Stella Fosse Author
Stella Fosse champions older women’s creativity by leading imaginative workshops in seasoned romance, erotica, and memoir writing. Her 2019 book, Aphrodite’s Pen, encourages ripe women to explore erotic writing as a joyful practice. She models this playful approach in her own fiction, including her novel, Brilliant Charming Bastard, and her story collection, The Erotic Pandemic Ball.
Stella blogs about topics of interest to women after midlife, including creativity, media representation, and finances. She draws on her background in biotechnology to write about older women’s health. Stella encourages guest blogs on her site by other Women of a Certain Age.
Stella appears on podcasts to talk about vivid life in the Queenage years. She also guest blogs for other writers. She lives with her partner in North Carolina.
You can find all Stella’s books here.
You can sign up for a FREE online writing class.
Stella wishes you joy exploring!
The "Why" - Stella's Manifesto.
A decade ago, I was not surprised to read an article by a romance author in her fifties recommending to her sisters that we disguise ourselves and our characters as young. Her reasoning was that young sex gets published and old sex does not. Why not pass, borrow the privilege of youth, and make more money?
But the flip side of passing is the lost opportunity to expand our horizons and educate others. When we let people assume we are different than who we are, we allow them to continue their denial. We make a tacit agreement: "I won't rock your boat and you won't treat me as less-than." Passing is helpful in the short term, but it has costs: in attitudes that don't change, in lost opportunities for personal growth. Still, we must choose our battles. For example, I’m not ready to let my hair go grey. I am not prepared for the uphill slog of proving to each person I meet that I remain vivid and capable. Plus, why shouldn't I have the same right to dye my hair as a younger woman? I respect women who choose to go grey, but it’s not my fight.
Publishing sexy characters past midlife, and encouraging others to do the same, is my chosen battle. This is our voice. This is our opportunity to let others in on the "secret" that women past midlife are vibrant and alive. That when we live in sin, we are blissfully sinning; that when we marry, we want more than a companion; that whether single or in relationship, our sexuality is our innate birthright.
To write past midlife is a fun revolution: a creative way to thumb our noses at the dominant narrative. We write vibrant characters who share our complexity: humans who have lived full lives, loved much, desired much, and experienced much. And what we do when we break stereotypes is part of the larger struggle for equality. As we push back on gendered ageism, let us support our Sisters of a Certain Age who also face ableism, racism, homophobia, fatphobia, and antisemitism.
Let's be brave and fearless and sexy, let's find our voices, take our paths, strut our stuff. Let us be each other's biggest fans. Let us read books by and for older women. Let us write fearlessly, read joyfully, and love passionately.
If not now, when?
If not us, who?
Keep the pen moving (and the keys clicking)Stella Fosse

We Want YOU!
...to get involved: send us your blog or article for publication on Stella's site.
Here’s what we need from you:
- The draft text of your proposed piece. We prefer plain text, with a length of at least 500 words – preferably more. Your topic should be related to Stella’s passions: writing, sexuality, being a mature woman, a grandmother, etc. See Stella’s manifesto, above.
- A picture of you. jpg format 800 pixels on the long side, standard ARGB or SRGB
- Your byline – or pseudonym – if you use one
- Your real name and age (decade is fine!)
- A short bio (up to 100 words – we may edit it for length)
- Your email address
- A link to your website (if you have one)
- A link to you blog (if you have one)
- A link to your social media.
Please email all these items to stella [at] stellafosse [dot] com and we’ll be in touch!
Very Soon!
Thanks!
Stella in the News
2019
- Interview: Marcia Meier / Girl Talk: Women, Aging and Sexuality Podcast
- Article: Writing Ageless Erotica: The Ultimate Midlife Passion
- Blog: Why I Wrote an Erotic Story about Hysterectomy
- Blog: The Joys of Writing about Older Sex
- Blog: AgeBuster - Because of (not despite) Our Age
- Story: The Pumpkin-Child
- Blog: Why You and I Should Both Write Erotica
- Blog: Life experience with sex and ageing
- Article: We Have Just as Much Right to Live and Enjoy Life as Anyone Else
- Blog: Stella Fosse on How to Write Erotica after 50
2020
- Blog: Starts at 60: What I’ve learned about sex and how it can change in your 60s
- Article: “Sexuality is our birthright, throughout life”
- Article: “I Enjoy Being More Intimate With My Partner”
- Video Interview: Midlife Confidential | The Virtual Parlour For Women Over 40
- New York Magazine
- The Thing About Aging podcast: Elderotica
2021
2022
- News: Rowan Senior Savvy Article
- Podcast: With Wendy Green of Hey, Boomer
- This Age Thing - Royal College or Art Design Age Institute
- Podcast with Mary Labrie
- The EndGame Podcast -The Wildest Encore Career Ever
- Seasoned Romance: A Great NaNoWriMo Project
- Renegade Women: Celebrating Writing After Sixty
- Writing The Whole Shark
- Interview: Erotica and the Older Woman
2023
Newsletters
Contacts:
Stella Fosse, Author
Mailing Address: 125 S Estes Drive #4311, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
Email Contacts:
Stella: stella [at] stellafosse [dot] com
Web Problems: webmaster [at] stellafosse [dot] com
Press, PR, speaking, book club scheduling, operational issues, etc., etc: graham [at] stellafosse [dot] com