Ask Mrs. M Part 3

Posted byAndi CarterPosted inAuthor Interviews, Author Trivia

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Here are two questions (with very long answers) that you might have asked yourself in the past or maybe are thinking of asking. If you have more questions, present them in the comments and I’ll collate an Ask Mrs. M Part 4 sometime. Keep those questions coming!

  1. Why did Riley leave the series at the end of the Circle C Beginnings? He could have been a great friend for Andi throughout the Stepping Stones and the Adventures.
    • This is a great question, and I agree wholeheartedly. In a different reality, if I had written the series in order, this is exactly what I would have done. But that is not the way it happened. The first book published was Andrea Carter and the Long Ride Home, so my writing and publishing journey began when my main character, Andi, was about twelve years old (classic middle-grade fiction). For this series, since Andi is somewhat of a tomboy, I wanted her good friend to be a boy so they could ride and fish and do more adventurous things than if Andi’s best friend was say . . . Rachel at school (although Andi does consider Rosa to be her best ranching friend). But Rosa is quiet and not as adventurous either. Come to think of it, I wonder how the series would have gone if Rosa was just as rambunctious as Andi, like Jenny Grant in two of the books. Well, I guess if that were the case, then there would have been no need to introduce Jenny at all. Anyway, I created Cory (my son Ryan was about the same age at the time, so I had a good model).
    • Fast forward a few years. Parents asked for books for their beginning readers. I knew it would be unrealistic for a young boy (Cory) to ride back and forth to the Circle C for adventures, so this meant I had to create another likeable boy character that lived close by. Why? So I could capture boy readers (younger boys don’t seem to care if a girl is the leading character, but a boy character is a good idea). So I created Riley. I had to think of a plausible reason for him to be living on the Circle C, but more importantly, I had to figure out how to get him OFF the ranch in time for the Circle C Adventures six years later (since there is no mention of Riley at all in those books). I had to do a lot of shuffling since I didn’t write any of the series in order.
    • Riley needed to live on the Circle C temporarily, and since many children were sent to live with relatives for many reasons (including serious illnesses), I plopped Riley down and had the foreman, Sid McCoy, become his uncle. I gave Riley’s mother a lingering illness (which I finally identified just recently as consumption, i.e. tuberculosis), which required months and sometimes years to recover from. I made his father an army captain, so that made it difficult for his pa to care for his son, setting up the Circle C as a surrogate home for Riley. I even had his mother come for a visit in Andi’s Circle C Christmas, and I had originally intended (if I added any more books to the Beginning series) to have Mama stay a couple of months on the ranch. That never materialized.
    • When I wrote the Milestones books, I realized that it might work to bring Riley back, which I did. I knew by then that Cory and Andi would not be getting together permanently (see the next question), and this would be a way to bring the character of Riley full circle so he could become a main character once again, thus connecting all four series.
    • I could have continued to highlight Riley in the “gap” series, the Circle C Stepping Stones, but something I did in The Last Ride made that idea impossible. I made it quite clear that Andi barely remembered her childhood friend, Riley, when he returned, which added to the tension and it worked well. However, if Riley had been a part of Andi’s life in the Stepping Stones (she is 9, Riley would have been 11), there is no way she would have forgotten him by the time she is turning 16 years old. So, Riley had to leave somewhere between the Beginnings series and the Stepping Stones series. In Andi Saddles Up, I mentioned Riley (to keep things consistent) by having Andi miss him a lot and by mentioning the fact that he has been gone six months when the first book opens on Andi’s ninth birthday. I know it’s a bit of a stretch to think that Andi wouldn’t remember everything they did together, even if she was only eight and a half when he left, but I do have many things “come back” to her as they renew their relationship. But it’s the best I could do to keep things consistent in the Circle C universe. In the short story, “Andi’s Christmas Good-bye,” I set the exact date when Riley left the ranch and why. He is almost eleven, and Andi was eight and a half. The fact that she gives him a photograph (which he gives back to her on her 16th birthday) and that he is eleven makes it very believable why he would never forget her.
  2. Why didn’t Andi and Cory get married? I was really disappointed when I learned she was marrying Riley, a “new” character.
    • The funny thing is . . . when I first started the Circle C Adventures series, in the back of my mind (and probably in those first readers’ minds from fifteen years ago), I did have Andi and Cory eventually getting together and marrying. I give hints throughout the Adventures (especially in Trouble with Treasure and Price of Truth), and even the first book of the Milestones, Thick as Thieves, that Cory’s friendship is beginning to develop into something more serious. Nothing is ever spoken aloud, and since the books are from Andi’s point of view, she is–like usual–clueless about such things. But if I could have written a scene from Cory’s point of view, it would have been clear that he would like to see Andi as more than a friend. The culmination of Cory’s thoughts comes out in Courageous Love at Chad’s engagement party. I knew there was no way I could “ignore” Cory at this point. I had to deal with him and then get him out of the way emotionally for the reader, or I can guarantee there would be those who cried, “But what happened to Cory? We love Cory and wanted him and Andi to get married.” I’m sure it was quite a disappointment to some readers that Cory was not going to end up being with Andi. To me, I had to totally rethink the entire scenario! Thankfully, Cory has always been a fun boy, joking and loving life and not too serious about many things. I then wondered, since I (as the author) had created him to be just that way, would he really be a suitable match for a strong-willed character like Andi? I could see her “running the ranch” or running Cory’s life eventually. Not a good match at all. I couldn’t change Cory’s character traits to make him a little more steady, so enter . . . Riley Prescott. The perfect mix (like Andi muses in The Last Ride) of Chad and Justin.
    • So, Cory is regulated to Andi’s “past” childhood adventures and drops out of the series. But then I got a brainstorm and decided to bring Cory back for a grand finale, to let readers know that “all is well” with our blond, mischievous boy. I did so in the short story “Auld Lang Syne” in the new book Stranger in the Glade. I will not tell you how Cory’s life is resolved for the good, since that would be a super spoiler (not that most of you have guessed it already) but just the same, I won’t spoil it for any potential readers who haven’t dug it out already from somewhere on this blog.

I hope you enjoyed these long answers to two often-asked questions. If you have more questions (and they have not been answered in Parts 1 – 3), ask them in the comments.

Published by Andi Carter

I'm the main character in the Circle C Adventures series. I live on a huge cattle ranch in 1880s California. These are my adventures.

45 thoughts on “Ask Mrs. M Part 3”

  1. Great post! I loved reading the answers.

    One question I have is where did you get your inspiration for the three Carter brothers and their personalities? Like did you just think them up or were you influenced by people in your life who are like them, or from characters in books, movies, etc? I like how they’re all so different-it keeps the series interesting.😊
    And do you have a favorite Carter brother?😁 Mine is Chad-probably because he’s the most like me.🙃

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    1. The Big Valley was my inspiration for my series. I always thought it was a great show (1960s TV western) but I thought it could be improved by adding another, younger character, so I added “Andi.” My stories started out as Big Valley “fan fiction,” but when everybody told me I should get the stories published, I had to do a ton of changing things around to make them MY stories and not fan fiction any longer. My favorite CC character is Justin (just like my favorite character from the Big Valley is Jarrod Barkley). Chad is “Nick Barkley,” but since my son Chad is just like Nick from the show, it seemed fitting to name my fictional character after my oldest son, Chad. 🙂

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  2. She got most of her characters from the show The Big Valley and Here comes the Bride. Mrs. M has always said Chad was her favorite. Chad is also the name of Mrs. Marlow’s son.

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      1. I can see some similarities between Jason from “Here Come the Brides” and Justin Carter, but I don’t think the other two brothers are much like Chad and Mitch.

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    2. I only got my made-up character “Jenny Grant” from the Here Come the Brides series, and only the Seattle setting and the fact that the family are loggers. Everything else in the CCAdventures comes from ideas from The Big Valley.

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  3. I can see some similarities between Jason from “Here Come the Brides” and Justin Carter, but I don’t think the other brothers are really like Chad and Mitch.

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  4. I will say i was sad when I learned Cory and Andi would not get married, BUT I lovvvve Riley so much and Andi and Him are so perfect for eachother!
    (I will admit – I did shed a few tears during the seen where Cory tells Andi about his feeling etc.)

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  6. I had seriously thought at the beginning of the series that Andi would marry Cory! But I think I like Riley better, lol. 🙂

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  7. This is a great explanation and right on target. As neat as Cory is, his and Andi’s personalities just don’t match. I loved the way you handled it and the whole Riley situation!

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  9. Cool! A few questions:
    -Why did you have Andi give birth to twins? Wouldn’t that make the story seem slightly unreal with Taffy AND Andi both surviving giving birth to twins?
    -How did you come up with the story idea for Stranger in the Glade (the story in the book, not the book itself)
    -How did you come up with Andi’s favorite meal? (Fried chicken, biscuits, etc.)
    -Andi told her family she wanted a golden horse in Andi’s Pony Trouble. As soon as Taffy was born, she was given to Andi. Did the Carters know that Taffy would be a palomino (you can breed two specifically colored horses to purposefully get a palomino)? If they didn’t know, and Taffy had been, say, a sorrel, would they still have given her to Andi? Sorry that was a long question!

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  10. What fun questions and answers! It was neat to see how you came up with the ideas and how you planned everything out that way. I love the idea of a childhood friendship-turned romance, especially for Andi and Riley. It made their story so unique!

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  11. Thank you for doing these “ask the author” posts. They have been very fun to read. Here are my questions:
    1. Do you ever read back through your books, and if so, which is your favorite?
    2. What prompted you to start the fan fiction writing contests? What is it like to have others creating stories with your characters?
    3. What is the most difficult “element” of storycraft for you to weave into your writing?
    4. Do your primary characters tend to come to you as a “package deal,” or do you create them from scratch based on what you want/need their roles to be in the story? Or a mixture of both?
    5. Does your publisher have input in what your stories are about, or can you take them any direction you want?
    6. What is your favorite part of the writing process?
    7. Was there ever a scene that you really, really wanted to put in a book, but it just didn’t fit? (plot spoiler, wrong POV, etc.)
    Again, thank you!

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  12. This was very interesting. I enjoy seeing all these questions and their answers.
    How did you come up with Melinda and Kate’s personalities¿
    And how did you come up with Mother and her personality¿
    Also how did you come up with Riley and Cory’s personalities¿
    Thank you for answering all these questions.

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  16. Why Did you make Andi get a Golden horses? Why not a black?
    Why did you make Andi’s father die when she was so young?

    Thanks for doing these Mrs M!

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    1. And another one.
      A lot of people asked why you made Andi married Riley and not Cory. but I also thought that Andi would marry Cory but then I thought “why Did miss M Chose Riley and Not Jack”?
      Andi And Jack were Friends

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  20. Just wondering, Jenny is even more headstrong than Andi! Why is she and Cory marrying more of a better match? Also, why did you originally change your mind about Cory? I know you said about the personality, but that was after you decided you didn’t want them to get married. One more question! Riley seems to have drastically changed since he left the ranch, why couldn’t Cory? Couldn’t growing up mature him, like it did Riley?

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