Who wants to start publishing after sixty? Me.

How old is too old? 

Years ago, I read a Dear Abby column that resonated. The writer wanted to go to medical school but was concerned that he wouldn't actually be an MD until he was fifty-five! Abby asked how old he would be by then if he didn't go to med school? 

When to stop wanting. 

I think most of us know the answer is never. Never stop wanting. Never stop dreaming and making plans. I'm sixty-seven now, just finished a first draft on my seventh novel! Although I started early enough, I was a Cricket Magazine author in my late thirties, I could never find an agent or publisher. What to do? 

All ahead full. 

About four years ago a friend and shirt-tail cousin, Oregon author/photographer Vernelle Judy, pushed me to self publish. It's not like the old "vanity" publishing where you buy a bunch of books and use them to decorate your garage. They're POD ... published on demand. Sold through Amazon and others. 

So I did publish. I started with a middle-grade adventure series. The first book, Cheechako, has been well-reviewed for reluctant readers and is already in use in classrooms. There are now three books out in that series, and —although few in the world really know who I am—they sell. 

How to "do" your dream.

Start. Just start. Because I was—and am—still working my day job, I began getting up early to write. I write from two to four pages a day, about six days a week. What does that mean? It means I finish (the first draft of) a new novel about every three months. 

I have four books out, a fifth on the way, and two books "in the can" —film talk for shot but not processed. Best sellers? No. So far, consistent sellers. The best part is the occasional letter or review from a reader that says, "I couldn't go to bed without finishing your book." There aren't even words to tell you how good that feels. 

Platitudes aside.

At this age, we tend to say encouraging things about being this age. It's new for us and a little scary. The fact, for me at least, is that to get what I want, I have to put my forehead against it and push ... same as at any other time in my life. 

And, if you still have something you want to do, that's my advice. Push.

Curious? You can read 30 pages of any of my books for free, here: 

Books by Jonathan Thomas Stratman

One simple way to change a child's life without breaking a sweat.

I'm 67 ... though of course I don't look it. (None of us do.) I have eight grandchildren and, especially around the holidays, put a lot of thought into what I can do—that doesn't cost a fortune—to really make their lives better.

Turns out the answer is simple and many of us are already doing it: reading to children aloud. We just didn't know how really important it was. Don't know where to start? Sendak's classic (above) is perfect.

 More than just warm and fuzzy.

Though it's fun to cozy up with a child to read, and feels frivolous, that's just the first significant benefit. 

Here's another: Children who have been read to, arrive at kindergarten with a 30% larger vocabulary. So they both understand more of what the teacher tells them and can express more. 

It means they start school at the top of their class instead of at the bottom feeling confused, frustrated and struggling to keep up.

And there's more.

That old devil ... digital!

I worry that my grandchildren spend too much time playing video games. No, I don't think it's bad out of hand. My second-to-youngest, Zane, actually taught himself to read playing video games .. and to spell by trying to wrangle passwords out of his adults so he could order more!

I worry because so much of it is only reactive. For the most part players don't have to think, plan, or wonder.

One of my great prides is that my first middle-grade novel, Cheechako, an Alaska adventure, had 8th grade reluctant readers sneaking to read ahead and find out what happens.  

And it's not enough to just give a child a book. Imagine one of your grandkids with a book in one hand and a game controller in the other. How long does that choice take? 

Start reading aloud at birth.

Apparently, it's never too soon to start reading aloud to children. Or too late. Don't assume that because they're starting to learn to read, that your work here is finished. The difference between a child's reading level and listening level doesn't equalize until about grade 8. All that time, they still need to hear material that is more complicated than what they can read to themselves. 

Captive reading. 

My mother read to my brothers and I while we did the dishes, admittedly to keep us from killing each other. My brilliant daughter-in-law Rachel, reads to Mia and Addy in the car for similar reasons. The miles go by without shouts and bleats of anger or pain, and after a road stop, the girls are more than ready to find out what happens next. 

To learn more about the benefits of reading aloud, check out the Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/

And most of all, celebrate the upcoming holidays by buying or checking out books for kids, and by making time to sit down with them to read.

Reading, especially reading together, is the gift that keeps on giving ... for life.