IF GRANDMA MOSES COULD START PAINTING when she was in her 80s, then there certainly is hope for the rest of us. Really, it’s never too late to do something fun and or interesting.

Take Castro Valley’s Mathilde Schmidt, whom you have met in this column before. She is the inspirational 86-year-old whose life began in Germany but who came to the United States after World War II. Her first book was an autobiographical self-published work that documented the challenges and difficulties of those years during the 1940s, “My Life on Two Continents.”

Before the ink was dry on her first book, Mathilde was hard at work on her second one, this one a work of fiction called “The Lake Dwellers” that weaves together two dozen stories with characters from many eras. She says there are stories about birth and death, life and longings—but all have good endings. From a fantasy about plants talking in a greenhouse, to a young girl who doesn’t know how to find the right husband, there is a charming story for all. Mathilde says she was inspired by the legendary Scheherazade, who created a fanciful tale for a Persian king every night—so that he would not behead her next morning.

The Castro Valley Library will host a book signing for Mathilde in October, but “The Lake Dwellers” is already at Jordan’s Books and at the Hayward Area Museum and at the Book Shop in Hayward.

And as you probably already guessed, this indefatigable writer is already at work on her third book, this one about the young owner of a castle in Austria.

Write to Carmen Rusca c/o the Times. P.O.Box 607, Pleasanton, CA 94566 or e-mail aroundcv@sbcglobal.net.