Welcome the Headshrinker

In book one of the Woven Branches Serial, we learn that a young Ruth Blakely has two very close female friends, Mary and Olivia. The relationship between the teenagers seemed to be almost sisterly.

I really liked Ruth being bookended by two strong women, but in adulthood, circumstances had changed.

I created a best friend for Ruth, and I called her Jerri Hansard. She would be a tie-in between the past and present for Ruth while being unflenchingly loyal to her.

As you've read, if you've completed the first two books in my little Southern soap opera, every aspect of Jerri's life weaves around Ruth Blakely. This, I was purposeful about.

I thought that with all of Ruth's internal trauma, having Jerri be a psychologist would be delicious. I think you'll see in book 3, as we get to sit in on some of the therapy sessions that Jerri conducts, I was right.

So, Jerri was one of the strong women in Ruth's adult life, I needed a second. I thought, wouldn't it be interesting if she was a madam? We'll cover my creation of Nadine Bassette in the next blog entry.