At Age 64, They Told Me to Keep Writing.
An article by Howard Bubski
I’ve written 112 short stories, completed 7 full length novels, and am holding a half-eaten Hamptons Inn breakfast buffet plate of new writing projects.
Yet, none of my stories have been shortlisted in any major writing competition, and my novels are awaiting their first sale on Amazon KDP.
My articles on Medium are only getting 2 or 3 likes.
Last month I was about to give up.
I asked friends on social media whether I should stop writing, and for the first time in my life, I’ve received your encouragement and an overwhelming amount of feedback.
“Keep going!” my fellow Mediumites said. “Never give up!” “Life begins at 64!”
With half of my life in front of me, I have taken everyone’s advice to heart, dug into my writing, and have had amazing results! But as all good novels do, let’s start with the beginning of the story.
My interest in writing began at an early age, when at 4, I decided to become a novelist. I couldn’t read yet, but I caught sight of the important looking volumes on my parent’s bookshelf (frustratingly placed out of reach) and decided, “I want to do that!”.
My path to becoming a recipient of public support on Medium.com was not always an easy one. As immigrants from Uzbekistan, our family struggled with adjusting to our new life in Racine Wisconsin.
We needed to start over. My Dad went from being a Nobel Prize nominated Physics Professor at the University of Tashkent, to being an Uber Eats delivery driver. My mother went from having 8 servants to learning how to handle a household by herself. We were living “The American Dream” they said, and I needed to learn English as a second language at the age of 11.
(In my 8th novel, I will pay homage to my homeland by using the Uzbek letters Ç=Ə=Ƣ=Ө=Ƶ for all character names.)
In Racine, by the age of 13, I was fluent in the language of my adopted homeland, learned to pronounce words such as the “Rolling Stones” without rolling the Rs, and was a member of my local middle school soccer team. I was now also living The American Dream™️.
After my schooling, adult life began. It does for most people.
I set aside writing to begin a successful career as an Insurance Claims Adjuster. My days were spent immersed in the important work of denying payments for unessential back operations and rejecting physiotherapy treatments for rotator cuff injury patients. My nights were consumed massaging my tired arms due to untreated carpal tunnel syndrome. At the end of the week, my wrists sore and my hands aching from signing thousands of claim rejection forms, I only had the energy left to spend Saturdays and Sundays bear hunting in Northern Wisconsin.
Upon retirement, I’ve passed the fountain pen of insurance rejection to the next generation. After giving up hunting (having recovering from my third bout with Lyme disease), my family suggested I try new hobbies, but with the positive encouragement I’ve received from online friends I’ve never met, I plan to spend my golden years writing the next 12 volumes of my memoir.
Thanks for taking the time to read about my journey!
My new book “Diaries of an Insurance Claims Adjuster — Volume #1“ is coming out soon from Simon Schuster (just kidding, it's self-published.)
“The 5 Rules of Writing (by Howard Bubski)” will be released soon on Medium.
Note: I’m posting this on behalf of Howard Bubski, who claims that some characters and events portrayed are fictitious, even though it mostly rings true to me. All photos from Unsplash and Wikimedia Commons.
