becoming an author after 50

I’m blessed.

It’s true and I should acknowledge that.

I’m blessed to have a partner sharing life with me that is intelligent, insightful, and honestly one of the most supportively honest people I’ve ever known. In the twelve years (wow, honey, twelve years!) that we’ve walked life together, she never pulls her punches, gives it straight, and charges forward with me, shoulder-to-shoulder, guiding my efforts, and recognizing when I’m getting in my own way.

For the record: she’s the reason my stories are coming to life.

Jill, you are the best thing to happen to this scrambled up dumpster fire of DNA strands you call a husband.

Ever.

When I told her I wanted to jump the cliff and actually publish rather than just talk about it, she told me to do it, without hesitation. Not because she was sick of hearing about it (which she probably was), but because she believes in me and genuinely thinks it’s a good idea. She took my hand and jumped off the cliff with me.

Let’s face it she and I are both dreamers.

The key difference is I’m a dreamer who flies by the seat of his pants. She’s a dreamer who plans. Without her, well, I’d be sitting here still talking about writing a book. Without her I wouldn’t have tried to find an editor. Without her, I wouldn’t have this website. And without her, I wouldn’t have a clue where to direct my efforts. We are working on that now. She simultaneously hates that I fly by the seat of my pants and loves it. Secretly I love that she is a planner, though I groan everytime she tries to make me sit down and plan with her…I hate planning.

It’s a chore.

But deep down I know the truth; she’s right. (Don’t tell her I said that.)

I’m grateful that she understands social media better than I do. I am a “fringe personality” who always struggles between trying to “fit in” and desiring to “be my quirky, unique self”, while she, in her uniqueness, is somehow more mainstream, naturally fitting in easily. Yet she somehow makes everyone, from the fringe to the perfect center, feel as comfortable around her as a cozy snuggle next to the freindliest puppy. She get’s people better than I do, understands them, and knows how to relate to everyone in a moment’s effort. It’s fascinating to watch.

So what’s the point? Well, becoming an author at 50, especially in today’s world, is no easy task. Becoming and author, by itself it difficult, at best. But at 52? I’d probably need to be struck by lightning…thankfully there’s a history of lightning striking my family (Hi, Grandpa!) and equally as thankfully, lightning does strike more than once despite the axiom.

But, how do you become relevant when you have no social media presence, aand have an aging voice, and have no skills in marketing? Am I crazy for trying? Is it too late? It would be easier if I wrote non-fiction, but, outside of developing sensors for rockets and satellites, selling sensors for rockets and satellites, having an affinity for nerdy things like fantasy/sci-fi and video games, loving Penguins hockey and Steelers football, nursing a not-so-secret penchant for watching Nick Offerman’s Yule Log and Whiskey video on YouTube for 72 hours during Christmas, and loving Pop Rocks, there not much I know anything about. Will readers of my preferred genres give a 50+ new author a chance when the average age of readers of fantasy fiction is under 30? Does anyone still enjoy HardBoiled Detective stories? Especially if those stories have werewolves and vampires and voodoo doctors?

I sure hope so!

When my awesome wife and I discussed this (literally this morning), we talked about whether it would be better to go with a psuedonym and hide my age or go with my name and be open about it. She didn’t have an opinion either way on that. She offered ideas. Ideas are great because then you have the freedom to work the scenarios.

I read an article recently, on Poets&Writers, titled 5 Over 50, 2022. It’s content is relevant to me: newly published authors over 50. In those five selections, I see something interesting. It covers women and men, whose ages range from 50 to 80. The authors span all ethnicities, backgrounds, and specialties. There are non-fiction writers, fiction writers, and poets. It’s a pretty nice smattering of all aspects of the published author landscape. And it gives me hope.

I’m nothing, if not me to a fault. I don’t know how to be anything else, even though, at various stages of life, I tried to be. So here I go, at 52, with my real name, and frankly, I’m glad I’m doing it this way. And I’m glad I have this amazing partner helping find my voice: a voice I feared putting out there in a genuine way. You are never too old to try new things and you have to write what you know. I’m a nerd who loves fiction and enjoys new worlds, new ideas, and new experiences. I will do my best to make the worlds I create relatable to the new generation of readers as well as the existing ones. I hope you’ll give my books a chance.

It’s inevitable that certain elements will be misunderstood. It’s inevitable that I may write things that are taken poorly by some and celebrated by others. I can’t be all things to all people, even within the fringe world of nerdom that is finally finding itself more accepted as mainstream (I’m a nerd from the 1980’s). We can’t deny the difference in styles and points-of-view between the generations (which we have become rather adept at labeling and assigning generic all-encompassing traits toward). But, we are all human. We are all bound by similar hopes, dreams, regrets, aches, joys, foibles, defeats, and triumphs. It’s something we share as part of the human condition. And that is something that, regardless of age, all of us can write about in a fresh and relevant way.

So, yes, I’m doing this at 52 and hoping that 18-year-olds read my stories. And 30-somethings. And 60-somethings…hell, if you are 80+, I hope you enjoy them too. Because we could all use a little escape now and again and some of the best new books are being written by new authors that are older than the internet.

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