Deadlines, appointments, commitments. Project plans, hours at a desk, phone calls. Invoices, emails, follow-ups.
I thought I was retired! Two years now, retired from my paying career in IT. But my suspicion that life is life, people are people, at a paying job or not, is playing out. We are who we are – always ambitious, hard-working, and goal-oriented, I still am all that in retirement. Which must be why I picked writing as my new career – it has kept me as busy as anything I could have hoped for in my golden years!
Let’s reminisce :
2 years ago – Yay, retirement! I want to be a writer. I’ve been writing little stories, taking some classes. Let’s submit some, get a few pieces published, start dreaming about a book.
1.5 years ago – Yes, I think I have a book. Let’s submit the first 10K words to Ink&Insights contest. Turns out the feedback and 5th place finish in non-fiction will be great motivators to clean it up and finish.
1 year ago – yes, finished the manuscript! Then hired an editor, found an illustrator, reworked and polished into a very decent product.
6 months ago – Camp Follower One Army Brat’s Story is published and printed, alive. I’m as proud as anything I’ve ever done. It’s sinful, it feels so good.
Now – Marketing and learning the distribution processes have consumed the past six months. As an indie, it all falls on me in roles of publisher, distributor, marketer. I’ve done well. I’ve had 2 printings of 200 books each, plus the online sales. I’ve almost broken even on costs, not counting my own hours of labour, (which is the retirement part anyway.) Reviews are plentiful and good. The book is a success.
Next – Write another book of course! Fiction this time. I still like short stories with a threaded extended storyline. Let’s leave it there for now. Thanks for following, I’ll keep you posted!
Stevie Szabad, Author 