I have the problem of too many ideas all coming at once, and I feel as though I’m batting them away, trying not to let them interfere with the manuscript I’m working on at present.So it can be a curse as well as a blessing. Just little bits of things from everywhere, all mixed together. From things that have happened to me, things other people have told me, things I read about in the newspaper, but most of all, from my imagination. This is probably the question writers are asked the most, and the most difficult to answer, because the answer is simply, everywhere. Where do you get the ideas for your stories? That’s probably why I decided to write them-for the daughter I never had. But I wish I had the Alice books when I was a young girl, and even later. “ Huckleberry Finn.” People have said that my book “Shiloh” has some of the same elements-a boy wondering what is the right thing to do-society’s rules or what his heart tells him is right. You’ve written many books for children and young adults, what was your favorite book as a child? I think I must have decided that if listening to these stories was so delicious, then writing them must be even better, and this was my hobby as a child, using the backs of scratch paper-the only thing available to us during the Depression. Mother read books like the Bible story book, “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Wind in the Willows,” and my Dad read the books of Mark Twain. They read with great drama and feeling, and this was the happiest part of my growing up.

My guess is that it was the fact that my parents read aloud to us every night, almost until we were in our teens.

What or who inspired you to be an author? Phyllis lives right here in Montgomery County and was nice enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions. “Shiloh” is a book that’s discussed in classroom all across America and the Alice series has made such a connection with teenage girls that it has its own blog. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written more than 140 books, most for young adults. Most people know Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for her Newbery Award winning book “Shiloh.” A heartwarming story about a boy and his dog that left us all wanting justice and revenge on Judd Travers.

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