Living my Best Life

I’m sitting at my desk while I enjoy the quiet of a Sunday afternoon. It’s been a little over two months since I retired from the ‘work force’. Some told me I wouldn’t like it, some said it wasn’t what it was ‘cracked up to be’. That may be true for them, but not for me. I’ve enjoyed every single day I didn’t have to set an alarm to get up and join the masses in the chaos called work.

Instead, I stay up late, sleep in late, make my way to my computer and write. A Valkyrie’s Vow is due to release Aug 3. Gambit is in the editing stages and will probably be released this fall. Which leaves me with seven more books left to write. Those seven are ones I’ve already had plans for or covers. I’m playing with the idea of a new series, but right now it’s just that, an idea.

I’ve found a writing routine that works and puts no pressure on me. If I write a chapter a day—that’s it, one chapter every day—I can knock out a novel in a little over two weeks and a novel in a month, give or take a day or two. When I figured that part out, I got excited. And that’s where I want to be—excited about my writing. It’s my happy place.

When I wrote Phoenix Rising, my first book in The Kindred series, I doubled up on the Promised Souls, putting two couples in each book. Now, I’m getting ready to write book seven and have covered the Liege Lord, his brother, clan medic, and all the Elite Guardians. I did it that way for a reason.

Writing my first book at age sixty, I wasn't real sure I was going to live long enough to give everyone their own book. It was my mindset and that’s how I dealt with it. Six years later, and almost finished with the series; I see now that I’ll probably be around for a few more books.

For now, I’m going to write. I may never make that USA Today best seller list, but I’ll survive. I’ve won a couple of awards along the way and actually did make a best seller list, just not the one that counts. Not sure about book signings either… maybe local ones. Covid and travel expenses are huge factors. My biggest stress factor right now is getting up the nerve to do live content on TikTok. LOL I’ll get there… eventually.

Until next time,

~Madison