NOT many people choose to start a new career when they’re about to enter retirement, but that is exactly what Wattle Flat resident Charles Boag did.
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In fact, if you ask Mr Boag, retirement isn’t something that really exists.
That is why, seven years ago, he decided to write his first book and he hasn’t put the pen down since.
He is all about living life to the fullest and doing the things you’ve always wanted to do. Age can’t be seen as a barrier.
“I’m 73 and I believe that older people are a wasted resource. For me, retirement does not exist,” Mr Boag said.
“You don’t have to write books or paint pictures, there are a million things you can do, but forget retirement.”
Mr Boag has led an interesting life, which has included working as a journalist and living on a boat in Sydney.
The latter was a source of inspiration for the first book in his Mister Rainbow series.
The title character is described as a “retro” detective, who is living in the modern day but his way of thinking and solving crimes is 100 years old.
“I was living on a boat at the time of the inspiration for this [series], but he lives on a boat in Sydney Harbour illegally,” he said.
How did Mr Boag come to be living on a boat? The answer is quite simple.
He wanted to be closer to his youngest child, who was still in school at the time, and the only way he could afford to live in “the most expensive part of Sydney” was on a boat.
“Although you’re not meant to live on a boat, I thought ‘Bugger it’,” he said.
“It was a great experience, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
“They say the two best days in a boat owners life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it.”
When his boating days were over, Mr Boag made the move to Wattle Flat, where he met the next major source of inspiration for his writing career, his wife Judith.
He bought a property from her and, when she would come around to help plant trees, their love blossomed.
“I would take her out in gratitude and one day I said to her ‘How about we get married?’ and she thought it was a good idea,” Mr Boag said.
“At our age, you don’t hang about.”
He believes she is the reason why he has been able to write so many books and get them published.
“We married seven years ago and in that time I’ve written seven books and that is in large part because she is not only my muse, but she also keeps me going,” Mr Boag said.
He writes for up to four hours each morning and uses his afternoons to work on his other passion, painting.
With the help of his wife, he was able to self-publish his first Mister Rainbow book.
It was at the launch party, where everyone except publishers had been invited, a representative from a magazine, which turned out to also be a publisher, approached Mr Boag to publish the book serious.
The book series has done so well that it has since been collected into an omnibus edition by his publishers.
Volume one, featuring the first three books is out now and volume two is due for release in September, 2017.
Mr Boag is currently working on his eighth book, a more autobiographical novel.
“I will want it to be real, for it to live, for people to take it seriously,” he said of his next book.
People can purchase the Mister Rainbow series from Books Plus, book stores across Australia and from online retailers.