Love Knows No Age Group

I don't usually respond to reviews, positive or negative. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, and who am I to say they're wrong? But I had to laugh at--and respond to--a review that I recently got on my novel, Sexless?.

In case you haven't read it, Sexless? tells the story of Toni and Elaine, two women in their 60s, experiencing same-sex love for the very first time. Their affair is further complicated by the fact that one of the women, Elaine, has gone through a hysterectomy and a double mastectomy and feels...well...sexless.

Anyway, the reviewer's comment was, "This just doesn't ring true to its age group. Behaviors were very junior high." Oh, she must mean that scene where Toni steals Elaine's little dog to force a confrontation. Or the scene where Elaine, convinced that Toni is cheating on her, stops answering all of Toni's calls and texts. Or the scene where...never mind. You'll see for yourself when you read the book.

When I read the review, I just shook my head. Since when does reaching a certain age guarantee that one will always behave with wisdom and maturity? Watching politicians, many in their 60s and 70s, muck up the entire world should teach us better than that. And anyway, Toni and Elaine are in the throes of their first lesbian romance. They're dealing with passion, uncertainty, jealousy, clueless family members, internalized homophobia, and ageism, to name only a few obstacles. Many of these feelings are completely new to them.

Lost in uncharted territory, they don't always handle themselves with perfect decorum. They make mistakes, and some of those mistakes are pretty junior-high-ish. But then all people in love, not just young people in love, sometimes behave in a cringe-worthy fashion, from making puppy dog eyes at each other in public, to sexting, to slamming down the phone after a heated argument over nothing.

But, just as all people in love are capable of the worst behavior, they are also capable of the best behavior--showing tenderness and compassion, bestowing healing, and helping each other grow and become better human beings. I hope I've managed to convey all of that in Sexless? as well.

So, are Toni and Elaine "untrue to their age group"? That's a matter of opinion, and you all know where I stand. I believe they are very true to their life circumstances, whatever their ages may be.

:::Sticking out tongue::: So there.