The Thirty Something Snap

The Thirty Something Snap is a romantic comedy about 39 year old Howard Perkins. Howard is a divorced public relations agent working in New York City and living on Long Island. His reluctance and resistance to indulge in frivolous, but life enhancing, temptations is due to his conviction that people in their thirties, especially men, engage in uncharacteristic and often embarrassing behaviors. Despite Howard's convictions he, nevertheless, finds himself participating in the things he considers evidence of what he has called "the thirty something snap." The big revelation for Howard is that the behaviors he is resisting will actually enrich his life and even reward him with the one thing he craves the most: love. A cast of characters surrounding Howard serve to simultaneously illustrate and contradict his theory about the thirty something snap. As the story unfolds Howard finds himself reconnecting with longtime friends for a reunion of the rock band they were all in together twenty years earlier. Unfulfilled dreams and fantasies drive the often quirky behaviors of Howard and his friends. Meanwhile, old fears of dating and romance surface causing strife and frustration for Howard who is desperate to achieve a normal life before he reaches the age of forty.

Howard Perkins is a divorced, thirty-nine year old, public relations agent working in New York City. As he approaches the age of forty he begins to panic over the fact that his youth is waning. He concludes that his panic is not unique as he observes his friends, who are also thirty-something, engaging in uncharacteristic behaviors. Howard calls those behaviors 'the thirty something snap.' Howard is determined to not fall prey to the temptations that relentlessly make their way into his thoughts. It's not easy, though, because his friends - especially his male friends - are also being tempted and continually invite Howard to join them in their indulgences. What Howard truly wants is love. He blames himself for losing love earlier in his life but, despite his fears that he might make the same mistakes he made in the past, he desperately wants a relationship. An assignment at the public relations agency leads to a series of events that reconnects Howard with his old band mates. In two weeks time a network of new and old friends is formed and Howard is exposed to the whims of those around him. Driven by the desire to experience some unfulfilled fantasies from their youth the cast of thirty-something characters find themselves in a nudist resort, at a New York City peep show, hitchhiking across Europe, signing up for a Fantasy Rock And Roll Camp, and even falling in love.

Alan Helgasson is a freelance journalist out of New York City. The Thirty Something Snap is Helgasson's first novel for adults.