A Quilt is More than Fragments By age 92 my mother was no longer independent, though she lived in the house my parents had bought sixty years before. My brother and I were far away, and Mom depended on the kindness of neighbors and a bit of hired help to shop for her, do her […] | Continue reading
Small-Press Publishing in 2024 Flashback to 1988 in San Francisco when I was the publisher of Foghorn Press, a start-up with no capital. We had big dreams—dreams that actually manifested in high sales. Each year, we shipped 40,000 copies of our lead title, the guidebook Californi … | Continue reading
What to Expect When You Are Seventy Having been in my seventies for all of six months, I am only marginally qualified to write about this decade. But never having been reticent about sharing an opinion, whether informed or not, here is what I know so far. If you’re a Crone in Tra … | Continue reading
Embracing Sensuality in Midlife: A Journey of Liberation and Self-Expression If you would have asked me in my twenties and thirties to show up on social media and modeling campaigns in my bra and knickers, I would have run a mile! I wasn’t comfortable looking at myself in the mir … | Continue reading
Three Crones to Watch Out For The subject of “super-agers” came up in a recent Old School Office Hours (which, in case you aren’t familiar with it, is a weekly Zoom gathering of folks interested in anti-ageism, convened by the esteemed Ashton Applewhite). You know who we mean by … | Continue reading
The Vista of Years In this decade of my life, I find writing about my childhood in the 1960s to be comforting. I don’t write exclusively about that era; many of my personal essays chronicle more recent years with my husband and daughter and our rural life in Western North Carolin … | Continue reading
Drugs after 60 – And Not The Fun Kind I react badly to most medications – sometimes badly enough to warrant a MedWatch report to FDA. A bit ironic, given that I spent my career in biotech writing submissions to FDA for product approvals. But knowing what I do about medical regula … | Continue reading
Schroedinger’s Breast: Welcome to Mammogram-O-Rama When the mammogram center called the week after my scan, I knew it was not good news. Those folks don’t ring you up to say hi. “Your scan shows calcifications,” the woman said. “We need you to come in to see if we can resolve you … | Continue reading
A Next Life Bucket List “I have a next life bucket list: More sex, better singing voice, the ability to tan.” –Billie Berlin, interviewed in Aphrodite’s Pen: The Power of Writing Erotica after Midlife I don’t believe in reincarnation. I don’t believe in much, actually, except an … | Continue reading
Roe v Wade – The Voices Project The Supreme Court handed down Dobbs v. Jackson in June 2022, reversing the 1975 Roe v. Wade decision that established abortion as a constitutional right. When women say, We will not go back to back-alley abortions, that raises the question: What wa … | Continue reading
3 Steps to Push Back on Medical Ageism When my mother trained in the Cadet Nursing Corps during World War II, the young nurses were taught that physicians could do no wrong. But, paradoxically, if a doctor made a mistake, it was the nurses’ duty to cover for the doctor. Mom worke … | Continue reading
God Save the Queen In the Fall of 2022 I received several emails, cards and a phone call offering me condolences because Queen Elizabeth II had died. I was touched but surprised. I hadn’t thought about the royals much since I left England in 1976, though I was aware of the queen’ … | Continue reading
Medicare for Some Five years ago when I turned 65 it was time to choose my Medicare path. The choice took about five minutes. I knew nothing about Original Medicare, MediGap plans, and Medicare Advantage plans (except that Original Medicare sounded a bit like KFC Original Recipe) … | Continue reading
Collaborative Women – The Path is Easier with a Friend Joan: You and I met a quarter of a century ago, working for a public relations company called CIIC in Nyack, north of New York City. We were freelancers working remotely before that was a thing, so we must have met at a comp … | Continue reading
In Which the Author Interviews Herself Over the past five years I’ve interviewed lots of authors for my blog. And with the launch of my new novel, “Vampires of a Certain Age” this month, I thought: Why not interview me? So here goes… Me: What on Earth made you de … | Continue reading
A Memoirist Discovers the Magic of Fiction Linda Joy Myers A memoirist for decades, I’m still in a bit of shock having just published a novel! My debut historical fiction book The Forger of Marseille was released in early July, and so far all signs suggest that people are interes … | Continue reading
Fear Sells – Revisiting the Brain Health Registry In 2020 I signed up for a clinical study out of UCSF called the Brain Health Registry. This study of 100,000 people uses online questions and cognitive testing to gauge brain health over time. Its stated goal is to enhance researc … | Continue reading
A Coming-of-Middle-Age Commencement Address: The Intersection of What If and What Next I published my first novel a mere six days after my eldest child graduated high school. The metaphor is not lost on me. In fact, the juxtaposition of these milestones helped me process my feeli … | Continue reading
Crone Culture Becca Levy’s work at Yale University proves that for the sake of our health and longevity, it is essential to cultivate a positive attitude about aging. One great approach is to explore the culture of women past midlife. Because here is the secret: Despite the often … | Continue reading
Waiting for Friday….. About my new book… My new novel Under the Blue Moon is about a woman who has been living for years with grief and regret and a man who, as a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, has recently become homeless. The book cuts back and forth […] | Continue reading
Let She Who Grows Her Chin Hairs Cast the First Stone I have had it up to here with women who critique other women’s appearance—and that includes me. I was totally judgmental when I first saw the photos of Madonna from the 2023 Grammys. Her look provoked an uncanny valley reacti … | Continue reading
Please Stop Apologizing for Contacting Me Dear Women 50+, It doesn’t take more than a few clicks to find publications aimed at women over 50 years of age. My first try brings me to “15 Over 50 Magazines & Publications.” The next article is from the Guardian informing me about the … | Continue reading
A Week of Fun Pro-Age Writing Prompts We know that age positivity is good for us. Pushing back on internalized ageism helps us live longer, healthier, happier lives. We also know that creativity is powerfully important, especially during our older years. And, too, we know that th … | Continue reading
The Second Half Is Better When I was 32, I was at a gas station filling up the tank when I caught my reflection in the car window. I stared at myself for a long time. It was the first time I had noticed that my jowls were hanging a little lower than I remembered. […] | Continue reading
10 Steps To A Great Revenge Novel A woman posted on social media that she was obsessed with getting back at her ex from twenty years ago. He had done her wrong and she was still fuming. “Get therapy,” one woman advised. Sounded pricey. Another chimed in: “Just forget him.” Easier … | Continue reading
If Thy Uterus Offend Thee… According to author Deborah Copaken, Nora Ephron had three rules for middle aged happiness: “Gather friends and feed them, laugh in the face of calamity, and cut out all the things––people, jobs, body parts––that no longer serve you.” And by body parts, … | Continue reading
No Longer Invisible: Empowered After Fifty When in my early sixties, I sensed something had shifted—I felt like people ignored me more often. When I went shopping, I noticed it became harder to get salespeople’s attention; sometimes, they acted like they couldn’t see me. I felt d … | Continue reading
A Late Valentine for Late Bloomers February, with its hearts and flowers, is a great month to consider what each of us wants romantically, sensually, and sexually. After all, we are born to be creative and sensual. It’s no surprise that studies show that sex after sixty is good f … | Continue reading
Polyamorous Elders: Aging in Open Relationships If polyamory is new or unfamiliar to you, you aren’t alone! Until a few years ago, most people who practiced any relationship style other than monogamy were very discreet and kept their polyamorous lives private. Nonmonogamous relat … | Continue reading
4 Ways You Can Be Fit Old and Fat My friend Nancy is in her eighties and obsessed with her weight. A small woman, Nancy is intent on becoming even smaller. She meets with a nutritionist and restricts her calorie intake, believing that this will improve her health and prolong her … | Continue reading
Making the Rounds: Defying Norms in Love and Medicine In 2022 we featured guest essays by several women memoirists. These blogs are windows onto lives lived in parallel with ours. Billie Best gave her perspective on caring for a dying philanderer when she wrote about her book, H … | Continue reading
Women, Age, and Money My grandmother was a young woman during the Great Depression. From that era forward, regardless of her circumstances, she counted every penny. At the grocery store, she inspected each green bean to make sure it was worthy before adding it to her cart. When m … | Continue reading
Invisibility As A Superpower Deanna Raybourn’s new novel, Killers of a Certain Age, is everything a crone could hope for in a tale about a trio of sixty-something women assassins. As Raybourn says in our interview below, “I was supposed to be writing women doing unexpected, cool, … | Continue reading
We Are All Zebras Now “I’d rather not renew your prescription for hormone replacement therapy because it increases the risk of stroke,” said my doctor. Which was ironic, given what happened next. But even during that phone call I was not convinced. “From the literature, it looks … | Continue reading
Women of a Certain Superpower My journey as a writer started fifteen years ago and it feels like I’ve taken a long walk on a rough road, wearing the wrong kind of shoes. In print media, I have written a deeply flawed first novel, and a self-published novella. A producer friend of … | Continue reading
The Legs are The Last to Go One day last summer I was walking into the grocery store in shorts when a young man ahead of me looked over his shoulder and gave me the once-over. He started at my feet and looked interested, then quizzical, then somewhat abashed as his gaze travelled … | Continue reading
Inspiring the Boomers Podcast It was March 19, 2020, and I was driving home after spending the spring break vacation with my son and his family in Panama City Beach. It was a strange vacation. We were all aware of the rapid spread of the Corona virus, yet there was so little info … | Continue reading
The New Improved Pink Tax Much has been written about the Pink Tax, which, despite the name, is not an actual tax. It refers to the practice of charging more for products intended for sale to women, where an almost identical product for men costs less. The same manufacturer may c … | Continue reading
Better Late: A Neurodiverse Love Story “I deserve so much better,” I whisper into my husband’s ear as we embrace in the kitchen. Alex’s barrel chest and round belly press against me. “Yesterday you left me waiting for you at the restaurant,” I remind him. “That’s not okay. You … | Continue reading
Get Out Your TugBoat In 1971, Erica Jong interviewed the legendary Anais Nin, who was then in her sixties. Jong asked Nin why she allowed her publisher to cut the sex out of her diaries. “Women who write about sex are never taken seriously as writers,” said Nin. “That’s exactly w … | Continue reading
An Open Letter to the New York Times Dear New York Times: I now live several states away and read your paper on a screen. Still, the daily experience of reading the Times brings me back to the 1970s: to mornings in Brooklyn with a poppyseed bagel in one hand and a newspaper in th … | Continue reading
Work Sucks for Women Too. Regardless of Our Age. Years ago I worked with a woman who won nine million dollars in the California state lottery. The lottery folks suggested she take a monthly payout but she said no thanks, she wanted it all. After taxes she got just over three mil … | Continue reading
Vote With Your Feet on Abortion Leverage our Post-Menopausal Freedom after the Dobbs Ruling If, like me, you’re a woman way past menopause, you don’t have to worry about an unplanned pregnancy derailing or threatening your life. Other things might throw us: an off-calendar heart … | Continue reading
The Romance Revolution Is the romance novel a tool of the patriarchy? Or exactly the opposite? That depends… Origins of the Romance Novel In the early twentieth century, novels for women provided messages of purity and refinement. Publishers were reluctant to run afoul of purit … | Continue reading