Reading, Drinking and Dancing with a Chaser of Snark

Another Year. Another Birthday. Hell, Yeah!

Posted on December 18, 2013 Updated on February 1, 2014

Ponder this thought for a moment: middle age rocks.  I speak of this from experience, as a member of the last generation to have a truly “innocent” childhood and adolescence.

I grew up during the Cold War, learned what GRID/HIV/AIDS was and how it was really transmitted, in middle and high school.  I watched the Challenger accident happen live.  I remember the launch of MTV, and when the “M” was synonymous with music, like the “US Festival” and “Live Aid.”  “Lollapalooza” was a little known festival advertised on college radio that took place in an empty field in Orlando, which now houses another shopping center.   Trips to New York City included a stop on the observation deck of the World Trade Center, as well as, dodging drug dealers and prostitutes on Broadway and 42nd Streets.

Some days I feel every bit of my age, as I reach for my bifocals to read menus or an article online.  Often, however, I do not.   I have been told consistently that I look about ten years younger than I am.   I have no desire to pretend to be anything but 46.  I earned each grey hair, extra pound and stiff joint and muscle.   I have also earned the right to look back upon my life fondly, but choose to look forward with a renewed sense of adventure.  I have no desire to be in my twenties, or thirties, again.  Did you hear that Madison Avenue?

The best part about being in my mid-forties is the ability to say, “fuck it,” and mean it.  I am not going to be an attorney, police officer or super-heroine, as I dreamed about in my youth.  I am happy to know it and move on.   Age brings wisdom, but also self-reflection and self-care.   It is liberating, sexy, peaceful and joyful.

My goal is to help contemporary fiction authors realize they are missing a rich demographic by not writing about middle-aged characters, who are sexy, intelligent, independent, quirky and fully developed.   After all, we have more disposable income to purchase books, and will, if we see ourselves reflected back.  The beauty of self-publishing is that consumers, not publishing companies, are driving demand.   I will be demanding more experienced characters, loudly.   I am 46 today, hear me roar!