This book sounds amazing! I can't wait. But also, this whole idea (from the linked post) of the gatekeeping around this kind of writing makes me so sad and confused. Even before I'd read any of your books, I knew your name as one of the "greats" of contemporary nature writing. So, if your books don't get published and don't sell...then ugh. What's happening?
As another 60-year-old who will continue to write, I appreciate your words here. I am glad I found writing, as nothin g quite matches what it feels like to become absorbed in a story. Whether i achieve some measure of success with my books, I will continue. Thanks for your post.
Good for you, Will. What you're achieving is what they call flow. It's such a hard thing to get to, so I'm happy for you & a little jealous. I'm glad you're going to continue, no matter what. Just work on getting better & better at it.
I turned 60 in March, so thank you for this. I'm a teacher and thinking of retiring at 62. I want to use my time to write, and while I hope I can get my current WIP published, I know I'll keep writing even if that doesn't happen. I do have a group of stories I can't wait to write.
I wrestle with some of the same questions, Janisse. I feel I've lost traction in the mud, and I'm trying to "right" myself, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Thank you for the post.
Janisse, at 74 I'm hoping to finish the first draft of my fourth novel by the end of the year. The first was published when I was 71, bringing me and my very few readers great joy. The second and third are seeking a home, and are unlikely to find one. Literary Hub just linked to an article re serial writing (as Dickens and others did) and gave me an idea. If no one wants to publish me, I may very well try putting a chapter at a time on my website and tell my fairly large number of FB "friends" it's there. I never thought I'd make a dollar out of this, just wanted finally to write the very best stories I can, and get as many readers as possible.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears does it make a sound? I'm very glad to have found this blog - you need to say it, we need to hear it.
I see you, I hear you, and I relate to this in so many ways, Janisse. You have touched my life and so many others that may likely be invisible to you, but it matters and I am grateful for you and your words. Keep writing and spreading your wisdom. It will still find the ears and eyes and minds of those who need to hear them. <3
Janisse! I’m so glad to find your newsletter to subscribe to!! I love your stories and words and YOU!! You have been an inspiration since I discovered you (when was that??)!! Of course, living in the community with Square Books (in Oxford, MS) I still have books and their authors as central players in my life — and it’s one of the key reasons I love that community. And, just so you know, I grabbed at least a dozen copies of ‘Wild Spectacle’ this year and so happily gave them away with ribbons around them over the holiday season… (There was a really fun moment when I gave a copy (yet unread) to Gail Stratton and and Pat Miller and they gave me one — and we opened them at the same time!!). AND I’ve loved reading those pieces myself! So, amen to your decision not to stop writing!! Being ‘a writer’ was, perhaps, never what you’ve really been — you’ve been a mentor and an inspiration and an educator all these years! The writing was just one of the ways you’ve communicated with the world… Much love and many hugs..!!!!!
Your work does indeed matter and you are not invisible to us. You have inspired and encouraged so many of us to continue, to write, to stay engaged. I’ll be turning 68 this year and I hear you about not being seen. I was saddened that my university decided they no longer needed my services as faculty, but I haven’t stopped. I feel like I still have much to offer and my work isn’t finished. We’ll keep fighting the good fight as long as we can.
I'm 90. I love to write. I think I'm OCD about writing. I write stories, literary fiction. I love to produce. I'm getting better all the time. I will publish a collection of stories about a professional couple next month on Amazon's KDP platform. It is not dreaded. It is a place to put my work for the future when it gets discovered and it will. And I've begun a new––my second––novel. And my list goes on. So I'm not marketed. OK. I'm like a painter with a gallery–KDP–where the work can be found and it is being found. I'm good with this system. I don't see how anyone my age could do better because there is an active and admitted ageism in the agent/publishing business. The hell with 'em. I produce. And that's all that matters. billbruehl.com
Thank you for these words. I will always need books, they keep me alive. You could always do a daily show of your life at the farm. It's quite an amazing life.
I remember turning 60, vaguely. Geezus, I’ll turn 75 this summer! Some years ago, deep into my 60’s, a man aboard one of my tours said the 70’s were really different. He said it with sadness. I wondered what he meant then, but I get it now. For one thing, the sense of one’s mortality is nearly overwhelming. Some years ago a man walked into Lake Jocassee with a backpack full of stones, to seek his demise. That’s what the burden of mortality feels like to me. A backpack full of stones. It is driving me to the most selfish period of my life, wanting to cram in as much life experience as I can while I can. Counting the days, so to speak. And yet I work. The work we do here is important to me and to the region. My job over the near future is to secure its future and its mission, to educate the public to the wonders of the Jocassee Gorges. Those who love a place protect a place. And yet I want my remaining years to be my own, not worrying any longer about work or money. Such is the confusion of decision making at this point in my life.
The question I wrestle with now is what is essential. What matters. In a world being overwhelmed with impending doom, how do I proceed with some element of joy, if not relevance. The shedding of that which is unessential is what I think characterizes best this point in my life. Kay and Mica ( my immediate family), my kids, time, and birds. In the company of birds my spirit frees itself of gloom and fills with wonder and joy. I hope by this end of this year I have turned over our work to younger folks, and then I intend to live for family and birds. Entirely selfish, admittedly, but so be it. I intend to be found outside, is some wild place, watching birds as each day begins.
And finally, and in summary, for the question I have wrestled with since being a reasonably aware adult. How to be happy on a dying planet. The question that continues to haunt and steer my life.
Forgive me for this existential wander, Janisse. Your blog today entered the space where I live now.
Janisse, The one thing that shines through your post is the undeniable quest to remain true to your core values. Your transparency is so evident in your writing,. I've often wondered what motivates a writer to continue to create when they aren't receiving affirmations in the form of readers, book contracts and financial independence from their efforts.
I want to express gratitude for your efforts. What you have expressed, resonates deeply with me.
You have touched a nerve with me, Janisse, and I am way older than you are. I have a poetry collection forthcoming from Mercer UP next month; do I feel strange that at age 80 this is happening? You are completely correct about our invisibility. I am thankful to know you're out there, so keep on writing, my friend!
Norman Maclean didn't start writing until he was 70. His first book was published when he was 74. Of course, this was in 1976, but I believe in doing what you can do as long as you can do it. I am sorry your latest book hasn't done as well as you hoped, but it certainly helped me straighten up and fly right. To watch birds more closely and to prevent our creepy neighbor from cutting down a mulberry tree which hangs over our yard because the birds LOVE to eat those mulberries. I'm happy to scrub bird poop off our car after they feast. What about a podcast? You just reading in your soothing voice. I would listen to that, rapt.
This book sounds amazing! I can't wait. But also, this whole idea (from the linked post) of the gatekeeping around this kind of writing makes me so sad and confused. Even before I'd read any of your books, I knew your name as one of the "greats" of contemporary nature writing. So, if your books don't get published and don't sell...then ugh. What's happening?
Thanks Janisse for this post. We need you to keep writing. Happy Belated (only a year or more late). thanks, Andy Kavoori
As another 60-year-old who will continue to write, I appreciate your words here. I am glad I found writing, as nothin g quite matches what it feels like to become absorbed in a story. Whether i achieve some measure of success with my books, I will continue. Thanks for your post.
Good for you, Will. What you're achieving is what they call flow. It's such a hard thing to get to, so I'm happy for you & a little jealous. I'm glad you're going to continue, no matter what. Just work on getting better & better at it.
I turned 60 in March, so thank you for this. I'm a teacher and thinking of retiring at 62. I want to use my time to write, and while I hope I can get my current WIP published, I know I'll keep writing even if that doesn't happen. I do have a group of stories I can't wait to write.
I wrestle with some of the same questions, Janisse. I feel I've lost traction in the mud, and I'm trying to "right" myself, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Thank you for the post.
Janisse, at 74 I'm hoping to finish the first draft of my fourth novel by the end of the year. The first was published when I was 71, bringing me and my very few readers great joy. The second and third are seeking a home, and are unlikely to find one. Literary Hub just linked to an article re serial writing (as Dickens and others did) and gave me an idea. If no one wants to publish me, I may very well try putting a chapter at a time on my website and tell my fairly large number of FB "friends" it's there. I never thought I'd make a dollar out of this, just wanted finally to write the very best stories I can, and get as many readers as possible.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears does it make a sound? I'm very glad to have found this blog - you need to say it, we need to hear it.
As for being old, https://elizabethmccullochauthor.com/old-woman/
The link to the article on publishing is https://ellegriffin.substack.com/p/publishing-industry-truth
I see you, I hear you, and I relate to this in so many ways, Janisse. You have touched my life and so many others that may likely be invisible to you, but it matters and I am grateful for you and your words. Keep writing and spreading your wisdom. It will still find the ears and eyes and minds of those who need to hear them. <3
Janisse! I’m so glad to find your newsletter to subscribe to!! I love your stories and words and YOU!! You have been an inspiration since I discovered you (when was that??)!! Of course, living in the community with Square Books (in Oxford, MS) I still have books and their authors as central players in my life — and it’s one of the key reasons I love that community. And, just so you know, I grabbed at least a dozen copies of ‘Wild Spectacle’ this year and so happily gave them away with ribbons around them over the holiday season… (There was a really fun moment when I gave a copy (yet unread) to Gail Stratton and and Pat Miller and they gave me one — and we opened them at the same time!!). AND I’ve loved reading those pieces myself! So, amen to your decision not to stop writing!! Being ‘a writer’ was, perhaps, never what you’ve really been — you’ve been a mentor and an inspiration and an educator all these years! The writing was just one of the ways you’ve communicated with the world… Much love and many hugs..!!!!!
Your work does indeed matter and you are not invisible to us. You have inspired and encouraged so many of us to continue, to write, to stay engaged. I’ll be turning 68 this year and I hear you about not being seen. I was saddened that my university decided they no longer needed my services as faculty, but I haven’t stopped. I feel like I still have much to offer and my work isn’t finished. We’ll keep fighting the good fight as long as we can.
I'm 90. I love to write. I think I'm OCD about writing. I write stories, literary fiction. I love to produce. I'm getting better all the time. I will publish a collection of stories about a professional couple next month on Amazon's KDP platform. It is not dreaded. It is a place to put my work for the future when it gets discovered and it will. And I've begun a new––my second––novel. And my list goes on. So I'm not marketed. OK. I'm like a painter with a gallery–KDP–where the work can be found and it is being found. I'm good with this system. I don't see how anyone my age could do better because there is an active and admitted ageism in the agent/publishing business. The hell with 'em. I produce. And that's all that matters. billbruehl.com
Thank you for these words. I will always need books, they keep me alive. You could always do a daily show of your life at the farm. It's quite an amazing life.
I remember turning 60, vaguely. Geezus, I’ll turn 75 this summer! Some years ago, deep into my 60’s, a man aboard one of my tours said the 70’s were really different. He said it with sadness. I wondered what he meant then, but I get it now. For one thing, the sense of one’s mortality is nearly overwhelming. Some years ago a man walked into Lake Jocassee with a backpack full of stones, to seek his demise. That’s what the burden of mortality feels like to me. A backpack full of stones. It is driving me to the most selfish period of my life, wanting to cram in as much life experience as I can while I can. Counting the days, so to speak. And yet I work. The work we do here is important to me and to the region. My job over the near future is to secure its future and its mission, to educate the public to the wonders of the Jocassee Gorges. Those who love a place protect a place. And yet I want my remaining years to be my own, not worrying any longer about work or money. Such is the confusion of decision making at this point in my life.
The question I wrestle with now is what is essential. What matters. In a world being overwhelmed with impending doom, how do I proceed with some element of joy, if not relevance. The shedding of that which is unessential is what I think characterizes best this point in my life. Kay and Mica ( my immediate family), my kids, time, and birds. In the company of birds my spirit frees itself of gloom and fills with wonder and joy. I hope by this end of this year I have turned over our work to younger folks, and then I intend to live for family and birds. Entirely selfish, admittedly, but so be it. I intend to be found outside, is some wild place, watching birds as each day begins.
And finally, and in summary, for the question I have wrestled with since being a reasonably aware adult. How to be happy on a dying planet. The question that continues to haunt and steer my life.
Forgive me for this existential wander, Janisse. Your blog today entered the space where I live now.
Janisse, The one thing that shines through your post is the undeniable quest to remain true to your core values. Your transparency is so evident in your writing,. I've often wondered what motivates a writer to continue to create when they aren't receiving affirmations in the form of readers, book contracts and financial independence from their efforts.
I want to express gratitude for your efforts. What you have expressed, resonates deeply with me.
You have touched a nerve with me, Janisse, and I am way older than you are. I have a poetry collection forthcoming from Mercer UP next month; do I feel strange that at age 80 this is happening? You are completely correct about our invisibility. I am thankful to know you're out there, so keep on writing, my friend!
Thank You for this, Janisse. You are a Tiger.
Norman Maclean didn't start writing until he was 70. His first book was published when he was 74. Of course, this was in 1976, but I believe in doing what you can do as long as you can do it. I am sorry your latest book hasn't done as well as you hoped, but it certainly helped me straighten up and fly right. To watch birds more closely and to prevent our creepy neighbor from cutting down a mulberry tree which hangs over our yard because the birds LOVE to eat those mulberries. I'm happy to scrub bird poop off our car after they feast. What about a podcast? You just reading in your soothing voice. I would listen to that, rapt.