Jena C. Henry is an author whose creative inspiration can be found in looking at the importance of family and friendships in shaping our lives. Her books, The Golden Age of Charli: RSVP and The Golden Age of Charli: BMI may focus on the lives of Charli and Pud McAntic as they navigate through retirement, but the themes in which Jena C. Henry masterfully writes are appropriate for all ages. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing her. Read what she had to say below.

When did you decide to become a writer?

“I am one of those people who always wanted to write from first grade on. I always wanted to be a writer. In fact, say I had met you at a party like 30 years ago when we were going to  law school and if you had said that you were into writing and reading, I would have said me too ‘I always wanted to be a writer.’ Anytime I found anyone who was interested in reading and writing, I was thrilled. But life goes on and every so often, I would say ‘I really want to write a book.’  Finally my husband said, ‘time is running out. you better get going'(laughs) so I said, ‘okay, I will.’  I think one of the things that persuaded me was the whole change in the book scene with e-books and self-publishing and I thought, I guess I could do this. I’m glad I did. That’s basically how I go started. Being in law, you do write. But it’s so nice to be able to do creative writing.”

The Golden Age of Charli is a wonderful series. How did you conceive of  it?

“I wanted to write a series, something that I could keep on going. I knew that series were popular so I wanted to write a series. I just thought that women around my age would like something where they could read about a character their age so I just thought I wanted to write something positive, encouraging and fun for women around my age. That’s why I decided to do it. I knew that it would be an adventure to write about.”

In what ways (if any) are you like Charli ?

“I’m like her in more of the superficial ways although many people who have read the book said it sounds exactly like me. So even though it’s things I could have imagined that I wanted to do, I did try to make it so relatable to people so in that sense, it’s somewhat similar. I’m really blessed because I really don’t have any major problems so I had to make up problems (laughs). But a book is about life. That’s what it’s for. It’s about life and struggles and issues.”

What challenges did you face in writing The Golden Age of Charli: BMI that you didn’t experience with the first book?

“One thing that interested me when I started working on book 3 is….well, book 3 is at the editor’s and I just finished the first draft for book 4. Anyway, one of the things that interested me starting with book 2 and I’ve read that this happens with other writers and I really didn’t believe it, but it’s true, but my characters started changing on me. They started changing the story on their own. I went in with a plan, but one noticeable change and I hadn’t plan on writing on this is, but Charli becomes a little more accepting about going back to church. She gets involved with some church people. In book 4 and I can’t believe that my characters wanted me to write this, but Charli and Sibby have a fight. I was shocked. I wasn’t going to start the book like this at all. But one day I was going for a walk and Charli and Sibby were in my head and they said you need to do this.”

What would you say is the message of The Golden Age of Charli?

“I would say that the message is enjoy your life. The important things in life are family, friends and interacting with others. Just to love life.”

You also teach writing seminars. Can you tell us about that?

“Thanks for asking. I’m really fortunate. There’s a place called Lakeside. It’s a summer resort. It’s like a little Victorian town. They have what they call the Rhine Center. People go there and teach for free. They get admission to the grounds. They offer classes at very low rates for people who are on vacation there. They teach everything, like stain glass windows, sign language, knitting. I’ve been teaching writing classes there all summer. It’s called ‘If you were a book…write in a published market.  It’s a whole journey so every week whoever took the class, shared where they were in their journey and we spend time helping each other out and thinking about what the next steps are in the writing journey. It’s fascinating. There’s a woman who was a child of medical missionaries in India. She’s probably around eighty years old.  She went to a missionary school in India. She wanted to write a memoir about that. I think that it would be a wonderful book. One man wants to write a book on lessons that he learned from his dog. Every week we would just talk and talk. I loved it. I always ended up learning so much more from the people that I was teaching. People who had written a book wanted to know how to get it published and how to market it. I enjoyed it so much. I spend alot of time online so it’s nice to interact with real people.

Are there any current projects that you can share with us?

“Book 3 of the Charli series is at the editor’s so I’ll be doing revisions on that when it comes back. I just wrote the first draft of book 4 so I’m letting that lay for a couple of months before I go back to it. Once the writing projects are under control, I’m really planning on working on the business side of writing and marketing books. I like encouraging other writers. I’ve posted some book tours on my blog. I really like doing that. I also like reading and reviewing books. After about a year, I may write more books in the Charli series or other books. I also want to travel.”