It’s never too late for God to open a new chapter in your life. That’s something Christian author Claudette Cann discovered at 70.

She had spent most of her life caring for others. For 33 years she was a registered nurse at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital; for seven years she looked after children.

“I retired five years ago and I said, ‘I can’t just sit home and do nothing. There has to be a talent somewhere within me that I can use’,” she said.

“Eventually I got my inspiration from God to start writing.

“I was reading the Bible one day and realised that our goal on this Earth is to spread God’s word by touching the lives of others in a positive way.

“I thought, ‘Even if one person reads my words and is able to put their life in perspective then it’s worth it’.”

The 72-year-old will release her second book this month. A New Beginning is the sequel to last year’s Christian romance At Last , which encouraged young women to rise above temptation and stay pure. “The first novel took me a long while to write and I decided to leave it unfinished because you can do that with fiction,” Mrs Cann said. “You can make it go any direction you want it to.

“I wanted to write the sequel and it has some surprising twists and turns that I hope my fans or future readers will enjoy.

“We often come to these junctions in life where we ask, should I take this road or that road? The message behind it is while our lives are never a straight path, you still have the power to try to choose the correct one.”

Megan, the protagonist in At Last, returns in A New Beginning . She’s now in her forties and has gone through a painful divorce.

Her daughter Ashley longs for her father to rejoin the family and decides she doesn’t want to make the same mistakes as her mother with love.

Mrs Cann, a member of the Church of Christ Brighton Hill, Devonshire, has been a believer for more than 38 years.

“My faith is what gets me through every day because there’s hope and faith that even if I’m not recognised or acknowledged on this Earth, I’ll be rewarded by God in Heaven. Not just me, but to all who do the same,” she said.

“All the answers we seek in life are in the Bible. We just have to search diligently and trust God to find the correct answer for our situation and not settle for what man’s idea is.”

Her 14-year-old granddaughter and a 90-year-old woman from her church are among her fans.

“I had two people of different generations who enjoyed it and there was a unique message in it for both of them,” she said.

“The 90-year-old told me the first book sounded like her life, as she waited until she was married to be intimate with her husband. So all of God’s guidelines can be learnt and repeated.

“I hope all young men and women who read my books will be able to see life is precious. We can’t waste a minute of it.

“God has given us this gift to live on this Earth and that shouldn’t be taken for granted.”

As Mrs Cann’s health “isn’t the best” these days, she got tired easily while writing.

“But I pressed on,” she said. “I had to lean on God’s word and knew I had to get this message out there for others to be encouraged and inspired.

“I also did it for all my children — Ken, Clare and Sherlette — and my four grandchildren. They are my inspiration.

“I want to leave more than just pictures of myself when I leave this Earth and feel my words are my legacy to all my offspring to come.

“My great-grandchildren can look at these books and pass them down to their family. And that makes me feel wonderful, like God put me on this Earth not just to pass through, but to have a ministry and a legacy.”

Her advice to any other retirees is to never give up.

“I’m 72 years old and just wrote my first book when I was 70,” she said. “I had always enjoyed writing, but as a registered nurse it was my family, faith and patients that took priority. Now I have some quiet time to dive into other things.

“My hope is everyone from 8 to 80 would be inspired to do something in their life that’s meaningful.”

Mrs Cann will sign copies of her book at Brown & Co on Wednesday from noon until 2pm, and on Wednesday, March 23, from 10.30am until 1pm.

A New Beginning is on sale for $20 at Caesar’s Pharmacy in Somerset; Bermuda Book Store on Queen Street and Robertson’s Drug Store in St George’s; or e-mail cann@logic.bm