Summer Solstice

Summer arrived at 8:54 am, Friday, June 21. The pleasant SoCal “June gloom” of a low cloud cover brought in the day, but by afternoon, the morning clouds had cleared and the sunshine made the day uncomfortably warm. It was almost as if nature had read the calendar.

Family, friends, and I celebrated the solstice with an afternoon equivalent of a champagne brunch. (What would that be called? ‘Linner’? ‘Dunch’?)

The summer solstice marks the ten-day sign post for July’s Camp NaNoWriMo. I’ll be writing a short story and continue editing and revising the second Detective McGregor mystery, but there’s so much to do before then. I’m beta reading for a writer friend. My children’s book needs editing, and I’ll be meeting with the illustrator to review the artwork. I also have commitments with family and friends. Time marches on whether I’m ready or not.

Back to Work

I started this blog post last week but…

Daniel (Webster) defines procrastinate as ‘to put off doing [something] until a future time.’ The online Urban Dictionary plans to define the word next week.

As a retiree of almost two months, schedules and goals are self-imposed. As a hobby writer, I have no publication deadlines. I started writing a few years ago when I’d stopped watching television, but the time-killing habit crept slowly back into my life. I took a clear look at the calendar this week and saw my writing goal of publishing one Detective McGregor mystery a year will be hard to accomplish if I continue dawdling.

The daily writing habit I’d embraced during April’s Camp NaNoWriMo evaporated. I know books don’t write themselves; they require work and seat time in front of a computer. I’m getting back on the writing bicycle. I haven’t forgotten how to write—accomplish small goals daily. Vacation is over. It’s time to get back to work.

The Morning After

It’s May 1, and NaNoWriMo’s April Camp session is over. The good thing about NaNoWriMo is that you don’t answer to anyone except yourself. For me, that’s also the bad thing.

I started the month with a goal of 30 thousand new words, enough, when added to the existing draft’s word count, to push it to the 50 thousand words considered to be a novel. Half way through the month, I reduced my goal to 15 thousand. I wanted a Winner badge on my Profile page even if I didn’t reach my true goal of finishing the draft. Yesterday, I felt like I’d “sold out.”

During April, I restructured and revised the existing draft to reflect the addition of a major conflict the detective faces while out of his jurisdiction; wrote over 15 thousand new words for the current story; and wrote several thousand more words developing the plot for a future book in the series. Yesterday, I felt like shrugging my shoulders and saying “Oh, well,” but today I’ve given myself permission to write slowly and be proud of what I accomplish.

Not Enough Time!

I’ve been retired just over two weeks now. The first week was strange… I kept feeling like I had to go to work. By the second week, though, I’d settled right into the rhythm of not working.

I realize I’m already having the problems many retirees have.

What day is this? 
This only matters because I need to know which day to go to the Senior Center for my Pilates class. And which day I go to the chiropractor because of the Pilates class. (Why in the world did I think I could handle a vigorous exercise class when I’ve been a slug for the last several years?)

Financial shock 
The financial shock of not having paychecks automatically deposited to my checking account won’t really hit until the end of the month. Fortunately, I started practicing a reduction in careless spending last year, and I’ve tightened my financial belt even more this month.

Not enough time 
There’s not enough time to do all the things I need to do. How did I ever have enough time to work?

April Fools’ Day

I walked into my supervisor’s office today and told her I quit.

Retirement on April Fools’ Day is a joke come true. Last year, whenever I asked my supervisor for permission to retire, she either told me ‘NO!' or 'Sure, after she did in another 20 years’ – all humorously, of course.

My Project Director had heard me joke about retiring on April 1st and immediately initiated training for two additional staff to learn what I did throughout the year-long work cycle. So, two co-workers are now trained in my job duties, and my tasks have been reassigned to three people. And that begs the question: does it take two or three people to replace me, or is this a simple case of attrition?

Sometimes you get what you ask for. Whether retiring on April Fools’ Day is irony or an omen has yet to be seen. Anyway, I smashed my alarm clock. Retirement begins tomorrow.

And my publisher is already waiting for my next book.

Springtime in SoCal

CampNaNoWriMo

March has arrived, and with it, springtime in southern California. Rosebuds are patiently waiting for the sun and heat’s help to open into glorious displays of color. Rose-breasted house finches have begun weaving their nest in the sheltered area under my patio cover using grasses collected from my untended rose garden. The dog is shedding bushels.

The time change occurred last weekend, and now an extra hour of sunlight illuminates the evening and attempts to lure me from my computer.

March also means that April’s Camp NaNoWriMo is just around the calendarial corner. April’s project is to finish the draft for Murder Goes on Vacation, the second Detective Scott McGregor mystery. A spreadsheet tracking plot points and actions for every character was created while I was still writing the first book. Now I’m working on the second book, but I’ve stalled about one-third into the draft. April is another chance to ‘get ’r done’!

Tied up in Vegas

The second Detective Scott McGregor mystery, Murder Goes on Vacation, has McGregor, his girlfriend Lynn, and his best friend Ryan in Las Vegas for a computer convention where a woman collapses in front of them. She did not die of natural causes and a murder investigation ensues.

Scott knows his detective skills would be valuable in the investigation. The problem is that he has no jurisdiction in Vegas and is not allowed to assist because he’s a witness. He manages to make a few benign-sounding comments that are acted upon in the investigation, but he’s warned repeatedly not to interfere.

With his hands officially tied, the binds chafe his behavior but not his determination. He knows he would investigate unofficially if the need arose.