I've taught Sunday school, I've sung in the choir, I directed a choir.

No, but a cello is the perfect string bass for an accordion. Works with it beautifully.

Other people, including me, have written books with main characters who were old and rich. Or old and brilliant. Old sages, old wizards, old rich people.

I used to not back down from a challenge.

In a novel, I could submerge my ego in a characters and let his perceptions take over.

One of my degrees was a science degree in biology.

What it boils down to is that parenting a child with autism is a difficult job; writing about it is far easier.