Lois Gladys Leppard's books were mini mystery's and she always solved them, except for one. The Mandie and Joe Is It Going to Happen or NOT issue. Throughout the books, Mandie and her good friend Joe are depicted as liking each other, Joe a little more so than Mandie. In fact, I think Joe even tells her he loves her! He's constantly proposing to her... but she never truly gives him a definite "yes." It's always, "well, maybe, I dunno's, some day" with her.
In the last book written, Ms. Leppard introduced two new guys who also liked Mandie and she hinted that Mandie might just like them back. Well, to the faithful readers of the Mandie Series this was distressing!!! Why read 40+ books just to have Joe end up NOT marrying Mandie?!?!?! It's so sad and disappointing and then the author died and left the mystery out there unsolved. Does she marry him?
A good friend and fellow reader of mine have taken up the story and are attempting to bring the series to a good close. We're going to answer all the questions... and so far I think we have a pretty good book. It sticks to all the Mandie facts and it doesn't bring in the two new guys (we married one off and killed the other... harsh for the latter, but we needed him out of the way xD SORRY DUDE). Our book has a mystery :D and I really do think it'll come as a surprise no matter how much you think you've got it figured out... okay maybe a really good mystery solver could get. A new feature we've added is history. We're turning it into a more historical fiction where Mandie and her child hood friends go to New York City to witness the first Ball Drop of the New Years. Then, a few days later, they travel a new tunnel of the sub way!
Something else we did was take the girls out of college. All of the friends are now in their early twenties. Oh, and we do introduce a new character. She has beautiful features and a great personality.
I'm hoping our book goes really well. We're enjoying writing it and I'm wanting to be able to share it to you too. For those of you who are interested, the series is specifically called, The Mandie Series by Lois Gladys Leppard. The age range is for 6th to 8th graders, but I still loved it. Joe made it worth while and so did Jonathan. The books are small, pocket sized but very entertaining. They take place in the early 1900's, mostly around North and South Carolina. They do, however, travel across Europe, and go to New York and Washington D.C. in the books. Mandie is 1/4 the Cherokee and she's got Native American family.
Stay tuned! We'll be sharing our first draft soon, hopefully :D
Miss Lois Gladys Leppard, Rest In Peace.
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