Sex and the Single Jew

51 year-old Maxine Dorfman's sex drive is dead; vibrators don't do it, frustrating fantasies don't do it, and having her husband Mel dump her for an older woman, certainly didn’t help. Hope arrives in the person of her best friend, Connie Piccini, who encourages Maxine to attend EARTH TREK, a singles "get a life" weeklong fitness retreat in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Romantic adventures, sex therapy, and a mysterious health crisis, all serve to unleash our heroine’s pent up reservoir of power and sexual passion.

Maxine Dorfman has it all - sagging jowls, chubby elbows, sexual batteries that need repair, and frustrating fantasies about Burt Lancaster and her dentist, Dr. Ronald Kertler. But, there are two things she does not have: the notorious, hooked Kleinkopf nose that runs in her family, and a faithful husband. Mel Dorfman, her unemployed CPA husband dumps her for an older woman -- a 65 year-old woman. Maxine is left on ground zero in denial, depressed, and addicted to macadamia nuts. Hope arrives in the person of Connie Piccini, her best friend, who encourages a reluctant Maxine to sign up for EARTH TREK, a singles, "get a life" weeklong fitness adventure in the Catskill Mountains of NY State. Three hikes, two hot romances, and one environmental crisis later, transform our heroine from a fearful, depressed victim into a self-empowered woman with passion, power, and purpose.

Marlena Joyce, M.A. has been a counseling professional, specializing in mid-life transition issues for the past 15 years. This valuable experience has help her form the core of her lead character, Maxine Dorfman, and her first novel. She currently resides in Boca Raton, Florida, and leads workshops in self-actualization.