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.
February 2000
Hi, KAA!
This is my 73rd time writing. Or else it's my second. I've lost count. Could you please answer these questions?
1.I know this sounds dumb, but since you can't tell the Animorphs last names, what about middle names? Do they even have middle names? If so, are we (the readers) allowed to know them?
2.Does Ax have any brothers or sisters besides Elfangor? I've been curious about this for a long time.
3. According to my cousin, the Animorphs are eventually going to win the war with the Yeerks, and battle some new crablike monsters that have the ability to morph, and mix morphs. I have no idea where he heard this, but is it true?
Lily.
P.S.I noticed a lot of people asked who Visser two is. Visser two is, in reality, Martha Stewart.Hi, Lilly:
1) Their middle names are all "Fred." An amazing coincidence.
2) No. Just the one brother. Their parents were going to have more kids but it was so frustrating figuring out how to diaper an Andalite.
3) I have no idea where he heard that either. Certainly not from me.
4) Don't taunt Martha Stewart. She has the power to enter your home undetected and cover everything you own with gold paint.
--KAA
Dear K.A. Applegate,
I have a suggestion for the Animorphs. Sign a treaty with the Yeerks and let them use the blue box and have them morph into any creature and let them stay in that morph for over two hours. The Yeerks' conquering missions would be useless and earth would be safe. PLEASE ANSWER ME SOON!!
Thank you,
AndrewHi, Andrew:
My friend, they could use you in Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia, Sudan, Chechnya and a few dozen other places. That's a good suggestion. Of course people don't always behave rationally and do what makes sense. But don't let that fact get you down.
--KAA
Dear Katherine,
I don' know how many times I have written to you, but I know that it is AT LEAST over 25 (Note the exaggeration on "at least".) I am begging you; I would be down on my knees if I was actually talking to you. Please answer my simple questions:
1) Does the Andalite home world have a name (like Earth or Mars) other than The Andalite Home World?
2) How long does it usually take you to write an Animorphs book?
3) You only want us to ask you three questions right? So, how come when someone asks you four questions, you answer it, and don't say anything about it! That's not fair! I'm sure that some people had more than three questions, but since they knew the limit was three, they probably only asked you three! Wow, that was a long question. -BamBamHi, BamBam:
1) Sadly, that planet's name is Dandruff, which is why most Andalites are content to call it "The Home World." In reality I imagine most species name their planets "Earth," or the equivalent. In other words, they start off only knowing about one planet which they basically call "home" as opposed to naming it for a Roman god like Jupiter, Mars, Neptune or Venus. Never quite understood why Mr. Spock's folks decided to call their planet Vulcan (Roman god of fire and horseshoes).
2) About two weeks of actual writing, a week of fixing what I've written.
3) I'm just not much of a disciplinarian.
--KAA
Dear K.A.,
I have tried before many times to have you answer my questions, but too many kids are sending in letters each day. Will you please answer these questions?
1)If Cassie is such a good morpher then why doesn't she acquire many animals, so that when she "mixes" her morph she will turn into the ultimate fighting machine so she can kick Yeerk butt?
2)In book 37, why didn't Ax acquire the Garatron after Marco injected venom into its leg?
3)Isn't it time for a second Alternamorphs?
Please answer these questions. I am wondering about them alot.
-Nathan W.Hi, Nathan:
1) Well, you're assuming that melding animals would create something superior. Ain't necessarily so. Evolution is the process of adaptation. Each species is adapted to survive within a particular environment, a particular niche. The process takes a long time, billions of years (which is even longer than the wait for new episodes of South Park) and you can't just come along and play mix and match, plugging Legos into Lincoln Logs and expect to come up with something that works. How do you join up the intestinal tracts of a polar bear and a shark, for example? (Very carefully.) And if you could meld bear and shark where would they live? What would they eat? Who would they eat? Wouldn't the other animals laugh at them?
2) I don't know, I guess he didn't think of it.
3) Yep.
--KAA
Hey you!
Yeah, you! I've been trying to get some questions asked, so will you answer these?
1) We've met Visser 1, 3, 4 and I heard we'll soon meet Visser 2. So how about Visser Five?
2)Couldn't the Animorphs give Toby Hamee the morphing power?
3)For like the millionth time...What are the Animorphs ages?!?!
Sign,
Visser 6 (Joe W)Hi, Joe:
1) Visser Five has left the Yeerk military and joined a commune in Vermont where he participates in making a decent if not spectacular goat cheese for sale to tourists. He has dropped his Yeerk name and prefers to be known as Brother Lumiere.
2) Yes, they could. And that's a cool idea. Hmmm. I should have thought of that.
3) They are exactly the age you think they are. Only more mature.
--KAA
Dear K.A.,
I'm Beth and if I know good books yours are by far THE BEST ever!! My questions are:
1. Will the Animorphs ever win, or will the Yeerks beat them?
2. Will Ax ever get home?
3. Why did you make the Yeerks little slug things? Why didn't you make them huge monsters like some of the others? I mean after all they are the enemies.
Your top fan,
BethHi, Beth:
1) Yes.
2) Home. It's a fascinating concept, really, not just a place, or even necessarily a place, unless you mean a place in the heart as opposed to a physical place, though it can certainly be both a real place and a metaphorical place, by which I certainly don't mean to imply a duality that divides the so-called "real" from the so-called "metaphorical" or imagined or invented. Now, where was I?
3) Okay, I have a serious answer for this. What interests me more than external threats are those threats which subvert, and which turn you against yourself. Sometimes the bad guys of the world come at you guns blazing. Sometimes they come at you wearing a mask, hiding their intentions, deceiving and manipulating, turning one person against another without giving you a fair chance to fight back. Life would be easier all around if evil people would simply announce that they are evil so we could all reject them. But in many cases evil creeps in, hiding behind politics, philosophy, patriotism, law, religion, science, art. Sometimes evil can be very plausible, logical. That's why I've gradually fleshed out the history of the Yeerks. I've given them a rationale. They've presented themselves as parasites who after all, have a right to be parasites, just as we have a right to be predators. And they can argue that in most cases all they've done is take advantage of pre-existing human weaknesses. I've tried to put readers into the heads of Yeerks, in #19, in THE HORK-BAJIR CHRONICLES and even more in VISSER. I hope that readers will, on occasion, find themselves thinking, "You know what, the Yeerks are making sense. They kind of have a point." Not that I am trying to preach, but the odds are that the evils you'll encounter in your lifetime will be of a type that will make you think, "You know what, those guys kind of have a point." It's easy to figure out right and wrong when it's clear as black and white. But what you'll need to be able to do is figure out right and wrong even when the bad guys "kind of have a point."
--KAAAccording to K.A. Applegate
2000 - [ Jan, Feb, March-June, July-Sept ]
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