time.  I would love to meet you.  Thank you so much for your email, and best of luck on the bar exam!

Discussing Sex with my Daughter

Question:

My daughter has read all the Alice books (she is now 12), and I have read them right along with her, and I want to say thank you for writing them.
 But I especially want to thank you for having Alice tell Patrick how she wants him to touch her.  I hope that the girls who read these books use her as a model, as there isn’t a lot else out there that explicitly deals with this.  Also, you’ve given me a way to eventually talk to my daughter about sex, and why girls have sex with boys who don’t care if they enjoy it, and perhaps I can create a sense of entitlement in her to have good sex.
 
Phyllis replied:
 
Readers are going to be especially interested in the fact that you are a mom writing this email, and I so appreciate your taking time from your own life to write to me.  I too think this is an important topic, and have always felt that movies in particular show such a biased notion of sexual relations, almost entirely from the man’s point of view.  There is a more complete discussion of this topic in the final Alice book coming out in October, “Now I’ll Tell You Everything.”  I’m delighted to know that you and your daughter have such a close relationship, and can discuss things like this.