12 Oct

Bear with Me: Book Brag #3!

Jena Henry Blog, Charli's World 8 0

The Golden Age of Charli: GPS

The third book in the Charli series is my favorite. In The Golden Age of Charli: GPS, Charli and Pud have begun to walk hand in hand together on the retirement path. But now that Charli’s life is more satisfying, she focuses on that age-old question that is guaranteed to wake you up in the middle of the night- “Is that all there is?”. Is a life of no alarm clocks, regular happy hours, and yard work enough to light up her life and give it purpose? Sure, the dog likes to go on long walks every day and her family enjoys the entertaining get-togethers, but Charli feels the need to recalculate.

youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGzB8IYxT_c&w=560&h=315

I self-published the third Charli book in January, 2017. To me, this book is my most creative and the best written. Like the first two books, it has a short prologue and an Amuse Bouche at the end, but for this book, I am sharing with you the beginning of the first chapter:

Fierce

The beautiful Audrey Hepburn looked down at me and smiled. Frail yet strong, a gentle vixen, with a hint of happiness in her liquid eyes that disputed her pout of disappointment, Audrey captivated me. She seemed to say, You are peering into my soul, and I am seeking your spirit.

“You look fierce.”

What did you say, Audrey? “I mean, what did you say K8?”

K8, pronounced “Kate,” turned my head with her hand, and I eased back into the chair. A real woman was smiling at me now. “Ha! I don’t feel fierce–I feel like a mellow cupcake,” I said to K8.

“A what … a yellow cupcake?”

“No, mellow, or more like melted, totally relaxed and carefree.” K8 was my stylist, nail technician, therapist, and best chatting chum. I had been seeing her for several years. She worked at a small salon near my home. I liked the owner of the place, a sophisticated woman, and the decor of the day spa, a sleek black-and-tan palette, and I had always been entranced by the large, enigmatic art piece of Audrey Hepburn that hung on the main wall. But I liked K8 the best.

When I’d first begun with her, we had been formal and polite, like the bottles of nail polish standing rigidly side by side on the chrome shelf. K8 would style me in a quick and competent way while mixing in a few routine questions: “What are you doing this weekend?” “What shape do you want your nails?” “Will it ever stop snowing?”

We had warmed up and bonded when we’d discovered our mutual love of food and wine. Our polite chat about a rapidly approaching Thanksgiving had exploded with us sharing our favorite holiday recipes. Suggested tweaks to green bean casserole and sweet potato stuffing recipes had led us to share stories about our lives and families. Now, when she waved me in from the waiting room and I followed her back to her station, we always hugged, a real hug and not a pat-on-the-back air hug, and then I picked out my polish, and we talked nonstop.