Are We Late Bloomers? Or just Multi-Florgasmic?
Ready, Set, Write! A Writing Workshop for Women
If you have ideas waiting inside you — but doubt, perfectionism, or just life have gotten in the way — you're not alone. Join me for a gentle, no-pressure workshop for women who are ready to reconnect with their creative spark. You’ll walk away with a strong beginning, clear next steps, and the momentum to keep going. 5:30-7:30 pm May 12 OR June 9 Keller Street CoWork, Petaluma $85
Are We Late Bloomers?
In my twenties and early thirties after graduating with an art degree, to make a living I became a graphic designer, website designer and freelance journalist. I also became a step-mother.
In my mid-thirties, I became a mother, and in my forties, a stepmother again.
I have loved all those iterations of my life but it wasn’t until my late forties that I began making my own art and writing and putting it out there.
I designed the Tarot deck I’d been wanting to make for decades, and wrote and illustrated the poetry book I’d also been wanting to write for decades. I made a bunch of conceptual art, visual art, fashion, and produced two feature films!
Even so, I still think, “Maybe I’m getting around to all this kinda late.” But also, “at least I’m doing it now — and I probably even have more to say.”
So I’ve been thinking a lot about “late blooming” women writers. But are we really late bloomers? It’s not like we weren’t blooming before, or trying to bloom.
Maybe our initial bloom just went to other things like that 9-5 job, or to husbands and kids, or really, myriad other things that pull women away from their creative work. (And, a huge hooray to those women who do make their creative work alongside those other things!)
Multiple Florgasms
Lavender can bloom three times in a single season — if it’s cut back after each flowering. Maybe all the times we have bloomed and been cut back simply prepare us to bloom again... and again.
Some women have been able to do it all at once. Others made sacrifices — or chose to willingly set aside creative work — to focus on what life asked of them. But the truth is, still others — so many others — set aside their writing and art, not out of failure, but with hope: hope that they could return to it later.
So, to continue to inspire myself (and maybe all those others who are finding their way back), here’s a list of women who remind us that it’s never too late to bloom again.
Perennial Women Writers
Toni Morrison — Author of Beloved and others. Published her first novel at 39.
Elizabeth Strout — Author of Olive Kitteridge and others. Breakout success in her 40s.
Cheryl Strayed — Wild launched when she was 44.
Laura Ingalls Wilder — her first book came out when she was 65!
Sue Monk Kidd — Had her bestselling debut, The Secret Life of Bees, in her 50s.
Isabel Allende — First novel at 40.
Mary Oliver — Beloved poetry, celebrated with awards in her 50s and beyond.
Margaret Atwood — Wrote and published throughout her life, but some of her biggest cultural impacts (like The Handmaid’s Tale TV adaptation and Testaments) happened in her 60s and 70s.
It’s never too late to start writing — it’s exactly the right time. Your story matters.
JOIN ME for: Ready, Set, Write!
A Writing Workshop for WomenIf you have ideas waiting inside you — but doubt, perfectionism, or just life have gotten in the way — you're not alone. Join me for a gentle, no-pressure workshop for women who are ready to reconnect with their creative spark.
5:30-7:30 pm May 12 OR June 9 Keller Street CoWork, Petaluma $85
7 ways to beat the blank page
Hands-on exercises to fire up your imagination
A supportive, inspiring community
You’ll walk away with a strong beginning, clear next steps, and the momentum to keep going. No more waiting. No more overthinking. Let’s write.
