I’m 50—fabulous or f*cked? Giving the middle finger to middle age.

Published in “The Haven” on Medium.

As part of my writing journey, I’ve been challenging myself to write in different genres on Medium, and I’ve been working on this humor piece for the past couple of weeks. Satire isn’t really “my forte,” but I’m trying it on because I love the challenge!

I submitted this piece to the largest humor publication on Medium, but it was “rejected” with this reply: “We’ll pass on this one, but thanks for sending it our way.” I can handle rejection, but unfortunately the Publication didn’t offer any feedback on why it wasn’t accepted because they get 500+ submissions per month and don’t have the time to respond.

I was deflated. I thought, “What was wrong with my piece? Do I suck at writing humor? Or did I cross the borders on racism, ageism and F-bombs or was it just bad?” I don’t know the answers, but of course, I submitted it to a different Publication because I spent so much f*cking time writing this story, believed in it, and I didn’t want to give up. If you’re a friend of mine, or have read any of my fitness journey posts, you’re familiar with my self-mantra “Try, Mary, Try!”

Success…it was accepted at The Haven! The Editor of The Haven is middle-aged woman (like me), a lawyer and loves the F-word as much as I do— so my story resonated with her. Her reply to my article: “OMG, Mary! I LOVED your submission. I’m all about borderline old-ish women who swear a lot. They are my people.” – Page Barnes

Sometimes finding the “right place” to publish your work is finding the “right fit”. “The Haven” ended up being the ideal Publication to feature this story. Thank you, Page!

The Haven on Medium is a Place to Be Funny Without Being a Jerk…for all types of humor writing — stories, essays, lists, Onion-style fake news, funny poetry, cartoons.” – Page Barnes, Founder & Editor at The Haven.

Here’s the link: