I’m thrilled to tell you that Dakota Blues just won the Next Generation Indie Book Finalist award! And it’s a triumph for all of us, because it’s affirmation that a midlife coming-of-age story is compelling in the modern marketplace. It’s also proof that we’re never too old to chase after our dreams.

As I think of all the writing classes I took, all the writing conferences I attended, and all the advice I got, the thing that stands out in my mind is one literary agent telling me that nobody wanted to read about “old people.” Ha, ha! Apparently they do, because sales are brisk!

Further, my new Midlife Fiction page on Facebook (you don’t have to be a member of FB to access the page) already has almost fifty book titles. The only two criteria: that the main character be at least forty, and that the story illuminate the experience of living in the second half of life.

Good thing there’s no age restriction on the writers, because thirty-year-old Christopher Hooks just contacted me about his debut novel, Henry, the a collection of day-in-the-life vignettes concerning an eighty-year-old man. I downloaded it on Kindle and the opening paragraphs look promising. I can’t wait to read it and I wish Christopher massive book sales.

On the other end of the author age scale is Monica Agnew-Kinnaman, who at age 95 just published So This is Heaven, a memoir of saving dogs throughout her life. That’s yet another cool thing about a writing career: you can still do it in your very later years if you’ve got all your marbles. For more about Monica, check out my friend Sheila’s blog post here.

I’d write more, but I need to practice being interviewed because a North Dakota TV station wants to feature me next week! And after that I’m going to break out a bottle of bubbly. Have a great weekend. I know I will. And Happy Mother’s Day to all my mother-friends.