Author Jan Pierce writes today’s guest blog…

I was at a writer’s conference, in a seminar on creating the great American novel and taking notes, nodding my head, all the while knowing I was several steps behind when it came to plot, inciting incidents, and all the points of a story arc.

Just then the presenter gave us a prompt and sent us outdoors into the beautiful Oregon sunshine to write. Now, that I could do. I don’t remember the exact prompt, but it had to do with setting up a scene with two characters, so that’s what I did.

Wonder of wonders, out jumped Edna and Gertie. Edna with the over-the-top outgoing personality and Gertie, the shy, careful one. It was such fun to see what they’d say and do. Right then Edna and Gertie became real to me, and I knew they had adventures ahead.

I’m a seat of the pants writer. I honestly don’t know what my characters will say and do until they do it. That, as you can imagine, makes the careful writers who structure their plots and each scene and sequel carefully a bit crazy. It can make me crazy too, as I go back and write in the conflict needed, bolster the behaviors of each character, and all the rest. But when you have two rich characters such as Edna and Gertie, the stories very nearly tell themselves.

I know some of the expressions Edna uses are riveted in my brain by my mother who had a unique way of communicating. And a few of the things Gertie says come from my great grandmother Stella Rose who said things like “Mercy!” And “My stars!”

I learned to go deeper with my character’s motivations and personalities when a critique group friend encouraged me to interview them, ask them questions and just see what they’d say. It’s a marvelous way of learning to know them better. And their answers flowed as naturally as if they were sitting across the room from me and telling me all about themselves.

I’ve taken the girls on three adventures so far and am working on a fourth. They’ve made friends along the way, lived through some precarious situations, grown as individuals entering the latter years of life, and remain, always, fast friends.

Edna and Gertie are absolutely nothing like the rest of my writing. I write devotionals and parenting and education articles. I’ve written a novel set in 1870’s India about a young Hindu woman who becomes a Christian Bible Woman. I’ve written all over the genres, but never ventured into humor. But after years of dealing with a pandemic and the unrest of a divided nation politically I think we all need to take a step back and learn to laugh again.

The world is filled with trouble. But with each new day we have the opportunity to choose love and goodness and a hearty belly laugh. With Edna and Gertie there’s no time for mourning the fact that they’re getting older, there is fun to be had. Of course, Gertie always takes a bit of encouragement before hitting the road with Edna. But once they take off on a new adventure she always comes around and joins in the fun.

I hope you learn to know our two “women of a certain age” as well as I do, and that you see beneath the exteriors to two hearts of gold that understand how very important friendships are as we live our lives to the fullest.

The Exploits of Edna and Gertie is available for pre-order on Amazon and release day is June 28th.

If you want to keep up with Edna and Gertie and all their adventures, go to www.janpierce.net and sign up to get their monthly newsletters. You won’t want to miss the Ask Edna column.