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If you’re a mystery lover, you probably already have Poe’s Deadly Daughters blog bookmarked. If you don’t, you should!

Today’s treat is an interview of Kathy Wall by Sarah Parshall. Wall self-published her first book only to have it picked up by a small press. That led to a contract with St. Martin’s. As you might imagine she has a lot to say about all three experiences.

What seniors might not realize is that Kathy Wall is one of their own. Here’s the reason she chose to self-publish:

My decision to choose iUniverse for the first Bay Tanner, In For A Penny, was made partly as a result of my age when I began the process (just shy of 50) and partly out of ignorance. I sent out 30 queries, all at one time, and didn’t receive the final rejection letter for almost 2 years. At that rate, I figured I’d either be dead or in the ‘home’ before I ran through all my options.

I can identify - can you? 

Wall retired at 50 and began churning out the pages. These days she and her husband spend a lot of time on the road traveling to book signings and conventions. Parshall asked how publication had changed her life. Wall answered:

I think my husband says it best. Every once in a while, as we’re driving up I-95 to another event or strapping into an airplane seat headed for a conference, he’ll look over and say, “Didn’t we retire? I distinctly remember retiring. I’m sure that was us.”

Parshall also asked, “Quite a few women — and some men too — are publishing mysteries for the first time in middle age. What do you think an older writer brings to fiction that a younger person may not?”

That’s my question to you …