ELIZABETH DUCIE: After 25 Years In The Corporate Industry Then Giving It All Up To Transition Into Her Second Life Chapter To Write, Is A Big Leap of Faith & Confidence in Yourself, But This Is The Step Many In The Over 50s Are Doing Or Need To Do

Mature Preneurs Talk with Diana Todd-Banks

Elizabeth had spent over twenty-five years in the international pharmaceutical industry helping companies make their drugs safely and built up a ‘store’ of anecdotes she intended to publish “one of these days.” Then a major health scare reminded her if she left it too late, she may never reach, “one of these days,” and so began writing creative non-fiction putting real situations and locations into fictional settings, which worked.

The millions of words written during Elizabeth’s first career were always true but now telling ‘lies’ for a living requires a different style of writing. Elizabeth had to learn to be opinionated and inventive. Her early heroines had no fun and did nothing wrong; she was too scared people would think it was autobiographical! Returning to campus for her MA after thirty-three years was nerve-wracking spending the weeks leading up to the start of term worrying about what she should wear. Even though Elizabeth was used to speaking to audiences of tens if not hundreds, in her first seminar this coy writer kept her head down, whispering ‘don’t pick me,’ every time the tutor asked someone a question. Having now developed her second career alongside the independent publishing industry this authorpreneur is much happier. She’s watched the independent publishing business move from being the route of last resort for authors unable to get a traditional publishing deal, to a legitimate option for people who prefer full control over their businesses.