Midlife Women Are the True Monsters

Apparently, I am a very, very dangerous woman.

The call came in like a whisper of scandal. A hush-hush, secretive tone that made me think someone had found my lost diary from 1988.

"So… they think it’s porn. So they won’t distribute it," said my editor/publisher

Alisa Kennedy Jones

Excuse me, what?

For a moment, I scanned my memory, wondering if I’d blacked out and written *Fifty Shades of Perimenopause* or *Hormones Gone Wild.* But no. The book in question—*Quickies*—isn’t smut. It’s a collection of short, sexy, empowering lessons about midlife women reclaiming their power, their bodies, their lives.

And yet, here we are.

You see, midlife women are terrifying. We are the witches they couldn’t burn. The sirens who kept singing. The monsters under the bed who grew up, paid off the mortgage, and now don’t give a single f***.

They’ve tried to silence us before. It used to be through corsets and shame, now it’s through gatekeepers who clutch their pearls at the thought of a woman over 40 enjoying her own damn life.

We are the “real” threat. Not because we’re writing porn (though, honestly, some of us probably should—have you *read* what’s out there?). But because we are no longer waiting for permission.

• Permission to be visible.

• Permission to be loud.

• Permission to be sexy, messy, imperfect, powerful.

And so, dear reader, let me offer a warning: If you are a woman over 40 who still dares to want things—desire, autonomy, a seat at the table—you are a monster to them.

And I say?

Let’s be the scariest monsters they’ve ever seen.

ADD YOUR VOICE TO THE CHORUS.

Preorder *Quickies* now—because even though the book distributor thinks it’s porn, **we know better.** Let’s show them what ‘real’ midlife power looks like.

👉 Order here and let’s show the world our midlife voices? can’t be silenced.

Oh, *hell yes*—let’s celebrate the women writers who scared the establishment enough to be **banned, censored, or silenced**. 🔥📚 Here’s a **list of rebellious literary queens** whose works were too powerful for the gatekeepers:

 Women Writers Who Were Banned, Censored, or Silenced  

 1. Toni Morrison – Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon  🚫 Why Banned? Too much truth. Morrison’s books explore racism, sexual violence, and America’s darkest histories—so, of course, school boards across the U.S. freaked out.  
 2. Alice Walker – The Color Purple  🚫 Why Banned? Because it dares to talk about Black women’s trauma, sexuality, and survival. They called it "obscene"—but it’s really just honest.  
 3. Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale  🚫 Why Banned? Dystopian fiction hits too close to home when it’s basically real life. Atwood’s tale of patriarchal control has been banned worldwide for "profanity" and "sexual content"—aka truth bombs.  
 4. Judy Blume – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; Forever; Deenie  🚫 Why Banned? Because Queen Judy dared to write about girls getting their periods, masturbation, and young love—aka completely normal human experiences.  Wait until you read my upcoming sequel to this…
 5. Anne Frank – The Diary of a Young Girl  🚫 Why Banned? Yes, Anne Frank. Her diary has been banned in schools for being "too depressing" or "sexually explicit" because she wrote about discovering her body—as if surviving the Holocaust wasn’t reason enough to read her words.  
 6. Maya Angelou – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings  🚫 Why Banned? Because she dared to tell the story of her sexual assault, racism, and resilience as a Black woman. Her work remains one of the most banned books in America.  
 7. bell hooks – Ain’t I a Woman?; Feminism is for Everybody  🚫 Why Banned? Because feminism makes people uncomfortable. hooks’ work on race, gender, and power has been censored for "divisive content"—which is code for "truth that challenges the system."  
 8. Kate Chopin – The Awakening  🚫 Why Banned? A woman leaving her husband? Owning her sexuality? In 1899? This book was called "immoral" and banned for decades for being too feminist.  
 9. Radclyffe Hall – The Well of Loneliness  🚫 Why Banned? Published in 1928, this was one of the first mainstream lesbian novels—and of course, it was immediately banned for "corrupting morals."  
 10. Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar  🚫 Why Banned? Too much mental illness, feminism, and raw honesty for the delicate sensibilities of certain school boards.  
 11. Virginia Woolf – Orlando, A Room of One’s Own  🚫 Why Banned? Orlando is a gender-fluid time-traveling novel. A Room of One’s Own argues that women need financial independence to be writers. Both were controversial AF.  
 12. Jeanette Winterson – Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit  🚫 Why Banned? Because queer women telling their own stories is apparently too much for some people.  
 13. Louisa May Alcott – Little Women  🚫 Why Banned? Because Jo March didn’t want to get married. Can you believe?  
 14. Malala Yousafzai – I Am Malala  🚫 Why Banned? Because Malala, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for going to school, wrote a book about fighting for girls’ education. Some schools still won’t allow it.  

Damn, these are all my favorite books!   

What Do These Women Have in Common?
💥 They spoke the truth  
💥 They challenged the system  
💥 They refused to be silenced  

So if they think Quickies is too much?  We’re in badass company. 

Preorder here and support midlife MONSTERs!!