Author Jane Green Has 18 NYT Bestsellers. Now, She Has A New Act.
Show Snapshot:
With 10 million books in print in over 25 languages, 18 New York Times bestsellers, and even one cookbook, author Jane Green could be resting on her laurels. Instead, at 54, she is launching a new creative venture and reinventing her career. And we are here for it!
Jane is the founder of the Emerald Audio Network, which brings female-led storytelling to digital audio with original content and narrative works by bestselling storytellers. We dive into imposter syndrome, getting unstuck, the power of being fearless, and the magic of midlife.
Bonus: Jane shares ideas for punctuating your days with moments of peace.
In This Episode We Cover:
Surprise! Even bestselling authors can feel stuck in their careers.
Why Jane is making the move from publishing to podcasting.
Imposter syndrome, evolution, confidence, and the “magic” of midlife clarity.
Why women are natural storytellers, the power of immersive audio, and authors who get midlife women right.
Jane on the radical freedom of self-acceptance, the potency of being present, and her take on the “key” to happiness.
The juggle of friends, family, and work., Plus, the siren song of bed.
Ideas for “punctuating” your days with moments of peacefulness.
Saying no nicely, choosing not to be reactive and finding magic in the mundane. Plus, books, books, books!
Show Links:
Jane’s Website
Jane’s Instagram
Jane’s latest book: Sister Stardust
Jane’s first audio podcast: Rainbow Girl
Quotable:
At 50, I figured out that the key is being happy exactly where I am right now. And if there is something that I don’t like, a relationship, a friendship, a work situation, I deal with it, and I change it. And I will have a conversation with somebody, and it will either change, or I will move on and let go.
Transcript:
Katie Fogarty [0:28]:
Welcome to A Certain Age, a show for women who are unafraid to age out loud. Beauties, lace up those sneakers for a long walk, turn your car radio up, make sure those AirPods are fully charged; we have such a fabulous show today, I want to make sure you don’t miss a thing.
My guest is Jane Green, the author of 21 novels, including 18 New York Times Bestsellers and one cookbook. Her work appears in over 25 languages, with more than 10 million books in print. Her latest created venture is a foray into podcasting and audio. She is the founder of the Emerald Audio Network, which brings female-led storytelling to digital audio with original content and narrative works by bestselling storytellers. If you love creative plot twists, heroines that take their stories into their own hands, or simply a good story, well told, stick around, this guest and this show is for you. Welcome, Jane.
Jane Green [1:28]:
Hi Katie, lovely to be here. Thank you.
Katie [1:31]:
I’m super excited. My first question is, you know, much of the world would be happy to have 18 best-selling books, but you are not done. In fact, you’re just getting started in writing this entirely new chapter with this new venture. And that’s what made me reach out to you because a big theme of A Certain Age is it’s never too late to pivot, to experiment, to grow. What made you decide to launch Emerald Audio?
Jane [2:01]:
To be honest, when I look back now at the last decade in publishing – and I’ve been in publishing for, gosh, over 25 years – I have been unhappy for much of the last maybe decade, and I just didn’t know really how to get out, and I also was paid too much money to stop. I am the breadwinner, and I have got 100 children [Katie laughs] who are all going to college at the same time, and I just thought, I’m never going to be able to get out of this. And actually, there was this tremendous fear – and I’m not someone who experiences fear, really. I would describe myself as mostly pretty fearless – but a few years ago, as publishing really started to change and with the advent of independent publishers and the amount of content there is, and also, just that publishing has become so, very hard because there is no secret behind what makes a best- seller. In fact, nobody actually knows.
One of the interesting things that came out of the recent trial where the Department of Justice intervened to try and stop the merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster was that publishers really have no idea what they’re doing. Only 1% of books published are really successful, and only 1% have the support of the publisher. I was very lucky for years in that, I was in that 1% and I did get a lot of support. I don’t know whether it’s my career changing or publishing changing, I rather think it’s a combination of the two, but I certainly just felt like I was doing this all by myself. I just didn’t have support from my publisher. And of course, with social media now... You know, in the old days all you had to do was write a book and then go on tour to promote it. Now, you have to write a book, and be your own marketing manager, and do your own social media, and do your own PR, and organize your own tours. The list just goes on and on.
Katie [4:16]:
It’s like a 24-hour job.
Jane [4:18]:
Oh, it actually is. In the run up to Sister Stardust, which is the novel that I brought out in April with Harper Collins, I was working I want to say 19-to-20-hour days in the three, four weeks leading up to that publication, and I was miserable. I was in tears every day, it was just me, myself, I, and a very supportive therapist husband [Katie laughs] who would be on the end of the phone. But I was just doing everything myself, and I just thought, I can’t do this again. This is utterly miserable. And the problem is as well, because the publishers do so little to support the authors, it ends up not only being completely demoralizing but it drains your creativity. You just can't possibly continue to write at the same level when you’re expected to do all these other things.
But anyway, a couple of years ago, I was approached by a very big podcasting guy, he’d had huge success in the podcasting world with his company that he’d recently sold, and he had a non-compete. He came to me then, he said, "Listen, I’ve done this really good deal and I’m putting together a new company. I’ve got this idea that hasn’t been done before but I had this idea to do fiction for podcasts and female fiction, and it really doesn’t exist. I just think that you would be the right person to partner with. Are you interested? I would basically create a network for you, and you would create stories for me and bring in people you know.” This is one of the benefits of being in the business for 25 years is I kind of know everyone, and if I don’t know them, I’m one degree of separation away.
Katie [6:19]:
I love this. First of all, how fabulous that somebody came to you and really sort of married the explosion of interest in the podcast and audio narrative storytelling. I definitely want to dive into the Emerald Audio Network and learn more.
But before we do that, I want to circle back to something you said at the beginning that you felt unhappy for a decade with the way the publishing industry was changing, and you felt stuck. You used this phrase that said, "I can’t do this anymore.” And I really just, when you said that, my head started nodding because I’ve had moments in my own life where I felt like, this is no longer working, I really need to see a change. And a big theme of this show is women who maybe are fed up with dynamics at home, or maybe they’re fed up with their job, or they’re fed up, and they need to make certain changes. Do you feel that it took getting to midlife to have the courage to leave something that was obviously, at one point, working so well for you and try something new? What role did being older play in your ability to make this jump?
Jane [7:26]:
That’s such an interesting question. I think because I’ve always had a huge amount of fearlessness, so I’ve made jumps often before. In fact, I left my job as a journalist when I was 27 to write a book, which became my first best-seller. When I was young, I wasn’t frightened of doing it.
I think I became a bit more frightened as I got older. Everything changed when I turned 50, which was four years ago. I remember very clearly throwing myself this amazing 50th birthday party and thinking, “Jane, who the hell are you?” I felt like I’d spent so many years suffering from imposter syndrome, not quite feeling good enough, definitely feeling inadequate. I live in this very affluent town, and I’d spent years feeling like I was never quite enough, which is ridiculous because, of course, there I was with this huge career in publishing.
Katie [8:40]:
Jane, I’ve been to Barnes & Noble by the way, you have like an entire shelf. [laughs]
Jane [8:45]:
Well, I know. But you know, I live in one of those towns that’s kind of like, the women do hot yoga for hours every day [Katie laughs] and they’re all kind of gorgeous, and slim, and toned. Their husbands are all hedge fund titans and they live in mansions and I just always felt like I didn’t fit in. And the truth is, I didn’t fit in, but I didn’t understand that that was part of the magic of being me and that was what I had to embrace. Until I got comfortable with that and embraced that, I was never going to really be happy, and that happened at 50.
It was very deliberate, I just thought, "You’ve got to figure this out.” I sort of discovered at the age of 50 that... well, a number of things. First of all, I was a bit of a teetotaler, and I discovered I really like tequila, [Katie laughs] and I really like dancing and I’d always felt much too self-conscious to dance, and actually, I didn’t want to follow fashion. All those years where I tried to be this sort of elegant... I sort of thought I had to look a certain way and actually, I’m completely obsessed with the ‘60s and ‘70s and I’m much happier in a kaftan or some huge bell bottoms; I’ve kind of found my own style. I’ve also been, I’ve got a lot more clarity about what works for me in life.
The one thing I do feel now, which I think I didn’t feel when I was younger is there’s absolutely no point in complaining about anything. You know, life is where you look. The key to happiness is not getting what you want. It’s wanting what you’ve got. And I’d always set these goals for myself and always wondered why I never felt enough, even when I reached those goals. All I did was move the goalpost and set another goal. And actually, at 50 I just sort of figured out that actually, the key really is being happy exactly where I am right now, not complaining about things. And if there is something that I don’t like, whether it's a relationship, a friendship, a work situation, or the way someone speaks to me, whatever it is, I deal with it, and I change it, and I will either, have a conversation with somebody, it will either change, or I will move on and let go. I think I’ve become much more accepting as I’ve gotten older. I don’t react as much as I did when I was younger, and I’m able to let go of situations that might not be good for me. Whereas when I was younger, I think perhaps I was too frightened of the unknown and I sort of clung on, hoping they’d get better.
Katie [11:38]:
I love this so much. I connected with everything that you shared, and I particularly love this notion of, we’re 100% responsible for our own responses to things. I want to explore this a little bit when we come back from this quick break.
[Ad Break]
Katie [13:12]:
Jane, we’re back from the break. We were talking about how as you got older, you were able to let go of some things, that you recognize that you’re 100% responsible for your reactions to conversations or to your feelings. You said something to me that is so beautiful which is: life is where you look. When we look for reasons to be happy, when we look for reasons to be content, when we look for reasons to be grateful, we find them. I feel like this is something that really does happen, this clarity of aging.
You know, I do wonder, the heroines in your book... You really helped invent a category of books called chicklet, the sort of romantic comedy. You’ve been doing this for two decades; you really were a leader that gave rise to this explosion of interest in books by and about women. We see this in Jenna Bush Hager’s book club on the Today show, Reese Witherspoon’s book club, and her production company, Hello Sunshine. Do you feel like women are natural storytellers? And this is a two-part question. Do you feel like stories that are being told do justice to women in midlife?
Jane [14:25]:
So, do I feel that women are natural storytellers? Completely. We tend to... Certainly, women, more than men, will wear our hearts on our sleeves, and it’s the way we connect with other women, it’s the way we connect with our own humanity, it’s how we sort of experience empathy. And I actually love being in groups of women who are sharing their stories; it creates intimacy. Often, women will have a tendency to overshare [Katie laughs] and create intimacy because when we meet other women with whom we feel this connection, we want to say, "Yes, I’m the same as you. I’ve gone through this.” And we start pouring our stories out. But there’s something really human and lovely about that, and also vulnerable.
I think that’s the other thing that has become very clear to me as I’ve got older, is the importance of sharing our vulnerabilities. And that actually, those real connections come when you’re able to be completely authentic and say, “Hey, I know I look like I’ve got it all together, and I have this huge career, and I look like I have all the answers. But actually, I’m also struggling with X, and I have problems with Y, and I’ve had a horrific time with Z.” Those are the things that make people feel comfortable with you because we’re all carrying around, not just these issues but this sort of lurking shame, this secret shame, whether it’s we weren’t a good enough mother because we screamed at our kids... Whatever it is, we all, I think, or so many of us, secretly feel deep down that we’re not quite good enough.
Katie [16:24]:
Yes, I think that’s such a common, universal feeling. There’s always something to feel ashamed about. And by the way, I have definitely screamed at my children, and I might have done it recently. [laughs]
Jane [16:38]:
But we overcompensate by armoring up, and whether that’s by emotionally closing off or packing on the jewelry and the designer labels, what that’s saying is, "Hey, I’m good enough. I’m showing you that I am actually good enough.” And in fact, it’s when you start stripping those constructs away and saying, “You know what, I’m also struggling and having a hard time.” That’s when I found the best connections of my life.
Katie [17:05]:
So, I’m curious, Jane, because you’re talking, some of the words that you’re using, like, looks can be deceiving, she seems to have it all together, or they armor themselves with jewelry and expensive clothing. You’re really conjuring up this imagery in my mind, and it makes me wonder, do you think that books and print are better at capturing the essential core of women than, say, movies and film? Because when we’re looking at something, a visual medium such as television or film, we’re often being served up hyper-attractive people. Does the print medium, does an audio medium give you a greater ability to talk to a wider range of people and have better perspectives? What’s your take on that?
Jane [17:50]:
So, that’s such an interesting question. I don’t know that there’s a huge difference in books. Because honestly, books are so visual, and we as writers are creating a world and serving it up to you, and we’re, you know... I know that my books are very descriptive, so I’m painting pictures with words of these worlds, which are not dissimilar to film and TV.
Audio, however, is something completely different and doing scripted series, and scripted shorts, and scripted dramas on audio, you don’t have that. There is no visual. So, in some ways, that’s even more powerful because you really are leaving it up to the listeners’ imaginations. I grew up listening to radio plays, and I just remember there’s an immersive quality, and an intimacy to listening to radio plays that is what I’m looking to do now with Emerald, but it’s also something that doesn’t really exist anymore, and it does allow the listener to conjure up whatever world they want.
Katie [18:59]:
And what are you looking to do with Emerald? What is your vision? What are you working on currently? What should we be knowing about this?
Jane [19:07]:
So, our first series is called Rainbow Girl, and it’s six-part scripted series. This one was written by me, with a script writer called Tommy Lombardi. And it’s actually a standalone story of a rockstar couple in 1979 whose world is, you know, from the outside, they look as though they have everything; glamorous and unbelievably rich, and travel the world. But of course, behind closed doors, they’re diving into not just the sex and the drugs but also, black magic and all kinds of dark things. Their marriage is coming apart, and it’s all about to end in a terrible tragedy. But it’s the couple that I wrote about in Sister Stardust, which was the novel that came out earlier this year.
Katie [20:05]
I am halfway through that by the way, so no spoilers. [laughs] No spoilers!
Jane [20:09]:
Oh! So, this follows Eddie Allbright and Lissy Ellery 10 years on.
Katie [20:14]:
Oh, nice!
Jane [20:16]:
Yeah, so it’s a six-part, fully cast, we have an amazing cast of actors and fully soundscaped. And it’s... I mean, it’s a drama. It’s an audio drama.
Katie [20:29]:
I love that. That is so phenomenal. I love that you said you were raised listening to these immersive radio stories. I think our listeners can hear from your accent that it’s English. Can you share a little bit about your background and where you were raised, and why you’re resurrecting this audio medium?
Jane [20:49]:
So, I was raised in London, and I lived in London for, gosh, the first 32 years of my life. And so, it was the BBC Radio plays, and that was the entertainment. I remember driving home from nights out and listening to a play on the radio and not being able to get out of my car because I was just so mesmerized by these stories. And actually, what’s interesting as well is in the old days, they were very natural. There was something very natural about the acting. Whereas today, the little bit of drama that there is in the podcast world and on audio, tends to be a little more overacted. But I’m working toward changing that. I want to bring that very natural quality, so you really feel as if you’re almost eavesdropping in, you’ve dropped into another world, and you’re not really supposed to be there, but you’re eavesdropping.
Katie [21:54]:
Oh, I love that. I think radio and audio are so immersive in ways that television is not. This is just a bizarre segue, but my kids watch TV with subtitles, and I’m like, "It’s in English. What are you doing?” But because they’re so busy texting, and talking to one another, and reading a book, they’re doing six things when they’re listening. I feel like audio has, beyond television even, the ability to really make you feel like you’re there and that the person that you’re listening to is speaking directly to you. Television, it just doesn’t feel as intimate to me as somebody in your ear.
Jane [22:33]:
Yeah, I think that’s right. Although, what I’m seeing in the kids is that they are, their brains are literally being rewired as they’re growing up with all this technology and they have an ability to multitask in a way that we, older people do not. And I would get very frustrated with my kids, "Put the phone down, you can’t do your homework when you’re doing...” But actually, they can, I’m realizing that they can. And also, life is so busy now, which is the other beauty of audio; our attention spans our getting shorter and shorter, and we’re also so busy it's getting harder and harder to find the time to sit down with a book. But if we can listen to that story on a podcast or an audiobook, we can do it while we’re driving, cleaning the house, or exercising. Whatever it is, we can multitask.
Katie [23:23]:
Absolutely. Jane, first of all, you said your kids are better at multitasking than you are, but I need to stop for a minute and say you’ve written 21 books, you write magazine articles, you also have a side passion for renovating homes, and gardening, you wrote a cookbook. You are clearly able to multitask, and this is a serious question. You are obviously a highly productive human, and you’re English; is this whole thing powered on tea, or are you running on coffee like the rest of America? Because I don’t know how you do this all?
Jane [23:55]:
[laughs] I am running on coffee like the rest of America. However, it’s much stronger coffee than the rest of America. American coffee is revolting, [Katie laughs] it’s like weak coffee blended water. So, I do tend to go European when I can. Running on coffee like the rest of you. And also, honestly, I mean, I’m going to say this because I really do believe this is true, that somebody once told me that after the age of 40, you can essentially divide your life into friends, family, and work, but you can only ever successfully juggle two of them.
Katie [24:33]:
Hmm, that’s interesting.
Jane [24:35]:
Yeah. I really, feel that when my kids were young, I wasn’t enormously social because I couldn’t be. I was working, and if I wasn’t working, I was with the children. Now that my kids are in college, I get to... Well, actually, I thought, “Fantastic, I can now work and see friends all the time.” But of course, starting a new network is so much work that I am exhausted. I am toes up by 8:30, [Katie laughs] I’m toast. I can't do anything. I’m canceling everybody left, right, and center.
Katie [25:11]:
You can do it all, but you can't do it all at once. That was something that I really took on when I was younger. I felt like, "Oh my gosh, I’m not doing all the things.” And you realize you have to do them in waves and stages.
Jane [25:26]:
Yes. And I think as well, very important for me to punctuate my day with periods of peacefulness. So, however crazy my day is, however busy, I have to have moments throughout the day that are just for me, where I don’t have to think about anything.
Katie [25:47]:
And what does that look like? What are you doing during those moments? Because I need some ideas. [laughs] I want more peace.
Jane [25:53]:
Okay, it could be... It often involves bed, and I will be honest. I love my bed. But sometimes I will just go upstairs and just lie down for 15 minutes and listen to, you know, some music, or I’m trying not to do this so much because I can get pulled in for hours, but I’ll play some mindless game on my phone. Or just kind of lying down thinking about something, going for a walk, walking the dog. But not having to talk to anybody, not taking phone calls, not dealing with work. Just these little 10- to 15-minute episodes where I’m by myself, and I’m just able to sort of reset a little bit, and then I can take a deep breath and jump back into the world.
Katie [26:43]:
Jane, I know you love to garden, and one of the things I love to do for like 10 minutes is go outside in the sun and deadhead things. It’s weirdly therapeutic. I’m like, here I am removing dead roses or breaking off the bits of the hydrangea that have gone dry. You’re outside. It’s tactile, you’re touching things.
Jane [27:05]:
It’s the best. I mean that, actually, because it’s also... And I really do believe there’s something incredibly grounding about gardening. Especially, I don’t wear gloves and just want to be with my hands, in the earth, weeding, and pruning. Yeah, there’s nothing better than that.
Katie [27:22]:
I also love this lying on the floor and staring up at the ceiling because I do that too. I feel like I’m a cat; I’ll find a little sliver of sunshine and just lay on the floor, maybe stretch, just give my brain a break. We all have a lot going on. My friend Lisa says, "We can't call it busy, but we all have overly fulfilled lives,” and you know, we have a lot going on, and we need to find time to have peace. So, in terms of finding peace, it sounds like you’ve got these different practices that you use.
Before we move into the speed round, I always ask somebody this question. Are there things that you’ve acquired in midlife that eluded you when you were younger? Or have you let go of anything that no longer serves you?
Jane [28:08]:
Gosh... How long do we have?
Katie [28:10]:
These are biggies. [laughs]
Jane [28:13]:
I mean, gosh, there are a few immediate things that come to mind. I think the first thing is I’ve learned to say, “No,” but really nicely. And this is tied to this, is also setting boundaries and being very clear with people or with situations. “This doesn’t work for me. Thank you, but no thank you.” That’s definitely changed.
I also am much more even-tempered. And again, that sort of falls in with acceptance, but I don’t feel the need to react to everything. Even on the road, kind of road rage, and people just losing their shit... We were on a flight recently, well, we were on the flight, the flight hadn’t taken off, and all of a sudden, my husband and I were pulled off with one other young mother who was traveling with a newborn baby, this was in Europe. And it turned out we were all traveling with suitcases that had USB ports... charging ports in them. They didn’t have batteries in the suitcase. There were no batteries. But they checked in the bags and didn’t make a note of it and didn’t ask us anything about it, and so, as the bags were being loaded onto the plane, they suddenly said, “Policy is, we can't put these in the hold and so we’re pulling them off the plane.”
So, they pulled us off the plane, and this young mom, who was delightful, had a meltdown. She was hysterical, she was angry, and she was getting kind of entitled. And I just, I went, and I took her by the shoulders, and I said, “Take some deep breaths, give me the baby,” [laughs] I was slightly worried about the baby. And I said, "Look, it’s going to be fine. We’re going to get on another flight today. Stay with us. We’re now going to go find somebody to sort this out.” But I had this ability to be incredibly calm, and I think it was watching her react in a way that, up until very recently, I would have reacted as well, like, “This is ridiculous, [grumpy sounding mumbles]” And actually, it’s that sort of accepting life on life’s terms; there was clearly nothing that could be done. You get into trouble when you start fighting.
Katie [30:29]:
When you resist, when you resist all the urges.
Jane [30:33]:
Exactly. And when you can go with it and accept that it’s all going to be okay because it all generally is, life just becomes much easier.
Katie [30:43]:
Absolutely. I honestly feel like I have used this phrase to myself over the years: the way out is through. The way out is through something you don’t want to navigate, like getting off the plane and dealing with rebooking. But you recognize, okay, this is what’s happening. The way out of this is to move through the experience, even the negative ones that we’d rather avoid and resist. For me, that’s been the biggest growth in maturity. I’m not saying I always bat 1,000 at this, but I’ve gotten so much better at just recognizing sometimes we need to go through things we don’t want to go through, and then it’ll be over, and we’ll get to the other side because we always do. I love that story. Thank you for sharing it. I think anyone who has traveled lately can relate to that kind of airport rage. So, I’m glad you were able to help that young mom out. Traveling with babies is hard
Jane [31:45]:
D’you know, and the funny thing is, we ended up... It was a complete shit show of a day [Katie laughs], and we were in the airport for, I think, something like 14 hours. But we became, we were like the king and queen of the airport. It was hilarious. I just looked around at all these poor airport workers and for as miserable as it is for us to travel these days, it’s even worse for the people working in the airports because all day, they’re just being shouted at and abused by people. So, we were just... I found we were able to be enormously compassionate, and we had the most delightful interactions with everyone. We had a crowd of people sitting with us and chatting and sharing stories, and it turned into this weirdly magical day.
Katie [32:35]:
I love that. Life is where you look for it. You can find magic in an airport. And if you can find magic in an airport, Jane, you can find it anywhere. So, thank you for sharing that story and reminding us.
All right, we’re going to move into our speed round. We always close with this. It’s one of my favorite ways to end the show; it’s high-energy, it’s one- to two-word answers because we want more of you than we can get from the time that we’re allotted. So, are you ready for our speed round?
Jane [33:03]:
I’m ready, mm-hm.
Katie [33:03]:
Okay, I’m very curious about this one. The first time I saw a book I wrote on the New York Times Bestseller list, I felt _____?
Jane [33:11]:
Oh god. I felt thrilled.
Katie [33:18]:
Nice.
Jane [33:19]:
Yes, thrilled, thrilled.
Katie [33:20]:
Thrilled is a good one. When I finish writing a book, I feel _____.
Jane [33:26]:
Relieved.
Katie [33:27]:
A book from your back catalog we should all put on our list: _____.
Jane [33:36]:
Tempting Fate.
Katie [33:38]:
Even authors like to escape into a juicy novel. What’s a favorite recent read?
Jane [33:47]:
What have I read recently that I loved? Oh gosh, anything by Elin Hilderbrand.
Katie [33:53]:
Perfect. Okay, dream book or author to have on Emerald Audio: _____.
Jane [34:01]:
Lisa Jewell, who is an old dear friend, and psychological thriller writer, is completely brilliant. Dying for her to write a series for me.
Katie [34:10]:
Ooh, I’m dying to listen to one of them. People listen to podcasts in the car, on walks, and on a commute. What’s your favorite way to listen to audio?
Jane [34:19]:
Ironing, whilst ironing.
Katie [34:21]:
By the way, you make it sound so glamorous when you say it in an English accent. Finally, your one-word answer to complete this sentence: As I age, I feel _____.
Jane [34:34]:
Glorious.
Katie [34:35]:
Nice. Oh my gosh, Jane, this has been so much fun. I cannot wait to tune into Rainbow Girl and keep following along. I love stories, I love the chance to hear them, and I’m really excited about what you’re doing.
Jane [34:50]:
It’s been my pleasure. The one thing I didn’t get to say, which I just feel I have to say, because I’m telling everybody: I love being in my 50s. It is the best decade yet. Aging, along with everything else... Life is where you look.
Katie [35:07]:
Life is where you look. Whenever a friend turns 50, I say, "Welcome to a very underrated club.” I love getting older as well. I’m 53. I’m grateful for every birthday. I have friends who did not get to have them. I’m happy to be here, and I’m happy you’re with me. Thank you, Jane.
But before we say goodbye, how can our listeners keep finding more about you, your work, your books, and learn where to tune into the Rainbow Girl and all your future shows?
Jane [35:35]:
So, my books you will find wherever you buy books, online, at Amazon, at Bookshop. My last book is Sister Stardust, which is actually my favorite book of all the books I have written. It’s set in 1960s London and Marrakesh, and it is sort of based on The Rolling Stones. If that appeals and you like the world that you are drawn into, you can listen to the sequel which is Rainbow Girl, wherever you listen to podcasts.
Katie [36:05]:
Phenomenal, Jane, thank you.
This wraps A Certain Age, a show for women who are aging without apology. Join me next week when we get into the very sexy topic of bone health and osteoporosis with Dr. Andrea Singer because, and I am serious, there is nothing sexier than a body that works properly for the long run.
Special thanks to Michael Mancini, who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time, and until then: age boldly, beauties.