That’s a question I hear from readers about my latest book, Everything She Ever Wanted: A Different Kind of Love Novel. In a book world where heroines are mostly between 18-30, why did I pick a heroine who’s (gasp!) 40-years-old? Why couldn’t I make her 30 or 27? Why risk getting her called a cougar, her story lumped in with the older-woman-younger-man tropes that apparently isn’t popular among readers, if not detested by many?
My answer is simple: because not all women are between 18 to 30. Neither do you have to be within that age to be considered beautiful and worthy of a book.
In a world dictated by categories and subcategories and their corresponding keywords, I was close to categorizing the book as literary fiction instead of contemporary romance. But even that train of thought gave me pause. It made me realize that the older we get, the more we become invisible in books and movies… in popular culture. And I wasn’t having any of it, not anymore. At least, not for Harlow James, the heroine who came to me exactly as she was, successful at forty but alone and having just suffered a great loss.
“It is what it is,” has even become my favorite saying about my writing of late. I don’t question the why’s of my writing process anymore, or why I write the stuff I write. I just do. They’re the questions I ask myself and seek answers to. It’s what I learned from Ray Bradbury when I met him twice so many years ago, when he’d tell fellow writers to never stop asking, “What if…?”
And so I asked that question. “What if an older woman fell in love again?”
Those things still do happen, right?
Everything She Ever Wanted: A Different Kind of Love Novel is now available from Amazon, iBooks, Nook, and Kobo.
You can also find out what’s new with Liz and her “what-if?” stories by signing up for her newsletter.
I think a lot of people want to read about younger characters, but it’s always good to write something different once in a while. Do you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like reading about characters, no matter how old they are. I loved Harry Potter, the Angelfall series, and also the Daughter of Blood and Bone one. But I also like reading about older characters, and maybe that’s why Outlander became such a hit then when it was first released and now. People actually want to read about an older heroine and Claire certainly is older.
LikeLike
Perhaps. I think a lot of writers don’t make older characters interesting enough. Claire is certainly interesting, and her world doesn’t just involve work. I guess it depends on the reader – like with most stories 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true. But it’s just interesting how it’s a reflection of how older women seem to become invisible. But I’m glad they’re coming back in a way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree =( It’s sad that we view older age as a bad thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
True. BTW, there’s a video I was meaning to show you about the long game when it comes to success. Something to check out: https://vimeo.com/84022735
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing the video with me. It was really good. I’m trying not to be so hard on myself with my writing and learn to enjoy it more. Thanks for all the support, Liz =)
LikeLike
Make sure to watch the second part!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So…that video summed me up well. I don’t have the patience. Hmm, I can see why you thought about me while watching that video. lol Thanks for thinking about me, Liz. Watching that video helped me to think about stuff.
LikeLike
I think it’s a lot of people, including myself. Someone showed me that video last year when I was going through some frustrating moments as a writer and it certainly helped me but for the life of me I couldn’t remember the title.
LikeLike
I think older characters give us so much more to talk about! So many more experiences and more understanding of emotion and far more cliffs to fall off of!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Most definitely! I’ve lost count of how many cliffs I’ve fallen off from lol
LikeLike