All posts by CJ

About CJ

CJ is a Brit living in America who wholeheartedly embraces the worst of both cultures, including British sarcasm and Californian New Age mumbo-jumbo. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Adulterer’s Wife: How to Thrive Whether You Stay or Not.

Boomer Chick’s Guide to Online Dating: Guest Blog

CJ: I have recently become friends with a wonderful multi-talented lady: Angela Schutz, author, life coach, career counselor and a youthful septuagenarian with a great sense of humor. She has written a online dating book that might save you heartache and make you laugh. I asked her to write a blog about it for my website and she graciously agreed to do one. Continue reading Boomer Chick’s Guide to Online Dating: Guest Blog

Putin the Stud and Polonium Tea

Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Shkrebneva on their wedding day, 28 July 1983
Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Shkrebneva on their wedding day, 28 July 1983. Photo from www.kremlin.ru.

Looking for a powerful, influential man to marry? Do you want a guy with a warlike disposition and a lot of balls? How about someone bare-chested who can wrestle a bear? How virile is that? Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially been single since 2014, when his divorce from Lyudmila, his wife of 30 years, was finalized. Prior to her marriage, she was an Aeroflot flight attendant. Continue reading Putin the Stud and Polonium Tea

Christmas Gifts for an Unfaithful Ex 2021

Yes, I’m a hypocrite and inconsistent. In the last four years I’ve compiled a list of spoof Christmas gifts for a cheating ex, I haven’t included links to get any of the items. The mantra of my book, Adulterer’s Wife: How to Thrive Whether You Stay or Not, is that the best revenge is to get past the need for it, so I didn’t want to encourage anyone’s vengeful instincts. Now, by popular demand I’m including links to buy any items that are readily available. Some people told me they wanted to get things I mentioned in my previous 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2016 lists for friends, relatives and existing partners. There was a worldwide shortage of unfaithful exes in in 2017, so I never compiled a Christmas list for that year. Actually, I’m lying about that—I just dropped the ball. Continue reading Christmas Gifts for an Unfaithful Ex 2021

Massive Penis One-ups Adulterer’s Wife

Marc Jarrett holds up How to Cope with a Massive Penis book“This is my eyebrow raiser,” declared my quirky friend Marc Jarrett, proudly holding aloft his copy of How to Cope with a Massive Penis by Karl Robshaw. I had just presented him with a copy of my book, Adulterer’s Wife: How to Thrive Whether You Stay or Not and he was reacting to a story I had told him about Stephen Lewis, a wonderful British eccentric I used to know, Continue reading Massive Penis One-ups Adulterer’s Wife

Forgiving Infidelity: Better after Betrayal

Finding a damning text message on my husband's phoneMy eyes were so blurred with tears, I could barely read the text on the computer screen. I was checking the final corrections to my husband’s latest book. A tear dripped onto my handwritten notes, smudging the ink. Our office manager sat beside me. I blew my nose and told him I was suffering from terrible pollen allergies. Continue reading Forgiving Infidelity: Better after Betrayal

Post Traumatic Stress vs Post Traumatic Growth

CJ talks about using adversity to thrive in midlife and beyond with Janelle Anderson on the Women Emerging Fearlessly podcast

Janelle: Do you know that four out of five women struggle with confidence and knowing who they are? The Women Emerging Fearlessly podcast is dedicated to helping women lead their lives with fearless confidence Continue reading Post Traumatic Stress vs Post Traumatic Growth

Coronavirus Libraries and Competing with My Ex

A charming Little Free Library where CJ Grace put her Adulterer’s Wife book on display

Covid-19 has caused the closure of all public libraries in my area, but I’ve been expanding the good material to read on my bookshelf nonetheless. In the process, I’ve been competing against my ex and developing my skills in obscure languages. Continue reading Coronavirus Libraries and Competing with My Ex

Isabel Allende and Late-in-Life Love in the Time of Coronavirus

Isabel Allende speaking to the City Club of Cleveland in 2017

While under the Covid-19 lockdown in California, 77-year-old author Isabel Allende has been reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as well as writing another book and enjoying the company of her new husband, Roger Cukras. For Allende, it’s love in the time of coronavirus. After her long-term marriage ended in 2015, Allende expected to be single till she died. But now she declares she is in love and in lust with the man she married last year, and that if she can do that, anyone can. Continue reading Isabel Allende and Late-in-Life Love in the Time of Coronavirus

Full-Frontal Covid-19 Fashion

CJ attempts to look good in a gas mask

My police surplus gas mask was recommended by Jeff who lives upstairs. He would wear the same model as mine in grocery stores even before lockdown happened. “I don’t care if people give me ugly looks as if I’ve just killed their dog,” he declared. “I don’t want to breathe in their microbes.” Continue reading Full-Frontal Covid-19 Fashion

E-Card Valentine Made Me Grumpy

Valentine’s Day card from c. 1910

At my advanced age, perhaps I should have been grateful that someone found me attractive enough to merit sending a Valentine’s Day greeting. But couple of years ago, my dearly beloved made a big mistake in what he chose to send me to mark the occasion. I may be old-fashioned, but am I the only person who finds animated e-cards intensely unromantic and annoying? Continue reading E-Card Valentine Made Me Grumpy