Last week I had a 1:1 session with my 84-year old Founding Member Kisane Slaney PhD. Before our Zoom call, she said was that she was afraid that she was “too old to be relevant.” Why would anyone care?
When I heard those words, my heart broke a little but I knew I had to prove her wrong. I care.
One of the most wonderful things of having a grown my own community of writers and creators in that past three years is that I’ve had the opportunity to meet incredible people from all walks of life: writers with a disability, a student in Iran who wants to advocate for women’s education, an 82-year old who is writing his book as tribute to his late wife who is buried in his backyard... All of them are building something special with their creativity in spite of the challenges.
I know that age is often a barrier. I only started writing at 41 and I felt it was too late, but it turns out it wasn’t, and many of the obstacles and gatekeepers are the ones in our mind.
That’s why today, I have invited fellow writer and premium member, Marylee Pangman, Author Founder of Knowing Yourself Through Fiction to tell us her story, as a woman who started her fiction writing journey at 72 years young.
Today we are celebrating new beginnings at any stage of life.
Because we care ❤️
I didn’t start writing fiction to build a platform.
I started writing because the story wouldn’t leave me alone.
At 72, when the cultural narrative says you should be slowing down, downsizing, or disappearing quietly into “hobbies,” I did the opposite. I started a five-book fiction series. Not a memoir. Not inspirational essays. Not a watered-down “finally telling my story” project.
A real novel. With characters. Conflict. Stakes. And a long arc.
That decision shapes everything that comes after, including how I’m building my business on Substack, how I reject most conventional growth advice, and why I now work with one voice across two tracks.
This isn’t a story about bravery or reinvention.
It’s about strategy, energy, and choosing to work in a way that actually fits the life you’re living now.
Why Fiction Came First
I came to Substack for one reason, to share my first novel as it unfolded.
Not to test headlines or build a marketing funnel.
I wanted a place where I could write fiction in public, with room to think, revise, and listen to my own voice. I didn’t expect that voice to deepen.
That mattered more to me than reach.
But I also understood something quickly. Fiction alone is not a strong growth driver on Substack. It doesn’t trigger algorithms. It doesn’t lend itself to virality. And it doesn’t convert casually.
So I had a choice.
Either I could move slowly with my first novel, hoping I’d gain an audience who might buy my book, or I could build an ecosystem around it that supports my writing without diluting it.
That’s where the strategy began.
One Voice, Two Tracks
I don’t separate my creative voice from my business voice.
I refuse to.
Instead, I run one voice across two tracks.
Track One: Fiction.
My Women of the Canyon series follows five women in their sixties and seventies standing at life crossroads. These are not nostalgic stories. These women are navigating risk, loss, power shifts, identity threats, financial and business decisions, and moral choices. Calm lives become complicated ones. The stakes are real.
Track Two: Knowing Yourself Through Fiction
Alongside the fiction, I write Life’s Threads. These aren’t “lessons.” They are not motivational essays. They are reflections from inside the stories on what it means to create, decide, and stop performing, to build something sustainable at this stage of life.
Same voice. Same values. Different entry points.
This matters because most creators are told to fragment themselves. One tone for art. Another for marketing. Another for teaching.
That fragmentation is exhausting. I’ve tried keeping things separate, but finally I stayed with one voice and built from there.
Why I Rejected Aggressive Growth Tactics
I have no interest in building my work the way a 30-year-old creator is told to.
I’m not building a six-figure business.
I don’t want manufactured urgency.
I don’t want to serialize everything just because someone says it converts better.
At this stage of life, energy is my most precious resource. So I ask different questions than most business advice encourages.
Will this increase my stress or test my stamina?
Does this require me to feign enthusiasm I don’t feel?
Will this still work when I’m tired, distracted, or deep in a book draft?
If the answer is no, I don’t do it.
That’s not resistance to growth. That’s an intelligent constraint. Sustainable success now looks like work I can keep showing up for without resenting it.
I’ve never had a single straight-line career. I’ve always moved when the work had run its course. Not impulsively or dramatically. Just when it was time.
If there’s a message underneath everything I’ve built, it’s this: don’t be afraid to pivot when the work you’re doing no longer fits who you are now.
Life’s Threads: Why Reflection Matters
Life’s Threads exists because fiction alone wasn’t enough to carry the full weight of what I was exploring.
The stories open a door beyond entertainment.
The reflections let readers sit down and stay awhile.
Life’s Threads is where I name what’s happening beneath the surface. Not as advice, but as recognition.
The women reading are not beginners. They are not looking for permission slips. They are negotiating identity, relevance, desire, and time.
What I want them to own is this:
“I’m not behind. I’m not broken. And I’m not done.”
That feeling doesn’t come from tips. It comes from being seen and grabbing a chair at the table.
Instead of more advice, programs, or courses, I share stories from the Women of the Canyon, women navigating our same stage of life and work. They’re making creative, financial, and business decisions under real constraints, time, energy, and responsibility.
The stories don’t tell you what to do.
They help you recognize what you already know.
With your own experience as context, the next step becomes clear, and you move forward without second-guessing.
For me, this approach supports my fiction rather than competes with it. I’m not trying to dominate a niche. I’m trying to finish meaningful work, work that matters to readers, largely women over 55, even though age isn’t the point.
Starting at 72 Changes Everything
Starting at 72 is not the same as starting at 32.
The stakes are different and the urgency is sharper.
The tolerance for nonsense is much lower.
I’m not building a legacy brand. I’m building a body of work.
That distinction matters.
A body of work asks for patience, awareness, and completion. A brand asks for visibility, growth, and optimization.
I chose the former.
What I Want Readers to Feel
When readers meet the women in Women of the Canyon, I don’t just want them to feel inspired. I want them to feel seen and recognized. I want them to say,
“I’ve felt exactly like that.”
“I know that hesitation.”
“I’ve asked that question and never said it out loud.”
These stories aren’t about fixing your life. They’re about acknowledging where you are and what still matters.
That’s why the characters are older. Not because age is the theme, but because age sharpens the truth.
The women I write for are done shrinking. They’re not disappearing.
To the Woman Who Thinks She’s Too Late
If you’re reading this and there’s something you want to create, a book, a business, a body of work, and you keep telling yourself you’re too late or not qualified, here’s what I want you to hear.
You don’t need more credentials.
You don’t need more preparation or to reinvent yourself.
You need to decide what you’re willing to carry forward.
Late is not the problem.
Fragmentation is.
When you stop trying to be everything and choose one clear direction, momentum follows.
Not fast momentum. Steady momentum.
That’s the kind that lasts.
And that’s the work I’m here to finish.
Lemons & Lemonade 🍋
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