THE IMPORTANCE OF BABY BOOMER AND MATURE COUPLE ROMANCES
There are a lot of different kinds of romances - Contemporary, Historical, Erotic, and New
Adult to name a few. Most of these
stories involve characters in the 18-29 age range. With people waiting longer and longer to get
married in this day and age, where is all the love for people over 30? Come on people, they need love too!
Now, I know you are saying that people in their 30s and 40s
are not baby boomers and you are one hundred percent correct. I’m not sure what
else to call those that don’t fall into the baby boomer range (born between
1946-1964). I have seen books out there about 40-year-olds that are called baby
boomer romances , and yes, it is a pet peeve of mine. I hate it. Don’t do
it. Please, just don’t!
So, what do we call
these 30-49 year old love stories?
Generation X/Y romances, Mature romances, Older Adult romances – to me,
none of those titles seem to really fit. Most people don’t even know what
generation X/Y is, and when I hear the term Mature romances I think of books
that should only be read by mature audiences. And that leaves Older Adult
romances which first of all, is a mouthful and second of all, is actually quite
boring. Regardless of whether they have names, I will continue to write them.
And there are a few good reasons to do that.
The first reason I think romances about older characters is
important is because quite a few people have written them in the past and as a
general rule they aren’t very well received. And it isn’t because people don’t
like them, it’s just that they don’t know how or where to find them. And of
course, book sellers don’t make it easy either. I have typed in ‘mature
romances’ into Amazon search and it comes up with a few of the kinds of books
I’m looking for but many of them are just romances for those over 18 to read.
Sigh…Let’s try again. We can type in ‘baby boomer romance’ and again we get a
few of the kinds of books we are looking for but also many books about babies
and economic booms. Sigh again. I know,
through research, that there is an audience out there. We just need the chance
to reach them. I, as an Indie author, might not be the one to do that, but I
sure as hell will try.
The second reason I think these types of books are important
is that older people need a voice. I am in my forties and truthfully I don’t
always want to read about 18 to 24-year-olds angsting over everything in life.
I have lived a lot in my 45 years, and I love to read about people going
through things that I go through or that I will soon go through. And believe
me, there are plenty of other 40-plus people out there who feel the same way.
Admit it, when you hear about a 64-year-old person, you think of a lady/man
with white hair, a house dress/pants up to his armpits sitting in rocking
chairs on the porch reading news papers and knitting. But in all actuality, people in their sixties
can be alive, vibrant and sexy. One of my baby boomer romances features a
character named Jack. He’s still trim and muscular from his work, he’s covered
in tattoos and scars, and is still able to bring his girlfriend to her
knees. (Yes, I’m being a bit coy here
because what I really wanted to say is not appropriate for all audiences.) Bottom line is that people of all ages are
interested in books with older characters, and some of those that haven’t even
tried might find that they like them. And I want to be one of the people to
give these amazing heroes and heroines a voice…an accurate voice.
The third reason I think these types of books are important
is because the underdog is usually worth
fighting for, and in the genre of romance, baby boomer/older romances are just that. I believe it is time
for a change. New Adult and Erotica
stories have had a great run at the forefront of the genre, but I think there
is plenty of room to give another sub-genre a chance to shine. It’s all cyclical and now is the time in the
cycle for NA and Erotica to move along to the next step in the circle and let
Baby Boomer/Mature love stories rule for a bit. They’ll get their chance again.
Besides, everybody loves second chances, and these older characters are pretty
much guaranteed to be involved in their second chance at love. And despite the
images we have in our head about older people, they can have some pretty damn
good sex that will make you just as weak in the knees as a scene involving a
couple of twenty-year-olds. Don’t
believe me? Stay tuned!
If you are interested you can pre-order Fate's Encore: A Baby Boomer Love Story
Amazon (Available on Kindle Unlimited)
http://goo.gl/YHP3w3
