Happy Hour with Charli and Sophie

Jena and Jessie and the great escape of their characters

Did you ever wonder if your favourite book characters would like to take a break from the control of their authors, escape from their own book worlds and create their own adventures? Do you suppose they would like to meet new friends and have fresh experiences? Let’s listen in as Sophie, from You Can’t Go It Alone and Charli from The Golden Age of Charli series, meet and take a vacation from their book lives.

Sophie: Thank for you opening your home and your heart to me. I’ve had a splendid time here in Ohio.

Charli: I’m so glad your author sent you here! I don’t know if Ohio was on your list of top ten places in the world to see, but I’ve tried to show you my favorite places.

Sophie: Yes, we’ve done so much, and we’ve laughed and smiled even more. Aside from some minor differences, you say “yard”…

Charli: You say “garden”. You write the dates wrong…

Sophie: Ha! I jolly well do not! You eat dinner too early…

What happens when British and American characters meet for a Happy Hour

Charli: Really? But you have that lovely accent, so you win!

Sophie: Ah, you Americans like to win!

*Charli sings Anything You can Do, I can Do Better!*

Charli: Ok, enough…should we tell our secret…

Sophie: Our secret? Oh, you mean that secret…of course …

Charli: Do you think Readers know that book characters can really do anything they want? That’s our big secret- we can have lives outside our books and go places and do things anytime we want!

Sophie: I love our secret! As long as we can get Jessie and Jena, our authors, to write it…we can do it! We can go from your house near Cleveland to you other house by the lake and then be back in time for tea!

A Happy Hour rather than tea in America

Charli: I call it Happy Hour- I like adult beverages better than tea…but we can also have any type of food or drink we want- if we give our writers a nudge, they can create any kind of meal we want!

Sophie: Indeed. So, let’s enjoy! TO YOUR HEALTH. Tea for me, please.

Charli: Ha! This morning my husband Pud asked what we had planned for today and I told him you were helping me with a tea this afternoon. And he said, “No, my tee time is this morning at 10 am.” 

He must have heard me choking on my hydration water. “What’s so funny?” he said.

Charli and Sophie’s happy hour

I said, “Not ‘golf tee”, Sophie and I are having a ‘tea’ time. You know, cups, yummy tidbits.” 

I didn’t know if Pud heard me because he was heading to the garage. He called back to me, “That reminds me. I should make sure I have tees in my bag. Have fun today. You must really like Sophie, because you never golf.”

Sophie: We’re getting in to the Swing of things, aren’t we? It’s FORE o’clock so we’d better get started.

Step inside Sophie’s world in Wales

Charli: We have many tempting treats. I told my writer we want sushi, snacks, desserts, all my favorites. Please take more! So after all our fun, do you miss Delfryn? 

Sophie: Travel is great, but I do miss home.  Vine Cottage is the first home Jack and I have bought together. The cottage needs lots of work but will look great.  Delfryn is so peaceful that it calms me down after a hard day’s teaching.  The school in a busy town so it’s great to drive back home.  Trees arching over the road to Delfryn take me back into my haven.

I am often greeted with the delicious aroma of Italian food when I pass the gorgeous Olive Tree café.  Just thinking about Delfryn makes me homesick.  I miss walks in the countryside and the peaceful presence of Delfryn Abbey.

*Sophie pauses then stifles a laugh. *

How I love to sit in the abbey grounds and watch the ‘birdies’. Oh, I’m getting into the swing of this.

* Charli throws back her head, laughs and sips her tea *

Charli: Wow! I hope you use some large binoculars to see those eagles and albatrosses on the local golf course.  

I’m sure you miss your family, too. I know family is important to you. What else is important to you at this point in your life?

Jessie Cahalin’s You Can’t Go It Alone

Sophie: …yes…I love how you have cultivated relationships with not only your kids, but your extended family, too. Since we’ve been in Delfryn I’ve been getting to know Jack’s family.  Jack’s mother used to terrify me, but she has been fiercely supportive of us going through the fertility treatment.  I wish I’d told her earlier.  Max, Jack’s father, is ill and Delfryn is good for him.

*Sophie sighs*

I wish Max and Jeanie lived closer, so we could keep an eye on them.  Oh, and there’s my brother-in-law, Marcus.   He’s irresponsible yet lovable at the same time.  He knows when to listen and support.  I wish he knew what he wanted in life.  He likes Olivia, but he has a girlfriend back home.  Trouble is, he’s a bit lost and needs a job that uses his creativity and love of music. Marcus is young and hasn’t figured out what he wants to do with his life – too much time on his hands.  And what I like about you Charli, is that you still have goals. Wait, that didn’t sound quite right.

Charli- Tee hee- yes, I’m always buzzing around with ideas. We’ve chatted about this before, you know, you are so easy to talk to, but when my husband retired, it took us a few years to get our relationship back on track; we really didn’t have anything in common after his work and travel stopped. But now…

Sophie: You two are so cute together. You remind me of my dear in-laws, Jeannie and Max.  They’ve been travelling around in a camper van and enjoying life.  It’s great to see them together.  I think they are treating their camper van adventure as a second honeymoon.  Jeanie embarrassed Jack when she pointed out the bed in the van and said there was ‘plenty of room for manoeuvre’.

*Placing hand over her mouth, Sophie giggles*

Jeanie and Max’s new found hippy freedom scares the hell out of Jack but they make me laugh.  He’s worried about their sudden lack of planning and need to travel. I can understand them wanting to enjoy their retirement.

I guess I thought that all retirees liked to travel? Do you and Pud have travel plans?

Charli: After Pud retired, we spent several years zooming around the country, having fun with our nieces and nephews. We don’t have any plans right now. We’ve talked about driving through Europe or going to Japan. I’d like to take my kids on a cruise.

I know you had quite the time in Paris. Kinda like Pud and me in Cancun!

Sophie: We had a splendid time in Paris.

*Sophie nudges Charli*

Paris is the city of love, but Paris in January is absolutely freezing.  Although I wore layers and layers the cold seeped through to my bones.  Thankfully, Jack kept me warm in the evenings.

*Sophie pauses then laughs*

Wow.  I can’t believe you get me to confess this stuff.  I’ve found out that it helps to talk about how you’re feeling.  It was as I was stuck in a bunker unable to carry on with my life.

You see, I want children but have realized I’ve got so much to be grateful for.  Jack and I love each other and have a good life.  I also get so much pleasure out of helping others.

Charli: Oh, I need some more of this.  Thanks for sharing some of your special recipes with me. Do you need more tea?

Sophie: Don’t mind if I do, Charli.  I’ve exhausted my golfing puns and do prefer a tea caddy to a golf caddy – unless he’s handsome.

Confession time! My ability in sport is seriously below par. In the early days of our relationship, Jack constantly organised for us to meet with his tennis buddies.  What a disaster!  I bought all the right tennis gear but genuinely couldn’t hit the ball.  He was furious because he thought I was trying to destroy the game. The more I tried to hit the tennis ball, the more I stumbled on the grass. My perfect white outfit was covered in grass stains and my hair looked like a bird’s nest. Following the game, we saw Jack’s ex.  I pretended we’d had such a difficult game, but he won in the end. Later I found out that she’d been watching the game.  Oh well, at least my outfit was better than hers, and I bought a matching handbag.

Charli: Nothing like a darling purse and a snappy pair of shoes. Sophie, I know I’m going to sound old saying this, but the years do go by so fast! When I was about your age, the saying was “Don’t trust anyone over thirty!” It was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius…

*Sophie and Charli break into song and a few moves*

Oh, my poor knees! Thirty seemed old, but 50 or even 60…yikes! Turns out, I having even more fun now! Pud and I were always so Type A, lots of goals and lists, budgets and plans. Now, we take time to smell the chocolate and drink the vodka! Did I tell you about the time last year Pud and I were in Chicago, and I was soaking in the swanky marble garden tub in our suite (thank you hotel points!) and I cooed to Pud, “Oh, Cabana Boy…I need you… come here my darling boy…”  My visions of splashin’ and passion had a soggy ending. We still laugh though! And then there was that time in Cancun, when Pud massaged me with samples of a new body oil…can you imagine all green? How sexy!

Sophie:

Let’s tell Jessie and Jena that you must come over to the UK.  I’d like to show you around Delfryn.  We could go for an afternoon’s wine tasting in the local vineyard to continue our chat.  I’d ask Rosa, from the Olive Tree, to make us an Italian picnic feast.  I’m sure Jeanie and Max would lend us the vintage camper van to tour around the area.

Charli and Sophie escape to Jena’s lake house, Ohio.

When I spotted Jena’s Forever Young boat online, I laughed at the beautiful message – there was an instant connection. Jena’s character, Charli, and my character, Sophie are a generation apart but share a love of life.  The characters are fun, friendly and content with the simple things in life.  I hope you enjoyed listening in to their meeting.  I’d like to introduce you to my new and brilliant American friend, Jena. C Henry. Every interaction I have with Jena makes me smile, and I feel as if I have known her forever!

Jena C Henry’s Golden Age of Charli books

Meet Jena C. Henry

Jena C. Henry is an active, high-energy gal who is a wife, mother, non-profit volunteer and bon vivant. She created the fiction book series, The Golden Age of Charli, to encourage, entertain and share her joy of living and laughing. 

Jena is a book lover. She is passionate about connecting with authors and readers. Jena is delighted to read, and review books and she features many reviews and book promotions on her website. Jena also presents writing workshops to help creatives achieve their dreams of writing a book and publishing it.

Jena C. Henry holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Akron School of Law. Now retired, she and her husband live in tropical Ohio where they enjoy their two adult children and extended family, friends and darling dog.

When she is finished tidying her house, Jena likes to relax on her front porch and read and write. She enjoys fine dining, traveling to visit family, and lounging by lovely bodies…of water.

I can’t wait to read Jena’s books and indulge in positivity! 

Contact Jena
Amazon Universal  author.to/JenaBooks
Website: http://www.jenabooks.com/book/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenabooks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jena.c.henry/
Google Plus https://plus.google.com/110683677816270622079
YouTube channel  Jena C. Henry https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKHLicS_dElaiY2qhhafiLQ?view_as=subscriber
Links to my book trailers. One is 30 seconds, one is 60 second
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZLp93LwXuQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRdgxX9ZPbE

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

All Aboard the Runaway Creative Train: The Year of the Handbag

In March, I discovered my husband had published my manuscript on Amazon. Clutching the lilac handbag, I went into a bit of a panic.  The delete button on my laptop did not remove the book from Amazon. There was no chocolate in the house, so I ignored him by reading a book.   Little did I know, he’d presented me with a ticket to begin a creative writing journey via social media.

While waiting to board the creative train, I watched YouTube footage about how to engage in social media. I wish I had known about Neetsmarketing rather than shouting at the lovely people who were trying to explain.  Fortunately,  there was light at the end of the tunnel, Sue Moorcroft was the first person to accept my friend request on Twitter.    Her response to my book review and ideas to promote ‘Just for the Holidays’ lit the creative spark, and she helped me to understand Twitter. The sound of the whistle jolted the pistons in my imagination.

Once I had boarded the creative train, some wonderful people waved me off. The first review request came from Angela Petch.   Her reaction to my review of ‘Now and Then in Tuscany’ fuelled the creative enthusiasm and the train started to increase pace.  She also agreed to join me in a whacky race to meet up with Sue Moorcroft’s character, in France.  Angela introduced me to Patricia Feinberg Stoner and Rosemary Noble.  Rosemary ‘Ranter’s Wharf’ made me rant on behalf of my ancestors. Patricia’s book is funniest book I have ever read about becoming an accidental expat, in France. It was a great day when Patricia sent me her ‘Rude Book of Limericks’, and I realised she had quoted me on her front cover.

I crashed into the inspirational Diane Need, in the Midlands, when my creative ideas were heading in all directions.  Diane’s heart-warming, fun novel was a great read on the journey.  Jan Ellis asked me to review one of her books and sent me a book parcel, and this was the ticket to my new collection of books. Jan is currently writing a blog post about the contents of her handbag, and I know it will be amusing.

On my creative journey abroad, I stopped off to meet Patricia Furstenberg. She took me on a magical journey back to my childhood through her children’s books.  She is also my Twitter guru and is Queen of the Hashtags.  At her stop, Patricia introduced me to Jennifer from ‘Jennieration’.  Jen is a ‘fearless thinker’ who delights in language, culture and creativity. Jen’s daughter, Ella, is the youngest author in my Handbag Gallery, and she wrote a wonderfully creative guest post.

While speeding along the tracks of creativity, I met Carol Cooper.  And I was thrilled when she came up with the idea of interviewing the interviewer.  She looked inside my handbag and made me reflect on my journey. Angela Petch also asked me questions about the editing journey.  At this point, I reached a bit of a crossroads, I had neglected my writing.  The blogging train had been gaining speed and getting out of control.  I decided to get off at the next stop and visit my book again.

Locked in my study, in ‘Editingland’, I couldn’t resist interacting with Wendy Clarke.  I stopped over at ‘Silent Night’ to present an extract, and found Wendy incredibly supportive.  She featured me in her blog, and wrote a generous blog post about how to use software to market a book.  What a wonderful stopover!  I would never have found out about this if I had not boarded the creative train via social media.

Finally, I realised the creative train isn’t out of control.  Sometimes, one shouldn’t worry too much about the final destination, but one does need to interact with others on the journey.  ‘You Can’t Go It Alone’ so I recently asked Angela for support. Angela will talk to me about my editing next year.  My interactions with Adrienne Vaughan and Jan Brigden also gave me a lovely boost on my journey.  Caz Greenham, the children’s author, has convinced me that Eric Seagull exists. I now live inside the creative world with authors. It was lots of laughs with the hilarious Lisa Mary London.  However, it was frightening inside the Dutch woods and the world of Imogen Matthews’s characters.  She is mailing a guest post to Books in Handbag about how she stumbled on a forgotten World War Two.  I will be travelling back in time to the seventeenth century with Anna Belfrage.

Having established my seat on the creative journey, my role as blogger has gained pace in 2017. Thanks to the response of the writing and reading community, I have had a wonderful year. My role as an ‘accidental’ blogger and supporter of writers has pushed me towards an exciting, unknown destination. Each day, I open photos of handbags and develop more interactions with wonderful authors.  Next year, I will launch an initiative for readers with Anne Williams. I hope that many others will hop aboard the new initiative to celebrate reading.

While writing about my journey, Judith Barrow has just tweeted that she has ‘enjoyed being part of the journey’.  The people I have met on my journey have made the whole adventure worthwhile, as I get to peer through the window at their writing world.  Sue Bentley’s friendly comments always make me smile as I head towards my unknown destination.

A big thank you to everyone for supporting my blog – your enthusiasm has fuelled my creativity and put me on track. Have a wonderful Christmas! Best wishes for 2018! Hope you will join me for more adventures in 2018. 

For me, this has been the creative year of the handbag and new friendships!  How can you sum up your year?  The Year of …

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my blog at jessiecahalin.com.