while raising a family Culley wrote her first novel at 18 then went back to school to finish her degree, followed by years spent homeschooling her children while working nights as a labor and delivery nurse. On the other hand, there are only so many hours in a day. Pacton pointed out how much easier it is to find information about the industry now, not to mention the online access points of pitch contests and social media. The writing landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade. I don’t think ‘younger me’ would’ve had the courage to do that.” Now, I feel secure enough to write stories I enjoy.
The horror! I was also writing to satisfy my audience, which often led to inauthenticity. “The writing I did in my 20s and 30s was largely professional,” said Cuevas, “completely devoid of fart and poop jokes. Why write literary short stories when you love middle grade, or try to follow the market if your heart isn’t in dystopian YA? I had to own being a writer.”įor many members of the over 40 club, the passing of time also means greater freedom from expectations. “I had a bit of an emotional freak-out and decided that I needed to walk the writer walk, even if I never published anything. After years of working in practical (read: more likely to pay) fields like teaching and journalism, Cathleen Barnhart, author of the recent MG release THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS DO, made a now-or-never decision. As parents and teachers, we have a front-row seat for the fears, fandoms, and (in the case of MG readers) fart jokes that drive today’s youth.Īge can also bring a new sense of determination. Yet surely something has been gained along with the crow’s feet? For perspective, I surveyed several fellow debuts about stepping onto the kidlit stage as a non-ingenue.Īlthough our own childhoods are disappearing in the rearview mirror, many of us live and/or work with kids every day. In my day (gather round, kids!), colleges sent acceptance letters by mail, on actual paper – and once enrolled, you were almost certainly indoctrinated into the wrong wave of feminism. Far from being a digital native, I grew up blissfully free from the panopticon of social media. My pop culture references are from a different century.
The whole idea of being a “debut” implies dewy newness, an awkward fit when your lived experience as a Gen X teen qualifies as historical fiction.
This is not just a surface-level issue, regrets about skin elasticity aside.
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