Candace McFly: Undercover Spy Case #1 The Botched Beauty Pageant follows a sharp, puzzle-loving third grader who enters the town’s beauty pageant despite her fears to help her friends and solve a mystery. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

When I was a Writing Lab teacher about 4 years ago, I was beginning a fun Mystery Writing unit for my 3rd graders to start after just completing our state testing that spring. I was randomly brainstorming possible story ideas modeling what my students would soon be doing. Since I had a small background in pageants when I was in high school, I thought this would be a fun topic to write about. Originally, it was going to be a spoof on pageants, but it turned into something totally different.

As we got further into our unit, I developed a character sketch on my two main characters- Candace and Arnold- before I even began writing the story. My students loved them right off the bat, saying they felt they’d be friends with Candace and Arnold if they were real kids! As I wrote the first two chapters, modeling how to incorporate various writing strategies, the students LOVED the storyline and proposed a challenge to me; to turn these ideas into a book. Having always wanted to write a book but thinking it wouldn’t happen until retirement and readily accepting a challenge because I constantly asked them to take risks as writers, I accepted! I wrote the entire summer and into September, submitted to a few publishers, and the rest is history! I loved the characters of Candace and Arnold; their personalities work well together, making for an entertaining duo.

What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?

That makes me so happy that you loved Candace and Arnold! I love them, too, and enjoyed writing for both equally, but in different ways. Since Candace was telling the story through her eyes, she wasn’t that difficult to write for. She helped guide me through the storyline. However, the challenge with her was to show what a strong, smart girl she is, but not come across as a know-it-all. I wanted her to be likeable and relatable, yet vulnerable and humble at the same time. As a teacher, I see a lot of personalities come through my classroom. My goal with Candace was to show what a true friend is like and make her a role model to young girls who read this book (and future books to come), and that there’s nothing wrong with being smart or having fears. Be comfortable in your own skin.

And then there’s Arnold… I knew I wanted to have a partnership where one of the characters is quirky and fun. One that people will roll their eyes at from his outlandish ideas and actions. But also, a character who rises from vulnerability and being in the shadows, to one exhibiting leadership and caring about others. Most of the time, I’d be giggling writing Arnold’s parts, or they’d bring me to tears. Arnold is a hybrid of all the quirky boys I’ve taught throughout my past 30 years and sprinkled with my imagination.

How did the mystery develop for this story? Did you plan it before writing, or did it develop organically?

As I mentioned earlier, this idea originally came from a lesson in my Writing Lab. While modeling the writing process for my students, I did indeed create a skeletal plan (a story map) of how I envisioned the story developing. But as I completed writing the first few chapters and introducing new characters, the story morphed in a totally different direction than I ever imagined.

I once read how Michael Connelly, one of my favorite mystery writers, has an initial idea for the big idea of his novel, but he then lets the story take him where it’s supposed to go, and he won’t know what that is until he gets there. I feel that’s how I am as a writer as well. I had an initial plan, but certain events I created caused a chain reaction or led to another event I never saw coming. In fact, even as I got toward the end of writing The Botched Beauty Pageant, I had no clue as to how it would end. I didn’t want to make it too obvious with the clues I’d been leaving thus far, so I had to get creative. My initial plan was nowhere near where I landed in this Live Oak journey.

Can you tell us more about what’s in store for Candace McFly and the direction of the second book?

I would be delighted to! Actually, I’ve already written the next installment in the Candace McFly, Undercover Spy series: https://a.co/d/8npwOny (Case No. 2 The Phantom of Live Oak). Candace, Arnold, and all of their Live Oak friends are back with even more adventure and crazy shenanigans, with a touch of a kid-friendly ghost story.

Currently, I am working on Case No. 3, which isn’t titled yet- I don’t create the titles until I’ve finished writing the entire book- but it is a treasure-hunt themed adventure.

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