I’m writing a romance novel

I used to be a big reader…

…but from 2016 through 2021, as things in the world got precipitously worse every day, I found it hard to read books. Then in early 2022, I accidentally read Get a Life, Chloe Brown, by Talia Hibbert. I wasn’t a romance reader, and I have no memory of what prompted me to open it. But in an era of global trauma, I loved the chance to spend time with delightful characters destined for happiness, who have spicy sex along the way. Are there, I wondered, more books like this?

Over the next two years, I read 150 rom coms (I’m a super-slow reader, so this is testament to how readable these books are). I had a great time. But nearly all the books featured main characters who were in their 20s or 30s. I’m in my 50s. I wanted to read about people who knew themselves pretty well but were dealing with the normal challenges of being middle aged: menopause; CPAP machines; elderly parents; second careers; third marriages; wait, that leak in the basement is going to cost how much to repair?

So. I’m writing the book I want to read. (It tangles with only some of the issues listed above.) It’s the first time I’ve written fiction, and it’s hard! Selling and publishing it will also be challenging. If you’d like extremely rare email updates on how all this is going, sign up here.