I answered that my internal critic is constantly harping on my age: I'm 47 and for some reason my internal critic keeps telling me that debut authors don't exist after the age of 45, or even 40, for that matter.
My brain knows this is not true. My heart, on the other hand, needs some reassurance. I thought maybe some others might need this sort of reassurance too.
I thought I would start with a few resources specifically geared towards writers over 45. I hope these are helpful!
General Encouragement
Remember I said that my brain knows it's not true that debut authors over 40 don't exist? Here are some current websites that list those over 40-ers.
- Here's an excellent annotated list by Randy Susan Meyers on her blog Word Love. She updated this list in 2016 "in the interest not of division, but of keeping up the flagging spirits of those who don’t want to be pushed out on the ice floe". LOL.
- The Prime Writers A website featuring 60 writers who have one thing in common: they published their debut book when over the age of 40.
- This encouraging article, entitled, The Authors Who Prove It's Never Too Late to Write a Book, was published last February's (2017) on The Telegraph website.
- If you are over 50 and a member of SCBWI, don't forget about The Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer award. Support includes a $500 prize and a paid conference fee to a SCBWI conference. (BTW, deadline is during the month of March)
