Notes from a midlife writer

The sun is rising, painting the sky an orangey pink. It’s 6:23 am, and I’ve been awake for almost two hours. I’ve had my coffee and made my bed. Anyone else feel like the world would be off-kilter if you went about your day without making your bed or drinking your morning cup of coffee? You know, I’ll let you in on a little secret of mine. In the evenings, I often think about my morning cup of coffee and get kind of excited. Well, maybe not excited, but I definitely look forward to it. I used to get excited about going to a nightclub with my friends, and now it’s coffee. Who am I?

I get dressed in what I call my writing uniform. Do you have one of those? Mine is black leggings and a comfy oversized T-shirt. Finally, I sit down at my desk to write. As someone who is somewhat new to writing, I often find my novel imitates my real life. Real life, with embellishments, I say. For example, my main character has been a caretaker all her life, caring for her children and then her aging parents, just like me. She is also an interior decorator, like me. And in her fifties, you guessed it, like me.

I recently shared a bit of the plot of my book with a friend, and one of them said, "Wait, didn’t something like that happen to you?"