Phyllis Shalant children's book author and her dog Dudley
Dudley is my writing muse. Who inspires you?
Phyllis Shalant's first young adult book, The Rock Star, The Rooster, and me, the Reporter
My first book,
"The Rock Star, The Rooster,
and me, The Reporter"
 Phyllis's imaginative first school story, Mr. Electron
​I was born making up stories. When I was  three, I used to sit underneath the kitchen table in my family’s apartment in Brooklyn, New York, and pretend my dolls and stuffed animals were lost in a forest made of chair and table legs. I also liked to to bring my little red-eared turtle into the bathroom, to be part of the pirate adventures I created in the sink. 

Once I got to school, I couldn’t stop creating stories. In fourth grade, after my teacher gave a lesson on electricity, we were asked to write about what we’d learned. My classmates all wrote science reports about how electricity works. But I wrote a story about Mr. Electron and his friend, Sammy Atom. My teacher didn’t even get angry. She gave me an A+ and asked me to read it to the class. That’s when I decided to become a writer.

In college I studied literature, writing, and teaching. But I didn’t write my first book until my oldest daughter was in elementary school. I began reading the books she was getting from the library and I realized they were the kind of stories I wanted to write. My first book, The Rock Star, the Rooster, and Me, the Reporter, was based on my daughter’s fourth grade class. Her teacher had a farm and shared many of the fruits and veggies he grew there. He even wore his bee-keeping outfit to school. But the students never got to visit his farm–so I imagined it. I wrote about a class trip with lots of fun and lots of trouble. If you’ve ever been on a class trip you can probably write a good story about one, too.

Although I'd already published a few books, I wanted to learn more about the writing process. Luckily, I found the Master of Arts in Writing program at Manhattanville College. After I graduated, I stayed on to teach and discovered  I really enjoyed working with aspiring writers. These days, I teach writing in the Chappaqua Summer Scholarship Program, where I spend each July working with high school students to develop their writing skills. (For more on this, visit chappaquasummerscholarship.com.)

 I live in Westchester County, New York with my husband and a large friendly dog named Dudley. We have a busy birdfeeder in the backyard and a trampoline for our four book-loving grandsons. When I’m not writing, the things I like best are reading, taking long walks, cooking, hanging out with friends–and hearing from readers like you. You can write to me at pjshalant@gmail.com.