I have a single title (non-series) book out to beta readers and my editor who I hope will be looking at this one twice. In this story is a sexy scene featuring a 72 yr old man and 68 year old woman. It's a little more steamy even than what you might find in movies like "Cocoon" that tried years ago to bust the myth that people simply got too old to want the basic human connection that romantic love offers. That movie clearly showed the "want".
There is also a scene in my story where the son (Morgan--aka my hero) asks his father (Gerald--my 72 old) a question about how he manages to have relationship luck with so many women in his life. Morgan was mostly teasing and being sarcastic. I made the father completely unrepentant in his reply which involves a honest revelation the son wasn't quite expecting.
“Go back and convince Thea that your interest in Amy is friendship and your interest in her is more. It’s not rocket science,” Gerald told his son, amused at the distress on Morgan’s face.
“How the hell do I do that?” Morgan demanded, exasperated that everyone seemed to know but him. There was a good reason he didn’t have any experience. He had never in his life chased a woman who had given him such a obvious brush-off.
“For starters, keep showing up at the restaurant. Get in Thea’s face,” Gerald said, shrugging. “Surely you know what to do once you get that far.”
Morgan threw a roll at his father who let it bounce off his shoulder as he laughed. “Get in her face. That’s your expert advice. How in the hell do you have every woman in this town falling all over you?”
Gerald pulled the pill he’d carried all day out of his shirt pocket and pushed it over to Morgan.
Curious, Morgan picked it up and read the side of it to see what kind of supplement it was. Once he did, he immediately returned the pill to his father’s side of the table, his face flushing while his father laughed. Morgan couldn’t hold his gaze and had to look at the table.
“Well, you asked to know my secret. That’s how I keep one of them very interested. Some women are more complicated,” Gerald said, grinning at the flush still on Morgan’s face. “Sorry if I embarrassed you. I thought we covered this when you were seventeen. No one told me adult kids would need a refresher course. I’d have talked to you in your thirties. At forty-four, you’re almost too old to change your ways now.”
“Damn it, Dad,” Morgan said, finally leaning his face into his hand and laughing himself. “I don’t need physical assistance—or at least not yet. I need to know how to talk to Althea right.”
Gerald leaned back in his chair. “You know, Sedona agrees with you, Morgan. You’re getting smarter every day you’re here.”
Morgan snorted in disbelief. “So you going to seriously help me or not?”
“Show up. Compliment the food. Let Thea catch you staring at her so she’s clear about your intentions,” Gerald said. “That should get the ball rolling. Hopefully, Amy will have cleared up the incident from today. Cross your fingers for timing and good luck.”
“And these are your best suggestions?” Morgan demanded, shaking his head in disbelief again. “It can’t be that easy.”
“Easy? Boy have you got a lot to learn,” Gerald said, digging into his pasta again.
It's not the first time I've mentioned male enhancement drugs in my stories. It's not even the first time I've shown a father talking to his son about sex. It likely won't be my last for either if I continue to write romantic stories featuring older characters. Morgan is my hero of this story, but if a book ever has two, Gerald is definitely the second. He is modeled after my late grandfather who I believe was romantically involved with women well into his late seventies.
To date, Gerald is my oldest romantic character, and I love his joie de vivre concerning women and romance. He has a very complex view of love that reflects all his life experiences of it. Though the word is French and not English, most English dictionaries contain it and list "enjoyment" as a synonym. Enjoyment is the "pleasure felt when having a good time". What Gerald has learned from his years of experience is the value of living in the moment and taking the time to enjoy everything.
When I look 20+ years ahead of where I am right now, I am hoping to be exactly where Gerald is or at least to have someone like him in my life. In the meantime, I'm working on my own joie de vivre.
5 comments:
You've got me snorting mocha at my computer. Love the excerpt. Hilarious!
I have to tell you, my 86 year old grandfather and 82 year old grandmother makes no 'bones' about gettin' busy every once in a while. I think if you can do it, good for you. If not, I'm sure there's a pill out there with your name on it.
Awesome!! Now I can't wait to read this. :-)
Thanks. I've developed a real attitude about certain things since I've turned 50. One of them is that I hate it when it's implied that I'm too old for . LOL
One of the beautiful things about writing romance is that reality can be altered just enough to be enjoyable. As a soon to be SS recipient I can envision the characters minus the wrinkles and blemishes of age and the often less palpable moments of enjoying one another's company can be glossed over.
Romance is beautiful, intercourse is physically satisfying but the detritus that surrounds the act can be omitted - and this applies to both young and old. The older you get the more you are able to and have to overlook those things or become inured to them while focusing on the more pleasant aspects.
Certainly most romance novelists don't dwell on things like sleeping in the wet spot that can put a mental damper on the experience (pun intended). The little blue pill or the tube of lubricant may be a necessity yet as in your excerpt it is most likely dealt with in a humorous fashion.
I can recall some Redd Foxx's comedy routines about sex that rang true but would curl a reader's toes if they appeared in a romance novel. It's part of the genre that puts few constraints on the pleasure but lots on the physical side effects.
Not that that is a bad thing. I'd rather picture my own version of the story with a 72 year old Richard Gere and 60 plus Julia Roberts than Ed Asner and Phyllis Diller.
Maybe it's because that might morph into nightmares envisioning John Travolta and Jerry Stiller in bed in 'Hairspray!' And of course all of us have that memory of when they first realized that their parents did THAT and they were OLD!
aldyndskies, I appreciate your thoughts.
As a romance writer, there is a line I walk in my stories where reality exists on one side and the "sought-after" ideal of perfect love exists on the other. I would certainly not be opposed to including a mention of the wet spot if it fit the situation in a story (LOL), but you are correct that I would likely do so with humor. I guess I think of it as bravery with a dash of sass.
At a recent state level romance writer's group meeting, we had a discussion about condom use and safe sex in our stories. Much of the genre still shuns the mention of it in romance fearing it takes away from the physical. I think not mentioning in contemporaries like mine would be sending a message I don't want to send. So I have it in all stories but the one where not using a condom was part of the story itself. Will I always do this? No, probably not, but it definitely be in most of them.
I write what I write trusting the reader's imagination to draw up Richard Gere or Ed Asner as it fits their paradigm. It makes sense to me to trust that because I do it in the act of creating the story. Though my work draws lots of mature readers (25-85), I find that even the younger readers (under 25) are very accepting and open-minded.
Thanks for commenting.
Post a Comment