Living Your Best Encore: Stella Fosse

What is or was your prior job/career, and how many years have you spent there? Are you willing to share your age?

I spent 35 years of my working life in the biotech industry in a function called Regulatory Affairs. I wrote lengthy submissions to the FDA for new product approvals, a career that requires scientific, writing and business skills. My longest submission was 35 volumes; one copy, stacked up, reached my height of five feet six inches. Over time, I rose the corporate ladder to lead a team of writers doing that work. The job was fun, but I always wanted to write fiction. Eventually, I retired (or escaped). I'm 70 now, and five of my books have been published since I left corporate life.

What inspired you to pursue your current path (whether actively working, retired, or starting a second act), and how did you arrive at that decision?

Just about the time I left biotech, I read an article in the New York Times Book Review section by a woman Romance writer in her fifties. She advised her sister writers to create characters in their twenties if they wanted to get published. The heck with that, I thought and vowed to write vivid older characters like the women (and men) I knew. My first novel, Brilliant Charming Bastard, launched when I was 68. It's about three women scientists in their sixties. They discover they are all dating the same engaging liar stealing their ideas for his invention. Naturally, the women found a startup together to beat him at his own game. Since then, all my fiction has featured passionate, wise older women.

Looking back on your life, what achievement or milestone are you most proud of?

I am proud that, even beyond my fiction, I've encouraged other oldsters to write their vibrant stories. Creativity is important to health as we age, and our stories are key to breaking down ageist stereotypes.

The poet Muriel Rukeyser famously wrote, "The universe is made of stories, not of atoms." As a scientist and writer, I love that quote and believe in the power of stories to change society. My first book was Aphrodite's Pen: The Power of Writing Erotica after Midlife. Then I taught Romance writing classes for adults over 65, and now my new book on writing is ready. Write & Sell a Well-Seasoned Romance is a step-by-step manual to create, edit, publish and market a late-life love story. Ashton Applewhite says this:

"In Write & Sell a Well-Seasoned Romance, Stella Fosse lays out why women at midlife and beyond are ideally positioned to portray the lives of others like them in ways that surprise and delight."

It's a fun revolution.

What lesson did you learn later in life that you wish you had known earlier?

Listing two out of many possible:

1. I grew up in the 1950s, the post-World War II era, when women were slotted into gender-specific roles. Think of the apron-wearing moms in Leave it to Beaver, Ozzie, and Harriet. I applied to be a crossing guard in elementary school, but only boys were allowed. When I was a teen, newspaper classifieds still advertised jobs for men and women separately. All the professors for my college major were men. I knew something was wrong, but I did not understand the importance of solidarity with other women to break down those barriers.

2. I was always quick to see how I was put down or discriminated against, but it took a lot of life experience to develop a degree of empathy for the struggles of others. When one of my children started riding a wheelchair because of his disability, I began to understand not only the challenges he faced but also the challenges facing his friends with multiple sources of stigma (such as people of colour with disabilities). Decades later, my adopted daughter of Asian ancestry faced hateful attacks during the pandemic, with people in stores yelling in her face that COVID was her fault. The lesson I finally learned is that we must broaden our scope and stand up for the rights of those who face bigotry outside our own experience.

Reflecting on your life journey, what are you most grateful for...

They say you make your own luck, but to some extent, what we are given is just chance. I'm grateful to have grown up ten minutes from the Pacific and to have gone to college back when a scholarship to a top liberal arts school was easy to come by. At a more basic level, I'm grateful for my genes that gave me a functioning brain in a long-lived family. And I'm grateful to have four wonderful grown children I'm still learning from. I'm grateful to be here to watch my grandchildren grow. And I'm grateful to have met the love of my life in my sixties. And, of course, for the ultimate luxury of being financially able to leave corporate life to lead my best life now.

If you could turn back the clock to relive a particular age, which would you choose and why?

I just loved my early sixties: that moment when life opened up. The children were grown, the career was winding down, and the energy was high. That's also when I met my marvelous partner. Fortunately, I blogged about it all on the Stella Fosse website. I'm collecting those essays into a book I plan to call What to Expect When You're Sixty: Adventures in the Secretly Wonderful Decade.

What do you want most out of life right now?

I want to continue loving relationships with my partner, children, and grandchildren.

I want to write and publish as long as I can.

To encourage other women in their creativity.

To participate in civic life and help preserve the natural world.

To spend as much time as possible by the Pacific Ocean.

Stella Fosse is the nom de plume of an author of a certain age, who, in her sixties, started writing sexy stories as a creative antidote to the ageism and sexism older women face in society. Stella is a frequent guest on podcasts for women past midlife. She has been published in many online venues. Stella also blogs about issues of interest to Women of a Certain Age, including creativity, romance, and older women’s health. To learn more please visit www.stellafosse.com

Check out all our Living Your Best Encore series guests here!