Please join me in welcoming author Dorothy Place to the blog! Her encouraging story is a reminder that today is a new day for making changes in your life. If you think you’re past the age of writing a book, think again. Thanks for being here today, Dorothy, and the floor is yours.
Author Dorothy Place: It’s Never Too Late
As an undergraduate, my English professor at Syracuse University suggested that I major in that subject. He liked my writing and said he would like to see me continue to write.
“What????” I said. “English major?”
That was some fifty years ago and, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t think of one job, except teaching, that an English major could perform. And I certainly knew that I was far too stupid to be a teacher. So, I did the next most sensible thing. I gave up my scholarship and got married.
Divorced, I went back to school to earn an undergraduate degree. Despite the warning question posed by one of my male professors (what will you do when you are a candidate and are menopausal?) I drew a blank. I was 35 and hadn’t even thought about it. So, I went on to earn a doctorate. For the next twenty-five years, I worked as a research director, making sense of numbers and writing report after report that can be characterized as long, boring, and completely sanitized.
Then, Voila! I retired. And, like many women with grown children, decided to write about my early childhood. Having plenty of experience with long and boring reports, I quickly realized that my stories were not only long and boring, but that it would take more strength than I had to strap my grown children into a chair and force feed them my work. I kept writing because I loved the exercise and discipline, and turned out quite a few stories that seemed to go nowhere.
Continuing to Write
A year or two passed, and I was waiting in a hotel lobby in Arusha, Tanzania for the van to pick me up and take me back to Nairobi, Kenya. I began writing a story based on a conversation I had had with the bartender the night before.
The words came so easily and so fast that I had to look through the waste baskets to find the paper on which I could write my thoughts. The short version is that the story was published in a small, defunct regional journal, “The Yolo Crow.”
Well, I was on my way. I vowed to become the Grandma Moses of the literary world. And truly, I did proceed along that path. I got older and older. But, persistence pays and over a ten-year period, I published ten short stories in literary journals—not in The New Yorker or Tin House, mind you. But respectable print journals.
I was thrilled. Well, not that thrilled. These days, writing short stories does not keep a writer solvent as it did for Fitzgerald and Hemmingway. In fact, with all the submission fees and contest costs, I was going further and further onto the red side of the ledger. So, I decided to write a novel. And I did. And six years later, it got published.
Looking Ahead with Dorothy Place
And now I am writing my second novel. And I have a book of short stories at the editor, being prepared to be sent to publishers. And finally, my children, for whom I was going to write all those marvelous stories of my childhood have multiplied into seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren, and except for the wee babes, they all think I’m pretty remarkable. And I’m telling you, it’s never too late.
You can visit my website, www.dorothymplace.com, to read about my novel The Heart to Kill, how it came to be written and to take a virtual tour of Eight Mile Junction, the town where the story takes place.
Interested in more writer spotlights? Check out this guest post from author Iona Caldwell.
Thank you, Christy, for sharing the guest post by Author Dorothy. It is always an inspiration when someone finds their passion later in life and pursue their dream.
Great
Very encouraging to read about Dorothy. What a remarkable woman!
best wishes
touching others
with your story :-)
What a wonderfully empowering story Dorothy. You are great proof it is never too late to follow our dreams. Wonderful guest post Dorothy and Christy. :)<3
A very inspirational story and life you lead, Dorothy. Congrats on all that you have achieved and good on you for finding your voice in the recent years of life. It takes time to find what comes naturally to us, and glad you stuck with writing and good luck with writing your next book. Agree with you that it’s never too late for anything. If we try, who knows we can go. It is just a matter of standing up and saying I can do it, believe it, and then do it.
Many congratulations on your success, Dorothy. I definitely agree, it’s never too late to start writing. Like you, I didn’t start my first novel until a year or so after I retired at 63. I haven’t tried the traditional route yet, but I’m considering doing that once I finish the third book of my trilogy, which I’m writing at the moment. Your story is an inspiration to us all, and I love the idea of writing about your childhood. I wish you every success in that.
I love your story! Congratulations on the places it has taken you.
Now that is one very cool blog post, encouraging to the 9th! The very best to you, Dorothy, and have a wonderful holiday season with your family!
Never give up! Very inspiring and I love her sense of humor :)
So nice to hear from you. Your words mean so much to me. Thanks.
You’re welcome, Dorothy. Thank you for sharing your story. It is inspiring!
Wow! I chuckled a few times on the awesomeness of Dorothy’s story and writing! What fun! I am so inspired by this. I love fantastic stories like this and I hope she sells SO MANY copies!! YAY! So glad to find this here. :)
Your words are magic to me. Thanks so much. I am amazed at how many great people there are out there.
Congratulations Dorthy… thank you for sharing… much success to you in your future endeavours … Hugs from Canada
Thanks to Canadian readers. Your words are magic to me. I am so grateful.
C.o.n.g.r.a.t.u.l.a.t.i.o.n.s. Dorothy. Way to go. Love the cover too. :-) <3
Thanks so much for responding to this post. I can’t tell you how precious your words are to me. I can’t believe there are so many great people out there.
Congratulations Dorothy and many sales to you. What an inspiring post. Thanks for introducing us to Dorothy, Christy x
I am so thrilled that folks are responding. Your words are precious to me. Thanks.
Congratulations to Dorothy, and much continued success! 👍
I am so thrilled that you responded. Thanks for your good wishes. You are a gem.