Meet the Cast: Randy Carter
We Are Not Saints Series
Once again, I’m Jay Carson bringing you interviews with some of the cast of characters from the upcoming We Are Not Saints series of novels. In this session, I’ll be talking with Randy Carter, the youngest member of the cast but one of the four principal characters.
Jay Randy, I’m happy you could join us and share a little bit about yourself and your role in the series. Which of the novels does your character appear in?
Randy I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but I would up being the main character in the second novel of the series, The Acolyte. In fact, the whole book is really my story. As for the other books, I’m in line to make an appearance probably in the next two books, too. I’m pretty close to some of the other main characters, so I know you’ll see me again after this one.
Jay How old are you?
Randy When the book opens, I’m just a sixteen-year-old skater boy.
Jay You have a pretty rough time of it, as the story unfolds, don’t you?
Randy Yup. But that gives readers a chance to watch me grow up right in front of them. I get to face a bunch of adult-sized challenges, and I’m kinda proud of how I handled myself. I’m really blessed that I had a lot of help. I didn’t have to go through it all alone.
Jay You had quite a support system from the very start, didn’t you?
Randy I sure did, starting with Keisha. Keisha Davis is my best friend. We kinda grew up together and we help each other a lot. Her parents are my second family. They really raised me. Even Kyte — that’s my mom — and my stepdad, Kip, tried to help in their own way. Then, there’s the church: Father Sean Foley’s always been there to give me advice when I needed it. And, later on in the story, there are even more amazing people who show up for me — even the bishop.
Jay It sounds like a lot of people really love you.
Randy I know. I don’t think I appreciated how many there were until I got a chance to look back on all that happened and what they did for me.
Jay Speaking of love, right up front in the first chapter, you meet the love of your life, don’t you? Tell us about that.
Randy His name is Michael Keller and he’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. It doesn’t hurt that he’s drop-dead gorgeous. I was right in the middle of one of my skateboarding tricks when I first saw him, and I almost had a major wipe-out. It’s as close to love-at-first-sight that I ever want to come.
Jay Besides his looks, what made him so interesting?
Randy He’s smart and talented, but, most of all, he’s incredibly mature for his age. At seventeen, and a senior in high school, he was basically living on his own. Since I was barely out of sophomore year, I was flattered that an “older man” was paying attention to me.
Jay Things moved pretty fast for you two, didn’t they? Looking back, what are your thoughts about you two guys having sex so young? It was technically illegal, wasn’t it?
Randy [Laughs] Since when did two teenage gay guys with raging hormones worry about a little thing like that? We both thought we were in love. Isn’t it hard even for adults to tell the difference between love and lust? I’m sure we had some of both going on. But, there was definitely love. I’m convinced that both of us were serious about wanting to be together. Sex was great, but that was only a small part of it.
Jay You were both young guys without immediate families, weren’t you? Michael’s was absent, and yours wasn’t much better. Would you like to tell us a little about that?
Randy Sure. Michael had been totally on his own for at least five years when I met him. He essentially had no one. My parents, Kyte and Kip, were there, but had too much going on in their own lives to give me much thought. They both worked full-time on different shifts and, when they weren’t working, they were partying. Mom could never kick her habit — I don’t think she ever really wanted to. It wasn’t because they didn’t care about me, I just think they didn’t know how to. Thank God for the Davises.
Jay You’ve said they practically raised you. How did that come about?
Randy Momma Davis — Lavonda — was a nurse and ran a day care out of her home right next door to us. Kyte had her take care of me as a baby while she worked. When I was about three, Kyte married Kip. The two of them only came home to sleep, so I stayed with the Davises. That’s how Keisha came to be my big sister. She’s a year older than me. I always wanted things to be different at home, but they never were.
Jay Kip was your stepfather. Did you know your real father growing up?
Randy Nope. Kyte never talked about him. She kept telling me she’d tell me someday. I finally decided that, when I turned eighteen, I was going to go look for him.
Jay Did you?
Randy [Laughs] I guess you’ll have to read the book to find out. I can’t tell you everything!
Jay Fair enough. You have a lot of interesting people in your life. Are we going to be able to talk with some of them?
Randy You may be sorry you asked. They all want to talk to you. If they get their way, you’ll be flooded with them.
Jay Thanks, Randy. It’s been fun having you with us. I hope you’ll come back again. I’m sure some of our readers will have questions for you.
Randy I’d like that. Thanks for having me. I enjoyed it.
Note to our readers: you can ask Randy or any of our other cast of characters questions. They’ll be happy to respond. Simply leave your questions in the Comments section below.
NOW Email Randy: Randy.Carter@WeAreNotSaints.net
