Posted in Ask Andi

I guess that post about my rattlesnake's rattle got Bethany (Horse Girl) curious. She asked me "What's inside a rattlesnake's rattle?" You know what? I always wondered that, too. So I did some snooping around, looking for answers, and here's what I came up with. Hope it helps.

A rattlesnake baby is born with a little "pre-button" at the end of its tail. Then, when the snake sheds its skin (every few months), the old, dried-up skin gets caught on that button at the tip of its tail, and a segment stays behind. Each time the snake sheds, a new segment is added and the rattle gets longer and louder. The segments whacking against each other create the sound. You'd think you could tell how old the snake is by how many segments of old, dried-up skin are in the rattle, but sometimes they get brittle and drop off.
(Not that you'd WANT to know how old a rattlesnake is, anyway!)

Posted in Ask Andi

This one's for Emilie. She asked how I came up with Taffy's name. Here's the answer.

I love taffy candy. Sometimes on rainy, cold winter evenings, our whole family makes taffy. It is such sticky fun, and the yelps from burnt fingers when pulling candy that isn't quite cooled rings through the kitchen. Taffy is made mostly from sugar, corn syrup, and butter. Mother and Luisa cook it on top of the cook stove until it boils awhile. They then pour the hot, runny candy into a flat pan, where it cools for a little bit. Then the fun begins. We all butter our hands and start pulling the taffy into long ropes. Yikes! It's hot! After we pull and pull and pull it (I usually get tired and let my brothers finish up), it's cut into pieces and wrapped in little papers to eat another time. Which is fine by me. By the time we're done, my belly is so full of warm taffy that I usually feel sick.
(This is real taffy candy)

I remember making taffy from the time I was little--before I had my own horse. Whenever we made taffy, I would tell my mother that I wanted a horse the color of this lovely, creamy candy. If I got a horse I would name her Taffy. On my sixth birthday I got my wish! A horse of my own. She was a newborn foal and the color of taffy candy, so I named her Taffy. Now she's more golden than creamy, but her mane and tail are still like taffy.
She looks just like the color of taffy candy, doesn't she?

Posted in Ask Andi

Posted in Ask Andi

Posted in Ask Andi

My good friend Bethany in Ireland asked me what my "best" adventure was so far. I thought I'd answer this one here in the "Sneak Peeks" for Book 4.

It's really hard to say which adventure is my best one. Sometimes it doesn't look like things are going to turn out for me, but in the end God comes through and I figure out how to make what starts out as a bad thing turn out for the best.

So far, I think the adventure that is the best one (in that other people's lives are really changed for the better!) is my new adventure, which is told in the new book, Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers (well, they might change the title), coming out next fall. The thought of staying in San Francisco for any length of time makes me all squirmy inside, but I do as my mother asked and go to the City anyway.

I meet 2 new friends--one is a little Chinese slave girl! Little did I know what kind of trouble and danger we encounter because of Lin Mei. I won't share anymore right now. But here is a picture of Lin Mei. Isn't she adorable? I had no idea there were still slaves in the United States in 1881!
Lin Mei looks a little sad, doesn't she? Well, you'd be sad too if you had to endure what she has to! I'll share more about my adventure in later posts. I hope this answers your question, Bethany.

If anybody has questions for me, just e-mail me or leave a comment with your question, and I'll try to answer them in a future post.