On my down days, I sometimes wonder if I’m too old to publish the novels I’m writing. I know self-publishing is an option, but the lure of traditional publishing is strong for me.

School Years

I’ve wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember. In elementary school, when we reached the end of the school year, I saved all the empty pages from my notebooks so I could write stories on them.

In high school, I was the Poetry Editor of our literary magazine, Thresholds. Of course, I had several sticky sweet poems in the publication and an oddly obtuse essay. By college, I became the Energy Editor for our science journal, Ology.

Volunteer

As an adult, I volunteered to write a fundraising column for our church bulletin, aptly called “The Giving Corner.” Of course my son’s high school band needed someone to produce the monthly newsletter, and I become the driving force behind “Band Notes,” even approaching businesses to place ads in the publication.

Currently, I write the monthly newsletter for the Tampa Bay Chapter of Ryan’s Case for Smiles, a non-profit that makes cheerful pillowcases for hospitalized children. I also manage the Facebook page for the charity.

Creative Writing

Throughout all of these volunteer roles, I continued to write fiction, sometimes short stories, sometimes novels. Occasionally, I participated in writing contests, even having two different pieces that came in third place. However, there were often long periods with little creative writing.

Retirement

Now I’m retired and have the time to write. In 2019, I drafted two middle-grade novels. Both were fun to write and my production was a fairly steady 1,000 words per days on the days I wrote. With a lifetime of writing experience (business, journals, personal correspondence, fiction), production is not my problem. I’m also comfortable with editing and revisions.

The big challenge ahead is publication. The vision of my future always included a string of books on a bookshelf with my name on the spine of the books. That takes me to the next step, which is finding an agent and pursuing publication. I edge to the brink of that next step and I hesitate. Am I too old to publish?

In Good Old Company

I searched for older authors and was happy to see I would be in good company. Bloom is a Web site devoted to authors publishing later in life. Here’s an encouraging article entitled “A Debut Novel by a 64-Year Old Author?” For instance, Laura Ingalls Wilder was 64 when Little House in the Big Woods was published.

In the end, I know I’m not too old to publish. The real question may be am I brave enough to step over the edge and actively pursue publication. That is not a question of age at all.