In her novel Feather on the Moon (Fawcett Crest, 1989), Whitney parodied Victoria's view of itself as an English enclave. "My own springboard, from which I take off in the beginning, is usually a new setting. I have a strong feeling toward places," she said in 1976. The A. in Phyllis A. Whitney stands for Ayame because she was born in Yokohama of missionary parents. In Japanese the word ayame means Iris. She grew up in Japan, China, and the Philippines. Upon her father's death, she came to the U.S. with her mother at age 15, attending school in Texas and California before graduating from high school in Chicago. In 1924 she married George A. Garner but they divorced in 1945. They had one daughter. She published her first novel, A Place for Ann, in 1941. Two years later she published her first book for adult readers, Red is for Murder. In the 1940s, Whitney was a children's book editor for the Chicago Sun and the Philadelphia Enquirer. She also taught fiction writing for children in Illinois and New York. In 1950 she married Lovell F. Jahnke, who died in 1973. She published for more than half a century. At age 87, she ascended in a hot air balloon as research for her novel The Singing Stones. Her 76th book appeared in 1997.

Selected Titles:

A PLACE FOR ANN, 1941
A STAR FOR GINNY, 1942
A WINDOW FOR JULIE, 1943
RED IS FOR MURDER, 1943
THE SILVER INKWELL, 1945
WRITING JUVENILE FICTION, 1947
EVEN AFTER, 1948
MYSTERY OF THE GULLS, 1949
LINDA'S HOMECOMING, 1950
THE ISLAND OF THE DARK WOODS, 1951
LOVE ME, LOVE ME NOT, 1952
STEP TO MUSIC, 1953
MYSTERY OF THE BLACK DIAMONDS, 1954
A LONG TIME COMING, 1954
MYSTERY ON THE ISLE OF SKYE, 1955
THE QUICKSILVER POOL, 1955
THE TREMBLING HILLS, 1956
THE FIRE AND THE GOLD, 1956
THE HIGHEST DREAM, 1956
THE MYSTERY OF GREEN CAT, 1957
SKYE CAMERON, 1957
SECTER OF THE SAMURAI SWORD, 1958
THE MOONFLOWER, 1958
CREOLE HOLIDAY, 1959
MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED POOL, 1960
THINDER HEIGHTS, 1960 - Camilla
SECRET OF THE TIGERS EYE, 1961
BLUE FIRE, 1961
MYSTERY OF THE GOLDEN HORN, 1962
WINDOW ON THE SQUARE, 1962
SEVEN TEARS FOR APOLLO, 1963
MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN HAND, 1963
SECRET OF THE EMERALD STAR, 1964
BLACK AMBER, 1964
THE SEA JADE, 1965
MYSTERY OF THE ANGRY IDOL, 1965
COLUMBELLA, 1966
SIVERHILL, 1967
SECRET OF THE SPOTTED SHELL, 1967
SECRET OF GOBLIN GLEN, 1968
HUNTER'S GREEN, 1968
THE WINTER PEOPLE, 1969
THE MYSTERY OF THE CRIMSON GHOST, 1969
SECRET OF THE MISSING FOOTPRINT, 1969
LOST ISLAND, 1970
THE VANISHING SCARECROW, 1971
NOBODY LIKES TRINA, 1972
LISTEN FOR THE WHISPER, 1972
SNOWFIRE, 1973
MYSTERY OF THE SCOWLING BOY, 1973
THE TURQUOISE MASK, 1974
SPINDRIFT, 1975
SECRET OF HAUNTED MESA, 1975
THE GOLDEN UNICORN, 1976
WRITING JUVENILE STORIES AND NOVELS: HOW TO WRITE AND SELL FICTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, 1976
SECRET OF THE STONE FACE, 1977
THE STONE BULL, 1977
THE GLASS FLAME, 1978
DOMINO, 1979
POINCIANA, 1980
VERMILION, 1981
GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION, 1982
EMERALD, 1983
RAINSONG, 1984
GUIDE TO FICTION WRITING, 1984
DREAM OF ORCHIDS, 1985
THE FLAMING TREE, 1986
SILVERSWORD, 1987
WRITING TO WIN: WINNING ESSAYS SUBMITTED TO THE PHYLLIS A. WHITNEY WRITING CONTEST, 1983-1987, 1988
FEATHER ON THE MOON, 1988
RAINBOW IN THE MIST, 1989
THE SINGING STONES, 1990
A MYSTERY OF THE GOLDEN HORN, 1990
WOMAN WITHOUT A PAST, 1991
EBONY SWAN, 1992
STAR FLIGHT, 1993
DAUGHTER OF THE STARS, 1994
AMETHYST DREAMS, 1997

[BCBW 2003] "Romance"