Years of experience went into this fictional story about life in senior living home

Collectively, it’s a group whose lives have already included fulfilling years of marriage and family, travel and careers.

But they wanted more. They wanted to write a novel.

And so they did.

Six residents of Mission Chateau Senior Living in Prairie Village convened over a year’s time to write the 249-page “Orchard House: The Major Stresses and Minor Victories Accompanying Life in a Senior Retirement Community.”

The novel began as a simple activity.

“There is never enough to do,” said Robert Blanc, one of the authors. “We put out the call and people stepped up.”

Orchard House is a fictional story about residents of a retirement community who are facing a possible takeover in ownership by a group of Canadian investors.

“We could have had an alien abduction or a murder mystery, but we decided on a financial takeover from a Canadian company,” Blanc said.

The authors, who range in age from 89 to 94 years old, all have had either an interest in writing, or actual experience.

Blanc, a former professor and curriculum director at University of Missouri-Kansas City’s School of Medicine, has experience in academic writing. He also won second place in a sonnet competition at San Jose State.

Shirley Richards, a former kindergarten teacher, has had two works published through Vanity Press. One is a biography and the other is about her travels with her husband.

“It’s not about the places but the feelings and emotions,” she said of her book about travel.

Dr. Robert Karsh wrote a column for his high school newspaper in St. Louis but decided to become physician. Karsh now spends time writing poetry.

“I enjoy writing,” Karsh said. “The book was a good opportunity.”

Leonard Jackson also considered a career as a writer after serving as editor of his high school paper in Memphis.

“I wanted to,” Jackson said. “I was told I would not make enough money.”

So he went on into the cotton business, and then the investment business. His experience in investments — like the experiences of all the authors — provided important contributions to the book.

Each author developed and wrote about one of the main characters. Each of those characters holds elements of the authors’ own lives or of people they have known.

The richness of the characters’ lives, and how they arrive and interact with others at Orchard House, is intentional, Blanc said. It reflects some of the common issues and experiences of the residents who live in retirement communities.

“Nobody grew up expecting this,” Blanc said. “Fifty years ago, Grandma would come and live with us.”

Each week, the authors would gather to discuss the progress of the story, and decide how the story would progress and who would write what.

The result is a blend.

“It’s part truth and part fiction,” said Blanc, who used his time in Berkeley, Calif., to write about the residents’ protest of the takeover.

The authors also relied on others in Mission Chateau for help.. For example, a retired judge and a former city mayor advised on legal and political elements of the story.

The cover art was created by Mission Chateau resident and artist Carolynn Fischel, who was an administrative law judge in Massachusetts and once owned her own art gallery.

Two of the authors, Maryanna Glen and Billie Lash, have moved.

“Orchard House” is available on Amazon. And, it’s the March selection for the Mission Chateau Book Club.