Amy....my middle daughter, Missi, has Amy's hair. Amy herself, however, is almost total fiction. Amy is adopted into Gerald McKenna's family in Missouri at a young age and, in this loving home, she flourishes. Slightly spoiled by Gerald, her head-strong nature is tempered by family tragedy and the death of her first husband, Marcus. She nonetheless becomes the strong, loving and self-reliant wife to Morgan and the mother of six children.
Janine....Wife of Kevin McKenna, Janine is another strong woman who marries a McKenna brother. Their marriage initially was met with opposition by Gerald, and even twenty something years later, Morgan still has no regard for his brother's wife, for his own reasons. Despite the disapproval of the men-folk, Janine becomes one of Amy's closest friends as they raise their children on the adjoining farms. Both Janny and Kevin will face what life hands them; their love spiced with temper and humor.
Katie...Amy and Marcus' daughter, Kate is the most true to life of my own daughter, Katie. Kate is Morgan's step-daughter and Amy's leutenant in the raising of her younger siblings. She grows into a lady-like, slightly bossy matriarch of the Old House Bunch, although she is grown and married by the time the actual OHB comes into being. She is the one the siblings turn to in time of trouble, and, if not called upon, she still steps in to scold, cook for, and patch up when needed.
Brynn...my youngest daughter is also named Rebecca Brynn, and she was actually named after the character, not the other way around. Brynn McKenna is the protagonist throughout many of the early McKenna books. She was a dreamy, quiet little girl who becomes the head of the Old House Bunch. By her bullheadedness, she blundered her way through the trials of rearing her three younger siblings, marries for money, jumps in and out of love too quickly. She is alluringly exotic in appearance, attracts men of all types and lets her practicality rule when she should allow her heart to dictate. She is lovable, irritating to her siblings and utterly irresistible to many.
Jerusha....The twin to Jordan, Jerusha is much as her mother, Amy had been as a child. Jerusha, however, does not allow the death of her parents slow her down. She is academically brilliant, but her people skills mainly consist of wanting her own way. Her heart is in the right place, however, which will carry her through the rocky places and lead her on an heroic quest far from home.
Sorrel...The baby of the Old House Bunch, Sorrel is a sensitive, rather delicate daughter. Dutiful and diligent, she nevertheless has a stern quality that will not allow herself to be used by anyone. When danger threatens, she rises to the occasion in a way that stuns her family. As an adult, she displays literary skill and her maternal instinct will be the lynch pin to a generational legacy.
Schuyler Carson....Daughter of the prominent Carson family across the Soque River from Old House, Schuyler is injured at an early age and the subsequent scars has shaped her self-image. After coming home from boarding school, she is set by her parents to make a good match in high society. Schuyler, however, has other plans for her life and one of them is Boone McKenna. Her strong nature will be needed in the years to come.
These are the core women of the McKenna Family, with more women appearing as the years go by. They all have a thread of steel that runs through them and then down through their daughters. Sometimes that steel borders on stubbornness, but it also carries them through the difficulties and desert times.