These were monthly columns that were held by Scholastic. Fans would send in questions to K.A. Applegate, and the Official Website would post them at the end of month with K.A's reply. Fans could either send their letters to K.A through an email form or through snail mail at:
K.A. Applegate, c/o Scholastic, 555 Broadway, New York, N.Y., 10012.
January 1999
Dear KA,
I know you're busy but please answer these questions.
1: When They eat something (like taco bell) and then morph something small (an ant?) what happens to the food? In 25 when they ate as wolves and morphed back they weren't hungry.
2: Who was the Andalite Ax talked to when he used the telescope to "Phone Home"?
3: Could the Andalites morph before they built the blue box?
Thanks
SS23Hi, SS23:
1) The food is extruded into Zero Space where it then becomes part of the Tamale Pie at your school cafeteria.
2) As I recall, there were two Andalites: one was just some Andalite who happened to be on duty that day, and the other was a higher-ranking Andalite official.
3) No. Andalites do not have a natural morphing ability, they required the technology.
--KAA
Hi! My name is Cristina and I have an idea for an Animorph book. How about a chronicle for the Animorphs, before they were Animorphs? You already wrote about the Andalites and Hork-Bajir. It would be interesting to see what their lives were like before they met a dying Andalite in a abandoned construction site. That's my suggestion. Thanks.
P.S. What about a Yeerk Chronicle?Hi, Cristina:
Not a bad idea. I'll think about that. As for a Yeerk Chronicles, we already have that on the agenda, but I think we're calling it the Visser Chronicles.
--KAA
Hi, I have a couple of questions to ask you. Please answer!
1) When did you decide that you wanted one of the Animorphs to become a nothlit? It had to be early, since Tobias became one in the first book.
2) Which book to the Animorphs find Ax? I got #8 The Alien thinking that was the book, but it wasn't. I'd like to know so I can get it.
~Thank you for your time,
Nature NutHi, Nut:
1) You're right. I planned for Tobias right from the start.
2) In #4 they find Ax.
--KAA
Dear KAA
1. How does Visser Three swim in the Yeerk Pool? He has to regenerate every three days !? How does he enter the Yeerk pool? When the Yeerk is in the pool, wont Alloran slice and dice everyone? How does the Yeerk enter alloran?
Your #1 fan,
Steve (age 8)Hi, Steve:
How's he swim? Backstroke. Ah hah hah hah. Okay, he swims in Yeerk form. When he drains out of his host body's (Alloran) ear, Hork-Bajir guards keep Alloran under heavy guard and restraint.
--KAA
Hi K.A.
I just wanted to tell you how much I love to read your books. I have all of them except for the Hork-Bajir Chronicles. I guess that my favorite character is Jake, because we have the same name. Well here are my questions:
1) How many books will be in the series?
2) When will the Andalites come to Earth?
3) Why did David turn against the Animorphs (20,21,22)?
Jake H.Hi, Jake:
1) Nine thousand and four. Or maybe possibly fewer. Actually, the total number of books I have either done, or am currently contracted to do is . . . drum roll . . . 65. That's a total of 11 Chronicles/Megas and 54 regular books. I think. It's hard for me to remember.
2) Actually they came last week, landed in Washington D.C., took a look around and decided to let the Yeerks have us.
3) Because he was a weak, rotten human being. You get those sometimes.
--KAA
dear K.A. Applegate,
I love your books. I don't know what else to say. here are my questions:
1. what made you decide on letting Visser 1. to see Marco in his human form in book #15? that must have been terribly hard on Marco's mom.
2. will Ax ever find out that Tobias is his nephew? when?
3. How do you make the Animorphs act like real kids of their age? most authors never succeed at this.
a very loyal and satisfied fan
Jarys MHi, Jarys:
1) There are two answers. The first is technical: I was in Marco's POV (Point of View) so if I was going to show his mom to you, the reader, I had to do it using Marco. But second, and more important, I just thought it would be a good scene.
2) It's already happened.
3) Here I go with an answer that's going to be too long: I don't write kids the way kids actually sound in real life. I try and write characters who sound like kids sound in their own imaginations and memories. It doesn't matter if you're talking about adults or kids, people don't really sound the way they think they do. If you and I had a conversation, and then someone asked us to write down what we'd said, we'd write down something very different from what we actually said. We'd leave out all the "uh's" and "ums" and the trailing sentences, and the bad grammar and so on. We'd write down what we meant to say, what we wanted to sound like, not what we actually said. So when I write the characters I try and make them sound like those characters would like to sound. What they mean to say, not what they really say. And in terms of making the result sound appropriate for kids I have a very simple secret: I never try to make them sound like kids. I try and make them sound smart and capable and decent and funny. I may throw in age-appropriate cultural references, but I never, ever write "down." I never think "Oh, this is a kid named Jake talking." I just think "It's Jake."
--KAA
Hi. I LOVE your books but right now I need to make an excuse for why I don't have 26. It's a pretty good excuse. The books stores here get the book shipments by airplane and the weather is to bad for flights. Alright. Here's my questions
1) If hair is composed of cells and the cells are DNA then why doesn't all of their hair replace itself when the morph? The cut off arm comes back.
2) That brings up something else. In The Android Erik reattaches Ax's arm. Why? It should grow back with morphing.
3) While we on this subject why didn't Tobias' injuries get fixed in MM2? It worked for the others.
Thanks, bye!
Teremala-Espena-TexreHi, Teremala:
Well, you have penetrated to the heart of my continuing confusion on this matter. When I first put together the Series "Bible" for Animorphs I had a set of "morphing rules." Unfortunately, this whole issue was something I never had clear in my mind. And for some reason I have formed an absolute mental block about it, so that I can never remember what I've decided to do. In other words, it doesn't always make sense because I started out confused and just got confuseder. The moral is: when you do your Series Bible, work out ALL the questions.
--KAA
Dear KAA ,
I have read all of your books except the Hork-Bajir Chronicles. I was wondering, are any of the books based on true stories? I mean, I know that kids cannot really morph, and that there isn't really and alien invasion, but are any of the characters based on real people? If they are, are any of the experiences in the books based on true happenings? Thanks for listening to my questions.
K.C.Hi, K.C.: I'm sitting here trying to think whether I've ever used a real experience in any of the books. I mean, aside from my own encounter with aliens, where they took me up into their space ship, performed bizarre medical experiments on me, and then billed my health insurance company. (Kidding.) To be serious I just can't think of a particular scene or character I've lifted from real life. Wow. I guess my real life is awfully boring.
--KAA
hi k.a.!
this is my second time e-mailing you and the first time you didn't respond-that was a looooong time ago!-so pleeeeeease answer to this e-mail!!!!! on the Animorphs website, I saw this question-or something like it: will the Animorphs ever know that elfangor is Tobias' father, and that ax is his uncle?-ax? an uncle? weird!. you answered this question by saying that they just knew. that answer stinks-no offense. I think you should write a book about when they find out. here are my two q's:
#1: who in the world was that crazy woman whom which Rachel met in meg#1? why don't you get back to her in another book?
#2: I can't think of another one.
hey! I'm in the middle of writing a looong book called konak-i'm in the 5th grade! why don't you read it when it comes out? I hope it's not much of a copycat from Animorphs!
Bye! Thanx for answering my question if you do!
--Braiyken=)Hi, Braiyken:
Maybe you're right and I should have made a bigger thing out of Ax and Tobias learning of their relationship. Don't know why I didn't, it just didn't occur to me. The crazy woman in the woods was actually me as I am before my morning coffee.
--KAA
Dear KA,
I just want to know a couple of things:-
1) what are the ALTERNAMORPHS books?
2) If they in book whatever acquired the anteaters and so they were giant when they morphed them compared to there size wouldn't they still be able to morph them and they would be really really big anteaters they could just stand on Visser 3 and the Yeerk pool and it would be bye bye invasion I hope you reply to this letter that would be really cool
thanx
MeHi, Me:
1) This is an Animorphs branching book. You know, an interactive deal. If you guys like it there may be more books down the road.
2) You know what? The whole size thing drove me crazy in that book and I'm just not going to get into it again. I mean, I was sitting there with a calculator the whole time.
--KAA
Dear K.A.,
I'm reading the second Megamorph and I was wondering why Jake, Cassie, and Marco didn't acquired the t-rex? My second question is Elfangor really Tobias's father, because I saw a thing on the internet about that.
MAGICDRAGONHi, Magic:
1) I remembered that they did, didn't they? It was Rachel and Tobias who acquired the Deinonychus instead.
2) Yep.
--KAA
Hi,
In book 4 I noticed that you named the dolphins after the cast of Friends, Why?Seemed like a good idea at the time. Plus, I like the show.
--KAA
Dear KAA,
I really enjoy your books, they are perfect for my busy schedule. I have two questions I've been asking for a while.
1) How thorough of an outline do you write for each book?
2) Could the Animorphs morph aqua shoes since they are VERY tight around the feet?
I remember you wondering how the Animorphs could morph bacteria. Well, if they ever wanted to, they could always press their fingers in agar in a petri dish. Within a couple days, colonies would form that they could touch. Yuck.
Thanks for your time,
EmilyHi, Emily:
You say you have a busy schedule and yet you found the time to consider the Truly Important Issue of morphing bacteria. Hmmm.
1) Basically, I dislike outlines. I think they limit you. However, my editor, the Recently-Promoted (and she deserves it) Tonya, likes to have some idea what's going on so that she can tell the art department what to put on the cover. So I produce an outline of sorts, which may be a half page long, or may be five pages long. These outlines frequently include phrases like, "And then I'll figure out what the heck I'm talking about," or, "Or some such thing," or, "Hopefully it won't be incoherent gibberish." I let her know what morph should go on the cover, and give her a basis for the cover copy.
2) Aqua shoes? What the heck are aqua shoes?
--KAA
Heyla, K.A.A.!
3 q's:
1) How can telepathic aliens like the Andalites communicate w/other aliens when they don't know the language? I mean, people think in words, and although I can understand how the Leerans can telepath to other people, I can't really understand how the Andalites do. One could compress concepts into a thought and fire them out, but it would be a little strange for other, non-telepathic races to understand, I think. And why is it that one never hears of slight emotions or images coming along w/the thought? Since it comes from the brain, there should (in my opinion) be things other than words in a thought...
2) How come, in the Andalite Chronicles, when Elfangor, Loren, and Visser Three are almost sucked into space, their innards don't explode from the sudden decrease in pressure? Elfangor and Visser Three might have been able to handle it, but by all rights Loren should have exploded.
3)Does the morph clock start ticking when morphing is done or when morphing starts?
Thanx for answering!
*Autumnflame*Hi, Autumn:
1) Well, you bring up some good points. However, I believe you are not entirely correct when you claim that people think in words. It may be that people think first in images and only later, as a second phase, translate those images into words. This fact, the fact that images may precede words, helps Andalites understand the thought-speak of many races.
2) I think it would depend on the rapidity and the degree of decompression.
3) Hmm. You have a very scientific mind. I don't know the answer. I suppose from the initiation of the morphing. In any event there has always been some room for individual variation, a little fudge room.
--KAA
Dear K.A.,
I know you have a lot of letters but can you PLEASE answer these questions!
1) Jake's with Cassie and Rachel's with Tobias but who's Marco with? Ax? (just kidding!)
2)How did you think of using < and > for thought speaking?
3)Who is Michael?????
Thanks.
Your #1 fan
SaraHi, Sara:
1) Marco is currently dating Kristy from the Babysitter's Club.
2) It was a very careful scientific process that involved looking at my keyboard and going, #? @? &? }? Hey, about <!
3) Michael is currently dating Nancy Drew.
--KAA
Dear K.A.,
I love to read your books and there was one question that keeps bugging me. Since Visser Three (the Yeerk, that is) is in Alloran's head. But what if Visser Three morphs something small. Visser Three is not part of Alloran. Won't he be squashed to death? Please answer,
--Black LeaderHi, Leader:
Heck of a good question. You'll notice that Visser Three never morphs anything small. Maybe that's just a psychological thing with him, you know, overcompensating for some insecurity. Or maybe it's the problem you bring up.
--KAAAccording to K.A. Applegate
1999 - [ Jan, Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec ]
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