biancadarc.com Blog

Guest: Meg Benjamin

I spent a lot of time trying to think of something about me that might motivate somebody else to write. My writing habits aren’t all that special (at least three pages a day, best done in the afternoon after I’ve had time to wake up and kick-start my brain). My way of getting myself going is mainly just to do it.

But then I started thinking about how I got to where I am currently—one novel about to be published, another under consideration, several more ready to send out—and there is one thing about me that’s different. I’m a woman “of a certain age.” No, I won’t tell you what that age is. Let me put it this way—the Beatles aren’t just historical figures for me.

I think there’s this feeling sometimes that writers need to start young if they want to get ahead. But it took me a long time to get around to doing this. I wrote a lot of other things—technical manuals, newsletters, textbooks—before I finally realized romance was where I wanted to be. So here I am, pushing my doddering brain to come up with new plots, new characters, new ways of describing sex without overuse of the words slide and thrust. And I’m not alone. One member of my local RWA chapter started publishing in her late sixties, and now (in her seventies) juggles three different personas for her successful mainstream, erotica, and inspirational romances. I figure if she can do it, so can I!

And so can you, whatever your age. Start now. Write three pages—anybody can write three pages, believe me. So what if you’ve got grown children? It’s easier to write if you don’t have to chauffeur them to soccer games. So what if you’ve got a few wrinkles and one or two gray hairs. They don’t show up on the page, do they? So what if you get drowsy by ten? Write in the early morning when you wake up. And don’t ever think your age is an impediment to writing that novel. Helen Hooven Santmyer published And Ladies of the Club when she was 88, and it was a bestseller. So if someone says you’re too old, tell them “So you think I should wait until I’m younger?” Then go home and work on your novel.

Venus in Blue Jeans: A guy, a girl, a Chihuahua. Two of them will find the love of their lives.

Meg Benjamin lives and tries to write in South Texas. Her first novel, Venus in Blue Jeans, will be available from Samhain on January 27. Learn more at www.megbenjamin.com.