Seasoned Romance | Mary J. McCoy-Dressel ~ Contemporary Romance

Tag: Seasoned Romance

Short Snippet Saturday: Moving On ~ Our Ranch Mom Makes A Decision

Posted at 10:00 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on January 11, 2020

long stem red rose laying on sheet music, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Western Romance, Blog Post Short Snippet Saturday

Howdy! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas or holiday that you celebrate and a Happy New Year. Welcome 2020! 🎉

“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Here’s a rare short snippet from a work in progress. I’ve lived with these characters for eight books now. Three of those are from the spin off series books. Nine, if we count Judy’s presence in Christmas at Love House: A Bittersweet Interlude–the Bull Rider Series–a crossover book where she and Jase visit her sister-in-law, Dolly for the holidays.

Today, I’m featuring our ranch matriarch Judy Carlson. The book is finished and ready to go to the editor depending on her schedule. Oh, it has a title I love!

Judy has pined for her husband Bill since the day she’d lost him, so moving on wasn’t part of her life’s agenda. However, one of my favorite parts in this book is when Judy makes a particular decision.

I say one of my favorite parts, but there are lots more.

She had many to make in the book. Indeed, I once had to make the same decision and some others that Judy had to make.

It’s been a long time coming, so those of you who are waiting patiently, please hang in there a while longer.

Snippet:

In her bedroom, she sat at the vanity and peered into the oval mirror. Hadn’t she done this a lot lately? This time, she opened her worn wooden jewelry box with the rose inlay on the top, given to her by her grandmother. The creaky hinge evoked memories of her. She removed the gold band from her finger and peered at the empty spot—the tan line a reminder—on her hand. Judy sighed as she sought a name for the emotions washing over her. Sadness. Gladness.

Bittersweet tears welled in her eyes as she recognized contentment over her decisions of late. She gently lowered the band into its faded white cushioned spot. She smiled, closed the lid on the box, again with the squeaky hinge, and tucked it into the bottom drawer. Judy laid her hand over the box a moment before closing it in and out of sight. Staring at herself in the mirror, she whispered, “It’s a new day.”

I can relate to Judy in many ways. I’ve been through some roller coaster emotions of my own while writing Book Five. Like Judy, I wanted my grown boys to approve of me remarrying. Neither my boys nor I had to deal with most of what Judy had/has to deal with–one is choosing the right man out of two.

You didn’t think I’d give my ranch mom and easy time of it, did you? I’ve apologized to her a few times.

I know if my situation was the same, my boys would’ve jumped in like Tristan, Jase, and Dane. I do remember my youngest son stepping in and asking me to ask myself a question before I said “I do” the second time. In addition, he asked several times if I was sure.

Judy’s guy: Showing more of the picture would give too much away for readers of the series. In real life, the model is a personal trainer, so you know I had to run with that in the book. Judy didn’t mind a bit. 💕

Book character Portrayal.

Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight, Western romance, book heroine, mary j mccoy dressel books

My vision of Judy Carlson. Character Portrayal is not to be confused with the real model.

Thanks for stopping by today. Sorry my jibber-jabber is longer than the excerpt.

I’m praying we’ll get through this mess of a storm coming my way this weekend. You know it’s going to be bad when your energy company sends an announcement about being prepared and how they are gearing up, not if, but when, power lines are down all over. Ekk!

Enjoy yours.

Image credits-

Judy: Dreamstime

Jewelry Box: Pixabay Public Domain Pictures

Judy’s guy. I personally purchased the image from a cover model.

Posted in #AmWriting, #WritersLife, Double Dutch Ranch Series, Seasoned Romance | 15 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, Double Dutch Ranch Series Love at First Sight, mary j mccoy dressel, Romance, Seasoned Romance, Short Snippet Saturday: Moving On ~ Our Ranch Mom Makes A Decision, western romance

Seasoned Romance: Young at Heart Heroes and Heroines

Posted at 11:54 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on July 26, 2019

Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Seasoned Romance Blog Post, senior couple, beach, man drawing a heart in the sand with a stick

TODAY I’M POSTING something completely different from a regular Friday post. Writing books—romance books—featuring mature couples because I have a book coming up with a mature heroine. I suggest pouring a beverage if you plan to stick around. This is long. I wrote this post at least a month ago to fill in for a Friday post. Today is the day.

If this was a 52-Week Blog Challenge post, the topic this week is: Bucket List Have or Have Not, so it’s a variation of a previous topic. I’ve posted my Bucket List in a previous year.

When I say “couple” as female and male in this post or on my blog, I do so because it is what I write so it fits my blog. We all know romance and falling in love can happen to anyone and everyone no matter who you love.

I’ve been researching the genre called Seasoned Romance. Here’s an example.

Some websites write that the characters in this genre/sub-genre are over forty and up. Some even say thirties.

If thirty is the case, all of my books are Seasoned Romances because none of my main characters have been under thirty except for Natale in Christmas at Love House, A Bittersweet Interlude.

She isn’t really a main character but an important secondary character because the story is partially about her too.

Now, at this point in my multiple series, the heroines and heroes are in their mid-thirties and beyond. My brand-new upcoming series hero in book one is forty. His sister is older than him by two years. There are three younger brothers.

In searching Amazon, numerous books came up under Seasoned Romance. I noticed some “sponsored products” or “advertised products” showed a short description specifying the main characters as forty in those books.

I guess I write seasoned romance. Who knew? Ha-ha.

I’m mentioning this because my upcoming heroine is in her sixty’s. That’s right Double Dutch Ranch readers. Through the progress of the series, Judy Carlson has slipped into a new decade and a few years beyond. She’s far from old. To avoid the idea that she may be lonely, she distracts herself with her grandkids, the horses, and the ranch because she still pines for her first love, Bill Carlson.

Nonetheless, Judy discovers much about herself while rediscovering what she’s missed for well over a decade. This lady is not beyond eyeing a hard body, or a worn ranch foreman’s strong arms from tossing bales of hay for a lifetime, or sexy eyes on a distinguished looking man with salt and pepper hair.

My goodness, she isn’t dead! Once accepting it, she’s thrilled about her new internal and external revelations.

My debacle is in questioning whether I can call this book a Seasoned Romance because my cowboys get a say throughout the story in their POVs.

I can’t write her story, this story, without letting her family talk and share their own thoughts, and they have many. It’s because of their ages and their role in the story, that made me think I couldn’t call this book a Seasoned Romance.

Research has told me it’s okay.

This one is about Judy as the main character, but they all have their own little stories with updates about their lives going on—in their words.

However, I don’t consider my other books to be Seasoned Romance and haven’t promoted them as such. Maybe I should.

A year ago or more, when I mentioned writing this book to a woman some years younger than me, but still a senior, she told me she could never read about an older couple and especially an older couple having sex, so she wouldn’t buy a book in my character’s age group—my sixty-some-year-old heroine. She’s an author of steamy romance, so she isn’t against reading or writing love scenes, but this thing called Seasoned Romance would not appeal to her. I bet she isn’t alone in her thinking.

Let me tell you…

Like Judy, I had become a dating senior woman with two men younger than me, and then I became a wife. Honey, I’m not dead or blind, either.

No, I didn’t date them at the same time! One relationship lasted for five years. The other one I married six months after meeting. I’ve lived through my own seasoned romances.

Regroup. Ah, there we go…

I can’t speak for all, but women in Judy’s age group and older, still crave passion and desire and have a lot to give in that department. Match that up with a lifetime of experience while still having the ability to keep on learning. I learned some new things. Whew! We’ll stop there.

I hope this leaves you–dear Double Dutch Ranch reader and new readers–curious as to how I handled sensuality in the book—referring to Judy, of course. I wondered how I’d write it too. Once I followed the characters wants and needs, I had no problem.

Her sons are still hot-blooded-sexy and their heroines are sexual and sensual even in their late thirties and forties. This doesn’t change in my upcoming book within their POVs. I can’t believe I said “even” in their late thirties and forties. To me, that age group is not…uh, um…for lack of a better word, senior.

I use the words steamy, sexy, sexual, and sensual, but I don’t write erotic romance.

To some, my books are more sensual than they’d like. To others, it isn’t enough. So, I write what is right for me and my characters.

Most of you following my blog don’t read romance, or my romance, I should say. For those of you who do read romance whether sweet, steamy, or anything in between, would you read a romance about a couple in their sixties and beyond? Maybe, like me, you wouldn’t know until you read one.

Any thoughts?

Yes, even though I do LOVE COWBOYS and the whole western environment, I’ll read other books. Most of my Kindle and iPad books are western unless I have purchased books by fellow author friends who write different genres of contemporary romance.

I, as a writer, still need to slip into other worlds now and then.

At the time I read those books, I never gave a thought to writing a seasoned romance until readers asked me to write about older couples. It wasn’t called seasoned then. Maybe mature romance? Unfortunately, in a search for mature romance, what came up wasn’t what I had expected. <eye roll>

You might find this website interesting. It features Author Nan Reinhardt. Is Seasoned Romance a Real Thing? Coincidentally, Jacquie Biggar, hosted Nan Reinhardt on her blog today.

I have read a couple of Nan Reinhardt’s books and thoroughly enjoyed them.

A couple of the authors at these links might be members of Marketing for Romance Writers group, but we’ve never corresponded. I came across these links while searching the topic of seasoned romance and recognized names, but I didn’t post the links because of recognizing them, but because it gave you a couple sites to take a peek at if you’re curious. Maybe you’ll take a chance on reading a seasoned romance with mature couples.

Maybe when Judy’s book comes out, you’ll take a chance on reading one of mine.