‘It’s never too late’
Susie Bower, 68, lives in Bristol.
I’ve always written; I started my first novel when I was eight years old, and went on to angst-ridden poetry and the beginnings of short stories, although I rarely finished those!
Later on, my career in the media, making programmes for children, didn’t leave me with much free time, but I finally completed my first novel when I was 54 – it was about three 50-yearolds and the ageism they faced in their careers. It received numerous agent rejections but was taken on by a small press.
I continued writing, but my feelings of self-doubt forced me to abandon two more adult novels before finishing them.
I was convinced I was too old and it was too late. Why would anyone publish an older woman when most debuts were in their 20s or 30s, with long careers ahead of them?
Completing a course with author Louise Dean in 2018 changed everything.
It was based around the children’s classics
‘Writing my first children’s novel felt like coming home’
and opened with a video of Lucy walking through the wardrobe into Narnia. Writing my first children’s novel felt just like that: entering an exciting, expansive, magical world – like coming home.
I wrote School for Nobodies, about an adopted orphan who discovers two secrets about herself on her 10th birthday.
I had no ambition other than finishing the story. I entered the Bath Children’s Novel Award and was longlisted, which gave me the boost I needed.
I planned to send it to agents, but by a series of coincidences, Louise showed it to my top-choice agent – and she loved it!
After revisions, it was bought by Pushkin Children’s, and published last year, when I was 67.
It just goes to show
– it’s never too late.
✣ See facebook.com/ SusieBowerAuthor