By
Nike Chillemi
At one time, the thought of a senior citizen widower
and a senior widow falling in love was taboo and scandalous. Seniors who had
lost a spouse through death or divorce were supposed to visit their children,
babysit their grandchildren, perhaps get a pet and be content with that.
Well today's 80 is the new 70 and 60, the new 50. Today's
seniors are often active members of senior citizen centers where they socialize
and participate in a wide variety of activities. They take classes such as CPR,
knitting, sketching and drawing, and cake decorating. They participate in
activities such as ping-pong, yoga, swimming, and movie night. They take trips
in a group to the local library, museum, and theatre.
Seniors
travel within the United States and around the globe with others of their age
through Elder Hostel. There are a host of opportunities to become attracted to
a member of the opposite sex, fall in love, and get married in their golden
years. If they can't find someone at their senior center or in their senior
travel group, then there are senior dating groups and services springing up
online to assist in that.
I've always wanted to see more senior love stories in
fiction, specifically, in Christian fiction. I'm an advocate of fiction that
reflects life. When I look around in today's world, I see vital, active seniors
going out and enjoying life. So, in fiction, I want to see seniors getting out
of ye olde wicker rocking chair and
dancing the light fantastic. Perhaps
that's why I wrote a senior love story into my detective novel, HARMFUL INTENT.
My senior characters Hoot Dagney and Bertha, are
secondary characters and one of the main comic interests in what has been
termed a zany, seat-of-the-pants detective story. Bertha is a widow and though
Hoot's backstory is not delved into, at the opening of the story he is a
bachelor. I strove to write two characters who would tickle the readers' funny
bones and warm their heart's, while they have the utmost respect for the two characters'
strong Christian beliefs. I can't tell you the number of readers who have said
they were charmed and delighted by Bertha and Hoot's love story.
That said, I encourage writer's to create interesting
and vital senior characters, who live full lives, and that would include
romance in their lives. That could be married romance, but would certainly not
exclude two single seniors falling head-over-heels in love, as Bertha and Hoot
did in HARMFUL INTENT.
Author Bio
Like so many writers, Nike Chillemi started writing
at a very young age. She still has the Crayola, fully illustrated book she
penned (colored might be more accurate) as a little girl about her then
off-the-chart love of horses. Today, you might call her a crime fictionista.
Her passion is crime fiction. She likes her bad guys really bad and her good
guys smarter and better.
Nike is the founding board member of the Grace
Awards and is its Chairman, a reader's choice awards for excellence in
Christian fiction. She writes book reviews for The Christian Pulse online
magazine. She was an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery
category and a judge in the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Carol Awards in the suspense,
mystery, and romantic suspense categories.
Her four
novel Sanctuary Point series, set in the mid-1940s has won awards and garnered
critical acclaim. Her new contemporary whodunit, HARMFUL INTENT released under
the auspices of her own publishing company, Crime Fictionista Press finaled in
the Grace Awards 2014.
She is a member of American Christian Fiction
Writers (ACFW), Christian Indie Novelists (CHIN) and the Edgy Christian Fiction
Lovers.
Amazon Author Page
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