Dr. Pepper is in the process of writing two more books. On Perfect Places for Passion and Romance at Any Age, with Dr. Janet Lever (to be published later this year by Frommers and AARP), she is collaborating with her son Cooper. “He runs a travel business called His and Hers, and is helping me with research.” Another book, with Chrisianna Northrup and Dr. James Witte, The Normal Bar (coming out in 2013), will be based on surveys from around the world and will help people understand how their “normal” of navigating in today’s society compares to others. [NOTE – there is still time for you to take the series of entertaining, interactive surveys and be part of the study – visit www.thenormalbar.com.]

Does she have any more thoughts for Northwest Prime Time readers? “As people get older and they think about dating or sex, it can be very hard to pick up that part of your life if you haven’t looked at it for years,” she says. “People may have been married for a very long time, or widowed or divorced. It is quite different to contemplate now than when they were young. Issues of insecurity about how you look or how your body will function and what constitutes good love-making at this period in your life cycle… People can be clueless because these are not things they’ve talked about before,” She pauses, and then adds, “They may have a different set of permissions and inhibitions now, but they are also wiser. It can be a great time of life.”

She believes in lifelong learning and encourages everyone, no matter their age, to keep challenging themselves and learning new things. “It is so different for us than it was for our parents. There is so much more medical support and information available now, and we have strength in numbers. I think this is a very innovative part of life, and we are lucky to be the ages we are at this time in history.”

For more information about Dr. Pepper Schwartz visit drpepperschwartz.com. You can access her advice columns about love, relationships, dating and sex at www.aarp.org, and at PerfectMatch.com

This article appeared in the February/March 2012 issue of Northwest Prime Time, the Puget Sound region’s monthly publication celebrating life after 50.