Renewal

Retirement is not for sissies.

I’ve gone from a stressed-out disaster worker who thrived on 12-14 hour days, 7 days a week to . . . this. I need some structure! I need to stop thinking about tornadoes and floods and start killing people . . . in my books, of course.

Here’s my plan. I’ve decided chaos and overextension will be my friends. I’ve thrust myself headlong into writer/author/reader groups, art classes (because my soul needs to embrace creativity even if my writer’s brain won’t), agreed to pen a recurring column for a newsletter, and immersed myself in TikTok/BookTok which makes me feel like a six-year-old on the first day of school, wondering which corridor leads to the bathroom and afraid to ask.

I paid a ridiculous amount of money for a marketing/advertising course which I have yet to begin . . . but I will. I rejoined Goodreads and Facebook. My best support comes from the Grand Canyon Writers chapter of Sisters in Crime. This talented group has motivated me in ways I can’t seem to do on my own. Every Zoom meeting is like a transfusion of inspiration.

All systems are “go” for writing my next book. If all else fails, I can always super glue my butt to the chair. Well, that might be a tad uncomfortable so I think I’ll just write.