Yesterday I was privileged to speak to an extended learning class, sponsored by a local university, that is for adults seeking to learn the basics about writing and publishing a book. My goal was to provide information that would be useful to undertaking the writing and self-publishing of a novel or a work of nonfiction. I came out of that classroom feeling as if I’d learned something, too. I learned that I’d accomplished a lifelong dream without even formally setting out to do it. As a child, I’d dreamed of becoming a writer of novels. At a young age I read the classics: The Grapes of Wrath, War and Peace, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc. I read those not because I had to but because I wanted to. Books were my adventures. As an adult, I set the goal of becoming a writer aside and pursued a career as a librarian instead. After my library career, I finally took on the challenge of writing a novel, and later, self-published it. After yesterday’s presentation, one of the class attendees told me that she enjoyed my story of attaining my lifelong dream. Yes, I know that I’ve accomplished my dream, but it is still sometimes hard to believe that I actually did it. To the students present yesterday, I hope I imparted to them that it’s never too late to pursue your dream of becoming a writer. I started writing my novel because I was tired of telling myself it couldn’t be done. How can you tell yourself that if you never try?