Is It Time For Me To Step Aside?

A serious, non-emotional look at my identity as a writer

Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash

I am a middle-aged heterosexual white Christian woman living in the South. And I am wondering if it is time to put down my pen.

I will be nakedly honest…I don’t want to. Ever since I was 8 years old, my all-consuming dream has been to publish novels. Yes, I have self-published a novel and a book of poetry. But that was not my dream. My dream is to publish books with a publisher’s stamp on them after having been edited and recommended or sold by an agent. You know, the old fashioned way.

But there is nothing about my SELF that has a significant voice, or at least I feel that way. I am not at all angry or bitter or put-upon facing this possible truth. Seasons come and seasons go. At the age of 20, I had the chance to realize another dream - to become a musician. I chose to stay in school, and at 52 years of age, I understand without malice that the season for becoming a musician has passed.

There have been more white authors of published books since books began being published until now, than there will ever be diverse authors probably for at least the next century. That is a sad and shameful thing that has needed to change for a very long time. There are authors along all sorts of continuums who have been…