Author To Author’s Newsletter
September 10, 2014
The 40-Year Old Author
I don't know when it happened, exactly. Sometime between graduating high school, slinging pizzas at Pizza Hut, graduating college, getting my teaching job, getting married, going back to college to get my Masters, teaching some more, and becoming an author...suddenly, I've blinked, and I've turned the big 4-0.
It's an odd feeling. I don't feel forty. People say I don't look forty. And yet, when I subtract 1974 from 2014, that's the number I get.
Instead of feeling depressed about that number, I find that it's given me a sort of strength. I've spent the last forty years being a people-pleaser. A peacemaker. Doing things I felt like I "should" do instead of doing what I really wanted. Or what I needed. Worrying about what people thought of me to the point that it made me physically sick. But lately, I've noticed this particular phrase coming from my mouth quite a bit:
"I'm almost forty years old, and I don't have to do that if I don't want to."
And it's awesome.
Breaking Bad is one of my favorite shows EVER (I'm so glad I waited until the series ended to binge watch it on Netflix). By the end of the series, Walter White is pretty terrible, but he said something that really resonated with me. Walt told his brother-in-law that he had spent his entire life being afraid of everything, but as soon as he was diagnosed with cancer, suddenly, he wasn't so afraid anymore. I remember thinking how sad his life must have been . . . that being told he had inoperable cancer was the one thing that made him feel at peace for the first time in his life. Granted, Walt took that peaceful, easy feeling and used it as an excuse to become a drug kingpin and murderer, but I found it interesting how such a grim diagnosis could give him such a sense of calm.
(Not that I'm comparing cancer to turning forty, but you know what I mean.)
I'd hate to think that it took something potentially life threatening to give me that confidence and sense of peace. And I would hate if, someday, when I'm breathing my last breath, someone asks me if I regret anything, and my answer is "Yes. I regret that I worried so much about stupid things that didn't matter."
So I'm hoping to use my forties as a time to smile more and worry less. To have confidence in myself and to accept that sometimes, good enough is good enough. To not put so much pressure on myself to make everybody happy. And to remember this:
Written by A2A Author and Contributor, Sydney Logan. Learn more about Sydney and her work at www.sydneylogan.com
Exciting News for Author to Author Group Members
T.M. Franklin on Netgalley
Author T.M. Franklin's books are available on Netgalley for a limited time! Don't miss this opportunity to check out the MORE trilogy for yourself!MORE: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/show/id/19899
The Guardians: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/show/id/33310
TWELVE: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/show/id/51354
Jeanne McDonald has a new Preorder Available
Preorder Branded: A Bad Boys Anthology on Amazon today! http://www.amazon.com/Branded-Boys-Anthology-Jo-Matthews-ebook/dp/B00MYAL7QU
Sherri Hayes Book Sale
Author Sherri Hayes has books on sale on all sites for some seriously low prices! Take a look! Her newest work, Crossing the Line, is also available for preorder on Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, and TWCS!
Win a Signed Paperback
Author Sydney Logan is giving away two signed paperbacks of Soldier On! Register on her website for your chance to win! http://www.sydneylogan.com/2014/08/soldier-on-signed-paperback-giveaway.html
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