At one particularly difficult writing group meeting, when I yet again presented the synopsis of my novel for discussion, a fellow writer told me that it wasn’t worth bothering with a synopsis, as I was too old to be published! Although I am probably one of the youngest members of the group, there is a grain of truth in the comment. Many of the debut novelists that I follow, some now into their second or third book, do have youth on their side. This got me thinking.
Chuck Palahniuk’s advice, which I’ve written about here, suggests getting an author photograph taken while young, and reuse it frequently. Not that I am young or that I’ve done anything about this, but the idea remains. Another problem is my name. Many first names are indicative of the timeframe of birth and although Gail was never a particularly popular name, it does have echoes of the 1960s. Indeed, when I checked this out, I found that Gail was the 94th most popular name in America in 1961. If you click on the screenshot that follows and insert the information required, you can find out what your name would be today, according to the ranking of popularity for your year of birth.
the writer is a lonely hunter 
