cj Sez: I am pleased to announce that I recently passed
another annual milestone: I had a birthday—of course, the cake was
chocolate.
I spent the day taking advantage of free celebratory lunches and free
desserts at more than one restaurant. Interestingly, those freebies were not
age-based. That is, I didn’t have to be a certain age to qualify. But that age
thing is a big deal for me and a lot of women, maybe “most” women. Aging can be a millstone if you let it.
We (that plural pronoun includes men) have come to the
realization that the world is geared to the younger generation. They get ads
for computers, tablets that can do everything but dance, hundreds of phone apps,
outrageously sexy vacations, every sort of sports equipment you can think of,
and flirty workout apparel that’s sure to inspire you to shape and tone. Past
the age of let’s say 35, it seems the majority of advertising is aimed at medicines
… for constipation, overactive bladders, or erectile dysfunction.
Agents, some of whom look like they’re two years out of high
school, voice their interest in finding the unique voices of young writers that
they can “develop.” I was personally exposed to this attitude at a conference a
few years ago, and it put a damper on my ambition…for a short time.
Then I decided, I didn’t need an agent to write. Personally,
I didn’t even “need” to be published, (although I have appreciated very much publishers' affirmations of my story telling skills).
I did and do, however, need to write.
Here’s a quote by author Babette Hughes that I keep on my
computer:
Age is not a disability, it is a second chance at life. I’m 92 years
old and Post Hill Press has just published my three-novel Kate Brady series; (The Hat; The Red Scarf; The Necklace); I’m working on my fourth novel (Searching For Vivian) and fifth book, and am a
frequent contributor to the Huffington Post.
I had a wonderful time at the 2nd Annual Mobile
Literary Festival today, an event that shines the spotlight on local authors
and poets, both traditionally and self-published.
The talented writers conducted workshops on marketing and
publicity, writing the forbidden, story creation, and an emerging writers’
workshop exploring world building and character development methods. Poets read
from their published works; and fans of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, magical
realism, and the supernatural enjoyed the Speculative Fiction discussion panel.
All of that in one day. And it was free! The Festival was
sponsored by the Mobile Writers Guild, the Mobile Public Library, and the Metro
Mobile Reading Council. Thank you and
sa-lute.
So, tell me. What keeps you from writing? More importantly, what inspires
you to write?
That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping
on, and I’ll try to do the same.
cj
And now some verbiage from my sponsors:
PIECES
ANTHOLOGY…I’m thrilled to have two short stories included in this collection
of short stories and poems by more than 20 authors from the Gulf Coast of
Alabama, including USA TODAY best-selling authors Carolyn Haines and Craig A.
Price Jr. The anthology is available at http://amzn.to/2BTiqt5
Qrtly newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com
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