Dating Over 50 is heading to an editor.
Hello, friends—
When I started writing Dating Over 50: The Clearance Rack of Modern Romance, I had no idea how quickly it would take shape—or how much material dating after fifty would provide. Apparently, the clearance rack is extremely well stocked.
The manuscript is nearing completion. I’ve finished most of the essays, and I’m working through the remaining sections with the goal of sending the full manuscript to developmental editor Laurie Gough in November.
That feels like a pretty significant milestone.
A developmental edit is the point where someone other than me gets to look at the entire book and ask the important questions: Does it work as a whole? Does it drag anywhere? Are there places that need more? Less? Does the emotional arc hold together? And, perhaps most importantly, have I told the same story about a man in a hotel twice without realizing it?
Once Laurie’s feedback comes back, I’ll revise and polish the manuscript and begin preparing it for publication.
Over the past few months, Dating Over 50 has grown into something a little different from what I first imagined. It’s still funny—because dating at this age provides material faster than I could possibly use it—but underneath the bad profiles, awkward encounters, disappearing men, baggage, sex, exes, and general absurdity, the book has become increasingly about something else:
Why we keep trying.
Why, after everything we’ve accumulated by this age—history, scars, responsibilities, disappointments, very strong opinions, and bodies that occasionally make executive decisions without consulting us—we still want intimacy. We still want companionship. We still want someone to reach for us in the middle of the night.
And I think that may ultimately be what this book is about.
Thank you for following along while I figure it out. I’ll keep you posted as the manuscript heads into its next stage.
Publication update: Dating Over 50 is now scheduled for February 14, 2027.