photo by Rimas ZailskasIn her 2007 book The Days Between the Years, a World War II-era love story, Flat Rock novelist Sherry Austin invented an elderly female character named Trixie Goforth. But sometime after the book was published, Trixie started blogging. And now Trixie, who is in her 80s and is a bit like a mean Minnie Pearl, has taken over. "She’s an old biddy who never got to say her piece in life. Now she’s saying it through me," says Austin, explaining that she didn’t really "create" Trixie but rather "uncovered" her. Austin, who has published three novels, says people who liked the character Trixie in the book don’t necessarily like Trixie online—mainly because she insults people all the time. (Including Austin, whom Trixie calls a "porker" or a "toad".) On her Facebook page, Trixie warns: "I say what I want, so don’t get your bloomers in a twist about it." And on her blog, Pure T. Gossip, she admits: "I am real bad to cuss, too. So if you’re easy to offend, GET OFF MY PORCH RIGHT NOW!"

But that’s not to say that Trixie is altogether unpleasant. In fact, she seems to attract online "friends" and fans of all ages from all around the world. She’s currently "stalking" Scott Treadway, an actor and the associate artistic director of the Flat Rock Playhouse, and she’s always threatening to elope with Ted McIrvine, a former Hendersonville Times-News columnist who now posts regular cultural coverage on his blog Arts Spectrum. That’s not all the mischief Trixie gets into. Trixie often fools people into thinking she’s a real person. She sometimes comments on stories on the Charlotte Observer’s website, and readers who have seen them suggested that the newspaper give Trixie her own regular column.

Austin, who spends several hours a day online as Trixie, admits that the lines between herself and her online alter ego are often blurry. "The digital stuff is rewiring our brains—let’s face it," she says. "I didn’t plan for her to become dominant." When she’s not "Facebooking" as Trixie, Austin says she’s been trying to work on her next book—about Trixie and her blogging habit. — J.M.

For more about Sherry Austin, go to sherryaustin.com. To check out Trixie’s blog, go to trixiegoforth.blogspot.com.