Inspiration

Sometimes I think I get too hung up on age. Yes, I know that 31 is still young, but sometimes it really feels like it’s getting to be too late for some things. Women can have babies into their 40’s, but when you already have trouble in that department, it makes you wonder when your cut-off date is going to be. Of course, I don’t want to have a baby before I’m ready just because I’m scared of it being too late. The other issue with age that I’ve had lately is just career based anxiety. Everywhere you look, someone is talking about saving for retirement. I, on the other hand, cashed in my only retirement and am not currently earning anything towards my “golden years”.

I decided to take a look at the biographies for two of the most popular and prolific romance writers, Danielle Steel and Nora Roberts, to see when they started writing. I was honestly sort of expecting to see that they finished their first books when they were 16 or something crazy, but it wasn’t like that at all. Both of those women didn’t start writing until they were around 30, and neither of them saw real best-seller-success until they were around 34 or 35. Yay! That makes me feel very inspired! Nora Roberts was rejected a lot when she first started out, and come to find out, she got her first start with Silhouette books, which is the same publisher (now owned by Harlequin I think) that I am writing something for right now to submit to their ebook program.

When I was trying to become an Opera singer, there was always a lot of talk about age. The female voice doesn’t fully mature until early 30’s they would say. Of course, if you didn’t have a bunch of performances and lead roles on your resume by your 30’s you could pretty much forget it. There was always a ticking clock it seemed. Writing doesn’t have to be like that, and I am starting to realize it and relax a little bit. I doubt a publisher ever turned down an amazing book because the author was 40 years old. There is definitely some inpiration to be found in reading about other authors.