It is never too late. I know what you are thinking: it is too late for me. If I were going to write a novel, I would have done it by now. I am too old. Everyone knows novelists work on their craft all their lives. If they want to write, they have to work at it their whole lives. Look at that Christopher Paolini kid. He did it when he was so young.

I call BS.

There is only room for one “youngest author of a bestselling book” in the Guinness World Records, and he claimed it. Oh well. Wouldn’t you rather be known for the quality of your writing than the age in which you wrote it?

To prove that you don’t have to wear braces to write a book, here are four authors that published their first novel when they were “geezers”:

1) Bram Stoker (50)

2) Richard Adams (52)

3) Raymond Chandler (51)

4) Anna Sewell (57)

That is not counting those who did not publish their best books until later in life (i.e. George Eliot published Middle March when she was 53).

It’s not too late. Write. We would love to read it. Even if you didn’t write it when you were nineteen.

Need help writing a novel now that you are “old” and out of school? Book a Novel(ty) Day with me here.