Not a Young Author? Says Who?

Last week, the NY Times published a list of twenty young authors to watch http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/books/03under.html. Sadly, I realized that my name not only was not on the list, but also that it would never be on the list. Now, I can hear you all saying, “Oh, Glenna, don’t be so negative; it will happen for you one day.” However, it isn’t that I’m being negative; I’m being realistic. See, the young authors list is a list of authors under 40. Strangely, I turned 40 in March. I say strangely because one day I was going along, a 30 something year old living my life; then one day, completely out of the blue, I was 40. So, according to the NY Times, I am no longer young (not to mention that I’m not a published author, but this fact is a minor complication).

The thing is, I still feel young. There are several aspects of my life that are parallel to some of the people I know in their late twenties and early thirties. I’m really just building my career both as a college instructor and as a writer, I have a toddler, and I still feel like I have great things ahead of me. On closer inspection, however, I decidedly do not have much in common with these two younger age groups: I also have a 15 year old and a 10 year old, I’ve been married for 18 years, and according to life expectancy statistics, my life is about half over.

So, why am I getting such a late start when I obviously started married life and motherhood so early? I offer this short biographical sketch as way of explanation:

My husband and I married at 21 (he’s 40 now too by the way) and had our oldest daughter when we were both 24. I went to graduate school when she was just a baby and then began teaching at several community colleges as many part-time faculty find they must do to earn a living. One semester I taught 5 classes at 4 different colleges all of which were at least 40 minutes from my home and no where near one another. After that semester of juggling our daughter from one bad sitter to another, we decided I needed a more stable job in one place. Luckily, I found an editing job that allowed me to work from home, staying at home with our daughter. Then daughter number two came along and a move from our beloved Chicago to the Philadelphia area. Even though my editing job ended after seven years due to the economic downturn after 9/11, I couldn’t stomach putting our second daughter in daycare (our oldest was now in school). I stayed home for a couple of years and wrote my first novel (which I now realize is in fact my practice novel as my friend Paul once told me it probably was; words I did not want to hear at the time).

When Katy went to preschool, I decided to go back to teaching. I got a job at our local community college and have been able to tailor a schedule at one college that works rather well, for the most part, for our family. I have been teaching at the college for nearly 6 years now, and I am very excited about using new techniques and becoming the best instructor I can be. Daughter number three came in 2007 and life has become even more of a juggle. My personal writing has been put on the back-burner, and I write whenever I can eek out a few minutes to think (which is rare, thus, my sparse blog entries). This time around I’ve found a very lovely woman who takes care of my toddler while I work, and although the guilt is still there, it is less so than when I knew I was leaving my oldest daughter with someone I didn’t like and whom she didn’t like either.

Anyway, the point of this bit of biographical information is that although the NY Times doesn’t consider me “young,” I still feel that I am. Sure, I look in the mirror and see my dad’s droopy eyelids looking back at me and the paper thin skin under my eyes that is a hallmark of age for a woman, BUT I have a good portion of my life ahead of me and so much left that I want to accomplish. And I think there are a lot of women of my generation who are feeling the same way. They’ve put their careers and personal development on hold to care for their children; now in their forties with most or all of their children in school full-time, they are looking to take up their careers again or embark on new careers. We have a lot of vitality and a lot to give; employers shouldn’t underestimate us; they should look to hire us and help develop us into great employees. If the mass media is to be believed, 40 is the new 30.

So, Ladies (and Gentlemen), 40 and older, I’m calling on you all to show this youth obsessed society that we are over 40, proud to be, and not yet dead, so we shouldn’t be counted out. In the immortal words of Helen Reddy (with a bit of tweaking from the soon to be immortal Glenna Heckler-Todt):

We are [over 40], hear us roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an’ pretend
‘cause I’ve heard it all before
And I’ve been down there on the floor
No one’s ever gonna keep me down again.

Oh yes I am wise
But it’s wisdom born of pain
Yes, I’ve paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am [over 40!]

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/h/helen_reddy/i_am_woman.html

3 Comments

• 

  By JoVE, June 8, 2010 @ 2:55 pm

  Great points. One of my clients is 50 and her kids are really close to finishing highschool and leaving home. She sees 15 years ahead of her (at least) where she can really ramp up what she does because she no longer has kids at home.

  All those Top 40 Under 40 type things (yes, there is an actual award with that name here in Ontario) seem to be built on the assumption that all the greats will start early.

  How many women are we missing? And how many men now want to put off the real push for career success until after their kids are little bit older?

• 

  By Radimere, June 9, 2010 @ 8:36 am

  Excellent post. I like to remind myself of the saying, “Youth is wasted on the young.”

  As we get older, and hopefully wiser, we truly discover the resources needed to achieve our dreams. Life’s a journey, not a destination.

  You should check out Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles.

• 

  By glenna, June 9, 2010 @ 7:42 pm

  Thanks!

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