I've sent my Lumberjack book off to the editor. The weenie dog book is chugging along nicely. And I have about 7 other WIPs I'm working on. Paranormal, a mystery, Christmas story, etc etc. So, I had to make a decision. What to work on next?
It's hard to figure out what the next big trend will be in romance. Or anything for that matter. Who could have guessed that a poorly written vanilla BDSM book with an a-hole hero and a dim wit heroine would be a huge sensation? Or a sparkly vampire? Or a wizard? What will be the next big thing?
To be honest, I couldn't care less. And I never have. I have always been attracted to the stuff that is outside of the box. The stuff that is a little bit different, wacky, unusual, quirky. Something that is NOT the big trend, but rather....bucks the trend.
Well, I have no idea if hairy, beardy lumberjacks will become a big trend, but I sure do love them. And that's just fine with me.
I had a character in my head, and he's old, he's curmudgeonly, and he falls in love unexpectedly. He's a great character. And I decided, even though "Old People In Love" is not exactly a hot trend in romance (haaaaaaa!), I'm writing the damned thing.
So, without further ado, here's the beginning of OLD PEOPLE IN LOVE - A GERIATRIC LOVE STORY by Penny Watson.....
❀
Chapter One
The Old Coot
“I
would like to reiterate that I think this is a horrible idea. Awful. What the
hell were we thinking?” Karen let out a long-suffering sigh and glared at her
husband.
John
attempted to toss his empty beer bottle into the recycling bin. He missed. It
rolled across the warped kitchen floor and stopped a couple of inches from the
door.
“You’re
over-reacting, Karen. It’s not that big a deal. Your mom can handle my dad for
a few days. We’ll be there Wednesday. How bad could it be?”
Karen
leaned over to collect the errant bottle. She whipped it side-arm across the
kitchen. It sailed right under the counter and banked off the back of the bin.
John was impressed. But then again, he was often impressed by Karen. The woman
could cook like a pro, balance the checkbook, and blow him till his eyes
crossed. She was a good wife. Great even. But she worried about her mom. And
although he wouldn’t admit it, she might have a good reason to at the moment.
“Your
dad is a son-of-a-bitch. He has no social skills, hates visitors, and is
down-right combative when anyone tries to tell him what to do.” She planted a
hand on her denim-covered hip and took a deep breath to control her anger. Her
breasts, plump and ripe, rose and fell under John’s watchful eyes. “My mom is
polite to a fault, wants to please everyone, and gives advice like Dear
Freakin’ Abby. Those two are going to kill each other after spending five days
together. I should have booked a room for my mom at the inn in South Hardin.”
John
pushed himself off the island and sauntered over to Karen. He planted his arms
on either side of her lush hips and smiled. “Honey. We tried to get her a room.
It was booked because of the holiday. There’s nothing we can do. Your mom and
my dad will manage to survive five days together, and everything will be fine.”
Secretly, he was thinking Mrs. Shackel might end up sleeping in her car after
twenty four hours. Maybe twelve. His dad was tough. John shrugged and lowered
his face to his wife’s cleavage. “Nice view.”
Karen
giggled. “Don’t try to distract me, you horn dog.”
He
rubbed his face back and forth and then howled mournfully.
Karen
grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked up his head.
“Ow!
Take it easy, hon.” Well, hell. She had that
goofy look in her eye. He could probably squeeze in a quick BJ before the game
started.
“I
can’t believe we got a burst pipe this week. Thank God Joey can repair it
tomorrow. Hopefully my mom will make the best of it.” She kissed his forehead.
It was sappy, but he loved it when she did that. “I guess my mom will stay busy
cooking Thanksgiving dinner. We’ll probably have a seventy two course meal by
the time we get there.”
He
laughed. “Yeah. With my dad’s head on a platter.”
Karen
laughed, too. “With an apple stuffed in his mouth.”
“And
a cigarette hanging out the side.”
“My
mom makes really good apple stuffing.” Karen bit her lip. She was still
nervous, he could tell. He slid down to the floor and kissed her puss right
through the front of her jeans.
“How
‘bout I stuff you, sweet thing?”
Karen
shook her head. “You have a way with words, John.”
He
missed half of the first quarter.
❀
:^)
Hope everyone has a great day,
Penny
21 comments:
Old people fall in love... :-)
Old people should have love too! :)
Ah yes. I sense a great novella!
Yes, Anny, they do. And I, for one, would love to read about it! Where are all the "older" couple love stories?
Hi Amber....I agree! I'm tired of perfect-bodied 20-something characters.
Thanks, Julia. Here I go.......
You are awesome Penny! Keep outside of that box!
I read a romance once with "old people," I think in their 60s. It was by Danielle Steel(e?) iirc. It was pretty good!
With a beginning like that, I know I'd read it. Anyway, I love older lead characters but they are few and far between.
Tasha....There you go. 60s is good. 50s is good. 40s is good. Really, any age is good. The women who are reading romances are not all twenty years old.
Hey Casey! You know me....I hate the box! (Unless it's a box of dark chocolates!)
Hi JenM! I know...I am always looking for books w/ older lead characters. Someone just sent me a great list from AAR. http://www.likesbooks.com/older.html
Come stay with Ishbel and me, although I keep getting slapped (37 years and she still hasn't cottoned on I like getting slapped) when I refer to us as the old peeps ... and you can get plenty of material
Yes!! I'm a bit tired of the 20 something characters in many romance novels. Cuz now I'm 40. The heroine in my WIP is 38. I may change her to 40.
And, 7 WIPs....?! dang! That's a lot of ideas!
Yeah, I was a teenager when I read it. lol The important thing is that the characters have chemistry and a believable emotional connection, no matter what age they are.
Tom....You and Ishbel are totally inspiring. Love is wonderful at any age. ❤❤❤
HMCW---I would LOVE to read a book with a heroine who is 38-40 years old. Bring it!
Tasha....Exactly. I think that Europeans are less likely to be bothered by images/stories about "older" folks than Americans. Americans still seem to be obsessed with younger celebrities and models, etc.
Thanks for the link. I will check these out. Dear Author had a discussion on this a few months ago and I picked up some books as a result (those discussions are very dangerous to my pocketbook LOL). The books I grabbed were Dedication by Janet Mullany, Turning Thirty-twelve by Sandy James, and One for the Road by Lynne Marshal ( this one's a bonus because it features a washed-up singer and I'm a total sucker for those).
Just found this freebie on Amazon. It will probably only be good for a few days - Time to Love Again by Roseanne Dowell. It features a 58 YO lead character.
Thanks, Jen! :^)
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