Here is something I had to re-learn when editing Susan McBride's THE COUGAR CLUB: Cougars don't have spots. Leopards have spots; Cougars are solid and yellowish. Clearly, I need to turn off PROJECT RUNWAY and start watching more Animal Planet.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure I like the implication of the word "cougar." Not that I'm against the older woman/younger man thing. I think it's about time all women--and not just Cher--get to do what men have been doing for ages.

I think that somewhere along the line it all got turned around and not in a good way. And, yes, I can't resist: I blame the media.

Instead of the image of women embracing what they want (in this case, a man who isn't as old as she is), suddenly it's all about overly-tanned, overly aggressive women wearing lots and lots of bad jewelry. Unless, of course, you look like Courtney Cox. It's as if women can't win no matter what they do!

Something fun but still empowering has once again been turned into something vaguely demeaning. (Don't even get me going about "Chick Lit", a phrase I loathed. Once the term "Chick Lit" came into vogue, a wonderful, exciting trend--books by young, new voices--became a joke.)

HOWEVER, and here's a big however, while this is fiction (we don't all get to meet cute hockey players--and that really isn't much of a spoiler here), the characters here have the hopes, dreams, and fears that we all do. Yes, it's a lot of fun, but it also deals with some of the issues many women have to deal with today. THE COUGAR CLUB has got it all--romance, female friendship, and even a bit of fashion...And no fake tans.