Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was born in Anderson, Indiana on January 4th, lived in Muncie, and spent her teenage years in Joliet, Illinois. When she was sixteen years old, she had a story published in a church magazine, and has been writing ever since.

The hardest part of being a writer is focusing only on the book she is currently writing, says Naylor. Every day she comes up with new ideas and characters. Ms. Naylor jots down the title of the new piece of work in a three-ring notebook and continues to build on the characters and plot. Many writers work on one story at a time but not Naylor—she has about ten of these notebooks going all the time. Maybe that is how Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has managed to write over 115 books, 2,000 stories and articles, and has received 10,337 (really!) rejection slips from publishers. Naylor's book Shiloh won the Newbery Award in 1992.

Ms. Naylor stays busy, walking three-miles every morning and swimming every afternoon and playing the piano.