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Book Title: Late Bloomer Baby Boomer: A Collection of Humorous Essays About Being Gay Back in the Day and Finally Finding My Way
Author and Publisher: Steve Milliken
Release Date: December 2022
Genres: Memoir/Biography
Tropes: Self-discovery through humor, finding identity, acceptance, and resilience by laughing through life’s absurdities.
Themes: Finding humor as a gay Baby Boomer – Because the coming-out process never really ends, and it’s best to laugh along the way.
Heat Rating: 2 flames
Length: 66 000 words/228 pages
It is a standalone non-fiction book.
Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited
Laugh-out-loud stories about coming out, coming of age, and coming to terms with myself—finally!
Blurb
What happens when the class clown embraces his truth, becomes a teacher, and takes on the absurdities of life? Hilarity ensues.
In LATE BLOOMER BABY BOOMER: A Collection of Humorous Essays About Being Gay Back in the Day and Finally Finding My Way, Steve Milliken delivers a laugh-out-loud memoir packed with sharp wit, self-deprecating humor, and occasional bursts of wisdom. With the observational humor of David Sedaris and the candid charm of Augusten Burroughs, these essays explore self-discovery, urban teaching misadventures, and the hilarity of navigating adulthood as a gay baby boomer.
Spoiler: It’s a parade of pitfalls, pratfalls, and punchlines.
Review Quote:
"Delivers great sendups of the gay dating scene... impressive comedic timing. Each essay is short and snappy... A wide-ranging collection driven by humor and insight." — Kirkus Reviews
Excerpt 1: From "Introduction"
“Some people ask me, ‘Steve, who's the target audience for your book?’
And I tell them:
‘My book is for anyone who is gay, knows someone who's gay, or someone who is NOT gay but would like to be! Or… a straight guy who’s had a gay experience—like wearing a belt that matches his shoes.’”
“Back in my distant youth, I pursued a career as an actor, but the problem with acting for me was that I was a comic character actor trapped in a leading man's body. If Rodney Dangerfield and Grace Kelly had a baby, that would have been me.
But to be honest, I never wanted to be rich and famous… and so far, that’s working out great! Not really…”
Excerpt 2: From "Epistolary Possibilities for a New Year"
“After not working out for a month, I arrived at the gym only to realize my gym bag had turned into a mildew science project thanks to a rogue water bottle. Unfortunately, I discovered this catastrophe only after I'd stripped down in the locker room. I panicked, naturally, but I was too far gone to turn back. I had no choice but to wear my stinky clothes.”
“Now, I’m not religious, but in moments like these, I consider a higher power. I clutched my hands together and said a novena to the patron saint of putrid smells: ‘Our Lady of Sacred Stench, please help me now.’”
“Once on the gym floor, I tried to keep a safe distance from everyone. But when someone got too close, I’d suddenly dash to another part of the gym for no apparent reason. I’d seen my cat do this, so it seemed worth a try…”
Excerpt 3: From "Bitch Ass Snitch"
“One day, I ‘snitched’ to the Dean about a student of mine who had tagged his desk with a box cutter blade. The next day, when he came back, in front of the whole class, he called me a ‘bitch ass snitch’ and ran out of the classroom.
Later that day, in the staff parking lot, I discovered someone had vandalized my car.”
‘Gee, I wonder who that could have been?’
Of course, I came to one conclusion… ‘Karma's a bitch… for a bitch ass snitch!’”
Excerpt 4: From "Changing Closets"
“Originally, I was in the closet for being gay… but now I'm in the closet about my age.
To counter the effects of aging, I’ve reluctantly adhered to diet and exercise mandates. I even tried becoming a vegetarian… although not a strict one.
Occasionally, I’d eat chicken, fish, and ass. I’m kidding, I kid. I didn’t eat chicken…”
About the Author
Steve Milliken, a native Californian who never left—thanks to a rent-controlled Santa Monica apartment—is a writer, humorist, and recovering class clown who has spent a lifetime finding the comedy in life’s quirks and curveballs. A gay baby boomer with a knack for self-deprecating wit, he’s been an inner-city teacher, a reluctant adult, and an expert in the fine art of laughing at himself.
In LATE BLOOMER BABY BOOMER: A Collection of Humorous Essays About Being Gay Back in the Day and Finally Finding My Way, Steve shares sharp, heartfelt, and laugh-out-loud stories about coming out, inner-city teaching, and navigating life one misadventure at a time. His writing has been compared to the observational humor of David Sedaris and the candid storytelling of Augusten Burroughs.
When he’s not finding the humor in everyday life, Steve creates and shares short comedy videos online based on excerpts from his book, proving that some stories are best told with a punchline… and good lighting.
Author Links
Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
1. Tell
us a little about yourself and your writing goals.
My
name is Steve Milliken, and my first and only book, Late
Bloomer Baby Boomer,
was 20 years in the making. I’m a former class clown turned high
school English teacher in the inner city who finally channeled my
love of storytelling—and a lifetime of procrastination—into a
published book. Think of me as the guy who always made the class
laugh (and the principal sigh), but also the guy who handed in his
homework a couple of decades late. My goal is to offer stories that
are funny, relatable, and remind people it’s never too late to
figure yourself out. Making people laugh is my passion, so this book
is an extension of that.
2. Five or ten things I learned while writing this book
-
Humor is a powerful healing tool.
Sometimes laughter says what tears can't—and it reaches people faster. -
It’s okay to cringe at your past. It means you’ve grown.
Growth isn't always graceful, but it's usually funny in hindsight. -
“Coming out” doesn’t have an expiration date.
Identity isn’t a one-time announcement—it’s an ongoing evolution. -
Gay history isn’t just about Stonewall—it’s about the quiet, cringey, and hilarious stories too.
The personal is political… and often ridiculous. -
Nostalgia and humor make a potent combo.
Looking back is easier when you're laughing while you do it. -
This was the book I needed years ago. I hope it finds someone who needs it now.
Sometimes you write the thing you wish someone had handed you earlier. -
My stand-up background helped me shape each essay like a set.
Every piece had a rhythm: setup, build, punchline—and occasionally, a mic drop. -
Editing your life is hard. So is keeping a straight face while doing it.
Memoir is emotional excavation with a laugh track. -
I hoped the humor would land on the page—and was surprised how much emotional truth snuck in with it.
Turns out, jokes and feelings are often seatmates. -
My old students probably deserve royalties….
3. What was the most difficult part of writing this book? Why?
The hardest part was writing honestly about two very different—but equally persistent—forms of denial: the closeted kid who thought “straight” was a believable costume, and the adult who thought his drinking wasn’t a problem—as long as the jokes kept landing. Writing about my younger self felt like emotional time travel with a side of whiplash and heckling. (And yes, I was heckling myself.)
Revisiting those moments through a more honest, present-day lens confirmed what I’ve known for years: coming out isn’t a one-time event—it’s a lifelong process. And somehow, writing about it deepened my self-acceptance even more.
If I can’t
own the cringe, I can’t own the growth.
Humor helped me
survive it then—and now, it helps me make sense of it all.
4. Five random facts about this book
-
The book took decades to live and 20 years to write.
-
My early stand-up career shows in the rhythm of every paragraph—even the heartfelt ones.
-
The title Late Bloomer Baby Boomer came to me while eating a bran muffin. Fiber inspires.
-
I compare liposuction to childbirth—more than once.
-
There’s a fart machine involved. Yes, really.
5. Five personalities from the book
-
Me, Myself & I – The core trio in this memoir. I narrate, I reflect, and usually only one of us gets to talk at a time. (You're welcome.)
-
Young Me – Funny and well-dressed (Thanks, Mom!), desperate to fit in—and even more desperate to stand out. The class clown with a Barbie obsession and a Barbie-shaped hole in his soul.
-
The Closeted College Student – Joined a fraternity for the brotherhood, the bonding, and the belief that straightness was contagious. (Spoiler: it wasn’t.)
-
The Comedy Performer – I’d been performing long before I ever set foot on a stage—playing it straight, playing it funny, and trying to look like I had it all together. I didn’t lose my manginity until my mid-twenties, which tells you everything you need to know about how “together” I really was. Yes, that’s a word. Yes, it’s in the book.
-
The High School Teacher – Picture a three-ring circus of whiteboards, chaos, and curriculum! Now put the former class clown—turned teacher—in charge as the ringmaster. Equal parts sarcasm and survival mode, I juggled lessons, tamed students, and always found the funny.
6.
Elaborate on the inspiration for the book
I
wrote this book because humor is contagious—and I’m trying to
start an epidemic! It’s how I’ve always processed life:
connecting the dots, cracking jokes between the trauma, and turning
pain into punchlines. Basically, therapy with spit takes and no
co-pay. And let’s be honest—if your memoir doesn’t include a
fart machine, what are we even doing?
7.
Elaborate on your writing style
It’s
a mix of memoir and comedy club. My style is part stand-up, part
storytelling, and part cleverly candid commentary. I aim for
laugh-out-loud moments with occasional bursts of wisdom. I use
real-life absurdity, punchlines, and random left turns into
vulnerability. If David Sedaris had a slightly more unpredictable,
verbose gay cousin, I’d like to think I’m him. It’s
laugh-out-loud humor with heart—and just enough delightful
derailments to keep things interesting.
8.
Things you edited out of this book, or that were originally planned
but changed once you started writing
Editing
is the grown-up version of putting away your favorite toys. Painful,
but necessary. I had to part ways with a few essays I loved—some
were too niche, too weird, or just didn’t play nicely with others.
Some cuts were necessary because they didn’t serve the larger
story… or served a little too much—like one piece best described
as “emotionally chaotic with hints of gastrointestinal distress,”
which I once considered a colon humor classic. It might resurface
someday—possibly in therapy, with a very open-minded therapist….
9. What
is your advice for new writers?
Don’t
wait for inspiration—it’s lazy and has a terrible work ethic.
Write every day, even if it’s just a paragraph or a grocery list
that spirals into a monologue. The first draft is just you shoveling
sand into a sandbox—the real magic happens when you start shaping
it into a castle. Don’t fear rejection; every “no” gets you
closer to the right “yes.” Even Stephen King’s first novel was
rejected 30 times, and he still turned out okay… if by “okay”
you mean global domination through nightmares. And if you need to
retreat into a blanket fort now and then, make sure it has Wi-Fi,
fizzy drinks, and salty snacks—creativity needs fuel.
10. If
you had access to a time machine just once, is there anything you'd
go back and change?
I
wouldn’t erase the awkward evolution—it’s what brought me here.
But I’d definitely ditch the detour into alcoholism. Recovery gave
me gifts I’m deeply grateful for, but I lost too many years to
self-loathing, fear, and trying to be someone I wasn’t. I’d go
back and find that closeted, confused kid and say, “You’re not
broken. You’re scared—and that’s okay. But life gets so much
better when you stop pretending. Also: Invest in Amazon. Trust me.”
11. If
you could choose any superpower or magical ability, what would it be
and why? What would you do with it?
The
power to instantly recharge energy. Forget super strength—I want
super stamina for writing, aging gracefully, and pretending to
understand cryptocurrency without a nap.
12. If
you could go anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would
you go, who would you take with you, and why?
I’m
not well-traveled, but people keep telling me it’s time to venture
beyond my comfort zone… so I’m thinking Death Valley in the
summer or Antarctica in the winter. I’ve also heard there’s a
Groupon for a boat trip down the Congo River—complete with optional
cannibal engagement and a Marlon Brando impersonator mumbling “The
horror.”
My friends
tend to be squeamish, so I’d probably go solo.
As far as
descents into madness go, I’ve faced greater horrors—like
teaching high school English in the inner city. It’s all in my
book….
13. If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things (or people) would you want there with you?
-
A waterproof copy of my book, Late Bloomer Baby Boomer—If I’m going to be stranded, I’d rather be entertained by previous misadventures than counting on conversations with coconuts.
-
A shirtless Chris Hemsworth lookalike who reinvented himself as a wilderness survivalist—and is surprisingly great at both fire-starting and emotional intimacy. Listen, I’m not proud—but I’m also not trying to build a shelter with just sunscreen and anxiety.
-
A fart machine—for morale. Nothing lifts your spirits like juvenile colon humor echoing across the island at sunset.
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