New Circle C Christmas Collection

Posted byAndi CarterPosted inJust for Fun

The books came! A few years ago, I put together a holiday “giveaway” Christmas book. Fans wanted to buy the book, but I could not sell it. So . . . fast forward to 2022. I created a new book with some brand-new stories and expanded it to 174 pages. This one I can sell. It’s part of the Fan Fun Extras Collection, but I am also offering it individually for Christmas at the same price as all the other Fan Fiction Extras ($10, free shipping and autographed/personalized).

Circle C Christmas Collection >>
International Fans (or anyone else)

The Circle C Christmas Collection is available on Amazon (unlike other books in the Fan Fun Extras), so that means international fans can enjoy it too. The collection is available in Print and Kindle formats.

Buy on Amazon >>

I found an old picture of Jessica (cover model for Adventures and Milestones) when she was eleven years old. I think it fits perfectly with these Christmas stories.

Stories in the Circle C Christmas Collection

  • Andi’s Christmas Good-bye (1876, age 8) When Andi learns that her best friend, Riley, is leaving the ranch, she sets out to give him a special Christmas gift.
  • Andi’s Christmas Blizzard (1877, age 9) Andi is old enough to join her brothers on the annual tree cutting adventure. Snow is great fun, until something goes wrong.
  • Andi’s Interrupted Christmas (1878, age 10) Andi is chosen to portray Mary in the Christmas pageant. Then something happens to interrupt Christmas.
  • Andi’s Christmas Ball (1879, age 11) Instead of riding Taffy, Andi finds herself as a last-minute dancing partner for the governor’s eleven-year-old son. What could possibly go wrong?
  • Andi’s Icy Christmas (1880, age 12) *brand new* A special Christmas at a remote hunting lodge in the eastern Sierra brings joy and sorrow. Can Andi endure the hardships? This story is a “novella,” about 14,000 words long!
  • Andi’s New Year’s Gala (1882, age 14) *bonus story* During a family visit to Aunt Rebecca’s, Andi’s eyes are opened to the strange and sometimes silly customs of a San Francisco New Year’s celebration.

Excerpt from “Andi’s Icy Christmas”

THE CARTER HUNTING LODGE ON THE SLOPES OF THE EASTERN SIERRA NEVADA

*********

By the time Andi led Rosa deeper into the forest, her breath came in gasps. The early afternoon sun might not be warm enough to melt the snow, but Andi was melting from the inside out. Tramping through knee-deep or higher snow was no easy task. Sometimes, a wrong step plunged her and Rosa up to their hips in an extra-deep drift.

Andi yanked Rosa up from another misstep and fell laughing backward into the white fluff. She took advantage of her position and moved her arms back and forth, creating a lovely snow angel.

Never had she had so much fun! Snow was certainly God’s gift to children. Andi could not get enough of it, even when her fingers and toes tingled from the cold.

Rosa peeked behind her shoulder. “I hope we have not come too far.” A worried tone filled her voice.

“Even if we have, look.” Andi pointed to the path their feet had made. “Nobody could miss that trail. We’ll find our way back. No te preocupes.” Then she stood still. “Listen. Do you hear that?” In the snowy silence, Andi recognized the sound of running water. Justin had mentioned a lake and ice fishing. Where there was a lake, one often found a stream.

“Water?” Rosa wrinkled her eyebrows. “Would it not be frozen solid in this cold?”

“I don’t know.” Andi shrugged. “Let’s go see.” It didn’t take long before Andi and Rosa stood on the snowy bank of a wide creek. A layer of ice covered most of it, but here and there, running water kept the deeper parts of the stream ice-free. “Qué bonito,” Rosa admired.

The partly frozen creek was pretty. Evergreen branches hung over the banks, catching most of the snow, so it wasn’t quite as deep here. This made for easier walking.

“Look!” Andi squatted next to a set of animal tracks. “I bet this one’s a rabbit.” She’d seen her share of rabbit tracks in the dust back on the ranch, and their prints looked the same in the snow. “Let’s follow the tracks. It will be an adventure.”

“What about these?” Rosa asked, taking the lead.

Andi stood up and joined her friend. “They look like coyote tracks. Maybe it’s a fox, like that trapper lady brought to the general store.” Andi and Rosa made a game of finding tracks and trying to identify the animals that had made the prints.

“Deer, maybe,” Andi decided a few minutes later when she discovered a new set of tracks. These looked like the prints the Circle C cattle made in the dirt but were much smaller.

Farther down the creek bank, Andi couldn’t begin to guess the owners of these other tracks. Beaver maybe, or raccoons? “This is fun!”

Rosa sighed. “Too bad we cannot scoop up the snow and take the tracks back to the lodge.”

Andi stopped short. “I have a better idea. Tomorrow, we’ll come back. I’ll bring paper and pencil and we can draw the tracks. Then we’ll see if the boys and Melinda can guess the animals that made them.”

“Qué gran idea,” Rosa agreed. Then her dark eyes turned worried. “Do you suppose we will find bear tracks?”

Andi laughed. “Bears hibernate.”

“Hi-ber-nate? What is this word?”

“It means the bears curl up in their dens all winter and rarely come out. So, I don’t think we’ll come across any bear tracks, thank goodness.”

The girls continued downstream, but the animal tracks became more difficult to make out. Andi kept walking but looked up to check the time. “The sun goes down early this time of year, especially in the mountains. We’d better go back before somebody comes looking for us. We’ll be in big trouble if they—”

Snap! Clang!

Pain as sharp as a knife gripped Andi’s left ankle and did not let go. She gasped and collapsed to the ground in agony, stifling a scream.

*************

THE EASTERN SIERRA NEVADA SETTING FOR ANDI’S ICY CHRISTMAS

Questions about this collection? Ask away!

Published by Andi Carter

I'm the author of the Circle C and Goldtown Adventures series. I blog as "Andi Carter," the main character in the Circle C series. She lives on a huge cattle ranch in 1880s California. These are her adventures.

44 thoughts on “New Circle C Christmas Collection”

  3. Ow! That cliffhanger! 😓Now I really want to get the book! 😀
    Are “Andi’s Icy Christmas” and “Andi’s New Year’s Gala” the only stories in the book that haven’t been on your blog or in previous books?

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      5. Yeah, well, I haven’t been ice skating yet either, Mrs. M. I’ve done roller skating, though. 🙂

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      2. It’s amazing how some kids can look 18 at age 12 and others look age 12 at 18. Such diversity. My daughter made sure she had some kind of ring when she was pg with her first baby at age 22 because she honestly looked 15.

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      3. Relatable
        Most people think I’m like 13-14, but I was recently mistaken for a ten-year-old. I am 16.

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      1. Katelyn@
        I’m from Oregon to!!
        My family just moved to Oklahoma this year. I lived in Oregon my whole life before we moved. I have been to Washington soo many time but I have never seen that type of rock.🤔 I’m gonna say Jessica was 18. And it was taken after the Christmas cover was taken. Am I right?

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    1. @Ellie B I can’t believe it was a jellyfish i’ve seen them so many times🤦🏻‍♀️😳 and I’ve always thought Oklahoma was really nice

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  15. @Katelyn K
    I have seen jelly fish but nothing like!! I thought it was a rock lol😹
    What part of Oregon do u live in?
    We lived 45 mins from Portland and ten mins from Multnomah falls! And Oklahoma is pretty nice!

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