The Next Decade

When I was 70, I engaged with a counsellor to discuss the next decade of my life. Moving into one's seventies can be a bit daunting. I made a commitment to continue with my writing and made some headway with my various projects. Not too long ago, I reached 80. So what would I do with this decade (assuming I have a decade)?
Before I answer that question, I need to tell you about several difficult times that have disrupted my writing processes. The first was the death of the editor who had chosen my book Magnificat for publication. Then Covid invaded the world, and Inanna, the small publishing company, ran into the crisis of how to replace a powerhouse like Luciana as well as deal with the economic swings caused by the pandemic. Authors were given the opportunity to try to find another publisher for their works. The ones who chose to remain, like myself, were moved into a long, chronological line for their turns to be published. My book slipped back to fall of 22 then fall of 23. I was dismayed by this situation, as I really don't want this book to be posthumous!
Then, our son who had multiple sclerosis came down with a serious urinary tract infection and was sent by his group home to a hospital teeming with Covid. People with MS have to have their immune systems suppressed, so we were not surprised when he contracted Covid, but hopeful when he seemed to pull through without too much problem. But then long Covid entered, and he gradually moved into a coma and then died at the end of last February. So since then, I've been kind of off track with my writing, although I have written some stories about Karl's remarkable personality and life.

Recently, I realized that I was in a bad space. I sat up as though from a long and miserable sleep to decide that I need to get back in action. I am moving ahead to get my books Soaring with Amelia and Getting a Life back online and in print form as well. I hope to have this process in motion within a few weeks.
Then I will do a revision of Finding Jaguar Woman, the sequel to Getting a Life, and hand it over to an editor. After that, I will tackle the revisions and editing of the third book, Issues of Trust. We'll see how far along I get with these projects. I'm looking forward to the revisions and then working with my editor. The more I can do, the happier I am. And I'll keep writing about Karl, although in shorter stories and as I come to them in my emotions.
I understand that many people work to finally be able to enjoy a leisurely retirement from work. I worked to retire so that I could finally write. So I'm looking forward to getting busy again.

I hope to have good news for you in a few months as I move my young adult books along into self-publishing.
I hope that you, too, are finding relief and a new sense of freedom as Covid slows and rules and regulations relax.

Kathleen