BREAKING IN AFTER 50

Are you 50 or older and wishing you could go back and do something different with your life? I'd just bet that a lot of my readers and followers are approaching that magic half-century. And some of you think it's too late to pursue a new career. I want to tell you a story that may help with whatever your endeavor may be.

Not too long ago a friend of mine, who is nearing my age, said to me, "I guess it's probably too late for me to have a career in writing." Well, did I have news for her. And not only about a career in writing, but a career in any field. If you are passionate about something, be it creative or simply a thing you've always wanted to do, it's never too late to give it a try. As my son once told me, "You're going to be 50 someday anyway, why not spend the time doing something you love?"

I've never forgotten that, and so I began to write novels as my 50th birthday loomed in the near future. I celebrated that birthday with one book completely written. Oh, of course, it had a long way to go to be finished, but it was written. Told from beginning to end. During that time I met a young writer just beginning her career and we teamed up to help each other. If I had met her without having begun work on my first novel, it would have been like ships passing in the night. We'd never have forged a friendship.

Furthermore, as I honed my craft and wrote two more novels, I began to meet others interested in the same thing. My passion could well have been anything, not just writing. If I designed jewelry, made quilts, tailored clothing, baked cupcakes, no matter what. Being 50 wouldn't have deterred me from that passion. Not many years ago I met a 78-year-old woman whose first novel had earned a WILLA Literary Award. She has gone on to write several more wonderful books, stories that would not have been told had she thought she was too old.

By the time I reached 60 I had found publishers for a nonfiction book and two first novels. So my son was right. I loved those years mixing with others with the same passion as mine, learning from them, networking with publishers, editors, best selling authors like Janet Dailey, Jeffrey Deaver, David Morrell, Jodi Thomas and Lisa Wingate, to name only a few. Had I decided I was too old to build a career, I'd probably be watching daytime television, sitting in a rocking chair as the world passed me by. Not that there's anything wrong with that if it's your passion, but I'm betting it isn't.

So, celebrate the New Year with hope and belief in your dreams. Find your bliss, then follow it, whether you're 50 or 70 or 80. You'll never regret it. Make 2012 unforgettable. Do something you love to do for the remainder of your life. What a thrill that will be.

How Women Won the West
Check out my Montana Trilogy on Kindle only $2.99 each
Pre-Order Wolf Song, the story of a reluctant shape shifter and a woman who runs with the wolves.