• Home
  • About Rebecca
  • SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER
  • @RebeccaOver60 on YouTube
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Me

Baby Boomster

Active Women Over 50

Shop with me - My product recommendations

  • Recipes
  • Travel Planning for Seniors
  • Old Lady Product Reviews
  • Visit My Amazon Storefront
You are here: Home / Baby Boomers - Women Over 50 / books / The Royals: Five Retired Journalists Solve a Mystery
Privacy Policy This post may contain Amazon and other affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

The Royals: Five Retired Journalists Solve a Mystery

by John Muncie 2 Comments

My friend Ron Kolb, and I have been talking about writing a novel together for 50 years. And talking and talking. We’d probably still be at it if my wife, Jody Jaffe, finally fed up, hadn’t ordered us to “stop blathering and start writing.”

So, we did. Our book, “The Royals” is about five retired journalists who set out to uncover the truth behind the mysterious suicide of a local high school football star.

Purchase The Royals on Amazon

However, that’s just the plot.

The book’s soul is the search for relevance in a world that discounts aging and the reigniting of the flame of love.

I was a newspaper guy for 35 years. My career began in 1970 when I got hired by the Riverside (California) Press-Enterprise. That’s where I met Ron, a rookie sportswriter from Penn State.

“The Royals” is named after the manual typewriters we started out on at the Press-Enterprise. And the five protagonists are based on Ron and me and our colleagues at the paper. 

But the flame of love? That has a different genesis. Here’s how it’s introduced in the book:

And it all began with Lori. Natalie Lorelei Rooney.

The first time I saw her, she was sitting in the News & Times’ glassed-in meeting room, interviewing with Gordon for a job. She was diminutive, with sharp, Hepburn-esque features (some Audrey, some Katherine) framed by a thundercloud of flaming-red hair. She seemed to swagger just sitting there. I saw her smile. She smiled brilliantly. 

My brain started melting. 

I quickly wrote a note on a strip of copy paper, folded it, and walked over to the meeting room.  “So sorry to interrupt, Gordon,” I said, sticking my head in the door. “But I thought you should see this before the afternoon news meeting.”  I handed him the note, smiled at the redhead, and walked back to my desk.

Gordon unfolded the paper, glanced at my message, looked across the newsroom at me, and scowled. Then he tried to hide a smile. My note had only two words: “Hire her.” 

That’s a true story; that’s not the true redhead. 

In the book, the narrator, Scott Thorton, carries a torch for Lori through different jobs, different wives, and different lives until they reunite, along with three others from their early newspaper days, in retirement on an island outside Seattle.

The real diminutive redhead is Jody, my “stop blathering” wife. She and I met in the late ’90s, after our own job changes and broken marriages. She, too, had been in the newspaper business. In fact, a profile she wrote of Jessica Hahn is included in the package that won the Gold Medal Pulitzer Prize for public service in the late ‘80s.

By the time we met, she’d written three horse mysteries. And, early on in our relationship, we wrote a couple of rom-coms together. Then, nearly 20 years ago, we left the novel-writing world behind to start a horse farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

So, when Ron and I began “The Royals” we were in desperate need for advice on our Lori character. How would she think? How would she talk? How would she fight for relevance in her retirement years? How could we make her real?

Characters in novels are often (if not always) infused with the emotions and experiences of their authors.  “The Royals” is no different. Our characters are retired journalists, and so are we. They’ve loved and lost and loved again. We have, too.

But what’s inside you isn’t always enough.

To make our Lori real we needed the emotions and life experiences of an outside expert. Voila! Jody. She’s an expert at being a woman, and she became our surrogate Lori.

We would write a conversation between Lori and Scott and then give it to Jody. She’d rewrite our clumsy, cardboard Lori into a living, vibrant woman.

Lori and Scott circle around each other through the first half of the book and eventually go to bed together. It’s disastrous. But, in a way, the disaster clarifies their true feelings. And forces them to honestly face their ever-shortening future. 

Ron and I thought that we should boil down this moment into an email from Lori to Scott. When we showed it to Jody. . .well, I’d like to say she smiled gently and helped us rewrite it. In reality, she groaned. Then she turned to her inner Lori and wrote this:

Scott,

This is take 20 for this email. I’ve been writing and rewriting it since I left you at the Rosewood. Now, three hours later, I’m hitting the send button. If I don’t, I’ll keep rewriting for a week.

I don’t really know what it’s about because I’m figuring it out as I go. Remember when Aaron once told us, “I write to think”? Well, that’s what I’m doing now. Writing, thinking, trying to figure out what I want, where to go, and how not to disappoint you. 

We’ve had such a connection, or maybe misconnection, over the years (assume there’s a smiley face emoticon here). And the beginning of our story (was it really 45 years ago?) has provided me with sweet memories that I visit more frequently than you might imagine. We were both young, and our trajectories took us in separate directions. But I’ve often wondered, “Is he the one who got away?” Especially after my disastrous choice of the one who should have gotten away (grimace emoticon).  I thought I needed somebody responsible and organized. You were fun and adventurous. I thought I needed somebody to patch up my cracks. You weren’t a carpenter. After all these years, I’ve learned that I need to patch up my own cracks.

So when we reconnected on Cambridge Island, it both excited and scared me. I was finally confronted with the reality and the possibility of you and of us.  What if you/us weren’t as wonderful as I’d imagined? You know how different dreams and realities can be. And then there are all those issues that I’ve packed on in 45 years. Is there an emoticon for Lyme disease? Or losing my parents? Or my profession? What about menopause and aging? Dementia?  Is there a vibrator emoticon?   

  What I think I’m trying to say is this: please bear with me. We’re exciting together. I love it. But I’m wary of relationships. Not only because I’ve had bad ones but because I’ve been independent a long time, and I love that, too. It’s easy for an older woman to fade into the woodwork. I’m 69. I refuse to disappear.

Writing, thinking. Here’s something I’ve thought about a lot: You got me to say, “I love you.” That’s a big step for me. I want you in my life. Just give me time to work out the “how much” and “how quickly.” 

But let me say it again: I love you. I love us.

Lori

When I read Jody’s version, my brain started melting just like Scott’s.

Now, Jody has just published her own new book, “Commander Speaks.” Of course, it’s about horses; she’s an addict. But, like “The Royals,” it also features a rekindling of love between two characters — who first fell in love when they were in high school.

While writing a scene about their initial breakup, Jody turned to her own outside expert — me. “How would a 16-year-old boy feel about this?” she asked. Well, I was once a young man, so I wrote some lines of dialogue that I know would have been true for me some 55 years ago.

In a blurb for our book, Paul Levine, bestselling author of those Jake Lassiter legal thrillers, ends with these words:

 “‘The Royals’ is geezer fiction at its best, laced with sly observations, wry humor, and wise meditations on aging and the meaning of life. I hope John Muncie and Ron Kolb have plenty of typewriter ribbons for their team’s next outing.” 

In fact, Ron and I are talking about a sequel. And part of our “team” will certainly be Jody Jaffe.

Share this post:

Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn

Filed Under: books Tagged With: Books, writers

Join my newsletter and receive new posts weekly

About John Muncie

John Muncie is Intern Coordinator, Journalism Department at Washington and Lee University and author of books about criminology. He runs the publishing house Boomerverse Books with his wife.

Comments

  1. Janie says

    December 30, 2024 at 1:38 pm

    This webiste is so hard to read an article on. There are way to many ads interferring and obscuring the view of the website and article.
    Not a user freindly site at all.

    Reply
  2. Meryl says

    January 1, 2025 at 3:43 pm

    I am a mystery fan, so will definitely find this one. Great post! Happy New Year!

    Reply

Leave a comment and tell us what you think Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Welcome to Baby Boomster!

Rebecca Forstadt Olkowski - Digital Content Creator and Voice Over Actor

I’m Rebecca Olkowski and I created Baby Boomster for active older women over 50 who want to live life to the fullest without age as a boundary. How we react to aging is all about our attitude and I choose to react to it positively. I write about Fashion, Beauty, Travel, Entertainment, Wellness, Lifestyle and having FUN.

Read more about me here

  • Contact me at Rebecca@babyboomster.com
  • Media Kit
  • Writer’s Guidelines

Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube | Amazon Store

Please read my latest posts

  • The Best Resort Wear for Women Over 50 in 2025
  • Household Tools I Love to Use to Make Life Easier Over 50
  • My Late ADHD Diagnosis and the Journey to Self-Acceptance
  • Best of Baby Boomer Blogs: Wings of Hope
  • Women Over 50 Are Throwing the “Rules” Out the Window
  • The Real Secret to a Rich Retirement? Hint: It’s Not the Money
  • Air Travel Tips from the Flight Deck
  • The Best At-Home Beauty Devices for Older Women for 2025
  • Rocking the Best Jeans for Women Over 60 by Body Shape
  • To Rant or Not to Rant? That is the Question

Click Below for Popular Topics

aging author Baby Boomer blogs Baby Boomer Travel beauty Blogging Books business celebrities clothing disease prevention doctors Europe fashion over 50 Fitness over 50 fruit Health Benefits healthcare healthy eating holidays hotel International Cuisine interview longevity mental health older women pandemic product review recipe reduce stress reinvention restaurant retirement self care Self Improvement shopping skin care smart eating style over 50 Travel Over 50 vegan vegetables vegetarian women over 50 writers

Enjoy getting the news in your inbox with Morning Brew. It’s straight news with humor and puzzles.

Contact Info

  • About Baby Boomster
  • Send a message
  • Media Kit
  • Writer’s Guidelines

…………………………………………..

Rebecca Forstadt Olkowski
rebecca@babyboomster.com
Los Angeles,  CA 91001

Honors and Awards

Top 100 Baby Boomer blogs

Intellifluence Trusted Blogger

Search for a topic

Legal Stuff You Need to Know

  • Disclaimer
  • Disclosure
  • Please read my Privacy and Cookie Policy

Amazon Program Info

Rebecca Olkowski is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program, and the Amazon Influencer Program. She earns commissions from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Other affiliations are listed HERE.

INSTAGRAM | LINKEDIN |  PINTEREST |  THREADS |  YOUTUBE |  FACEBOOK |  AMAZON


BabyBoomster.com is a travel, fashion, beauty, wellness, and lifestyle blog for Baby Boomer women over 50. | Los Angeles, California

Copyright Ⓒ 2025  | BabyBoomster.com  |  All Rights Reserved

Privacy and Cookie Policy