Phyllis has been with the Bookrapt since it's first meeting in 1983 (as the Bay of Plenty Children's Literature Association), where she was elected President, a role she held until 1996. Born into a large family of readers and oral story tellers, she wrote down many of their pioneer stories when she started writing nearly three decades ago.

Phyllis teaches creative writing for adult continuing education at night school, and is a member of Writers in Schools run by the NZ Book Council, In the last 20 years she has visited over 220 schools around the country. Her books are written mainly for children and young adults.

In 1998 she received an award for distinguished services to New Zealand children's literature, now known as The Betty Gilderdale Award, and she is a life member of Bookrapt

Phyllis's stories draw on her own memories. My Marine (2001), for example, was inspired by the events of World War II. As a child of the time, the Japanese invasion was a real, unfolding event. With two older brothers overseas and aging parents, Phyllis's family had no idea what would happen to them, and waited daily for the invasion. They listened on a static-ridden radio as Darwin was bombed, and rumours, which turned out to be true, of Japanese submarines on New Zealand coasts began to circulate. Then the United States marines came, turning the tide of the war in the Pacific and offering protection.

In My Marine, set in New Zealand during World War Two, a young girl is desperate to have an American marine of her own, just like her big sister Mary. But eight is way too young to go jitterbugging at the Saturday night dance. Just when it looks like she'll never get her own marine, her mother comes to the rescue with a surprising twist to the family history. Includes factual information about United States marines in New Zealand during World War Two.

In The Fugitive Soldier Phyllis tells the story of James, a fifteen year old brought up on his parents’ farm. He left school at fourteen and is working full time on the farm in 1917. He has a bad relationship with his father – or is he really his father? There is mystery surrounding this relationship and its working out is an essential part of the story. James’ response to his unhappiness and the continual verbal abuse from his father is to devise a plan to escape. He joins the army almost by accident. The story relates his experiences in the training camps and finally in the trenches in Belgium.

No Lily-livered Girl draws it's inspiration from the War, although it is set in World War I, not II. It tells the story of four years in the life of May Tarrant who in 1912, at fourteen, is apprenticed to a dressmaker in Hamilton. Three years later, during World War I, she makes the decision to return with her parents to their King Country farm.

Phyllis's latest novel, Dead Dan's Dee, tells the story of Dee, who is proud to be the daughter of a brave soldier father who died fighting in the war. After the Great War, Dee lives at the beach along with her mother and aunt. It’s a paradise for Dee, with the sun, the sea and the sky, but little by little her seaside haven disintegrates. Her mother and aunt become very ill, leaving Dee abandoned. However, soldier Joe has never forgotten his promise to his army mate, Dan, Dee’s dead father. He and Essie take Dee north into half- broken bush country. Roaming the countryside, doing farm work, and making friends, Dee is almost happy again, but shadows hang over her life in Mamaku. Joe and Essie can’t afford high school for her, and all the kids seem to know something Dee doesn’t - something about her soldier father Dan. Told with subtlety and charm, this is a poignant, bighearted story - of honour, courage and the aftermath of war.