sooo - into the retirement thing - I don't seem to be enjoying it too much - it's like a permanent Sunday, I never liked Sundays, but without the jolt of Monday to kick start the brain
I am trying to prompt the creative process by learning ten lines of poetry every day - I started with poems I knew from school, but of which I now could only remember the first lines - in my day we learned reams of poetry, a lost focus now in schools, but nothing does more to develop and support language, and act as a foundation for reading literature - it does perk me up, maybe I won't get Alzheimers quite so soon if I persevere - I remember my mother being able to quote extensive passages from poems, into her eighties and she always was alert and with it - I wonder if any one has done research.... maybe we are frying our brains with so much quick quick input and not developing sustained brain processing by learning by rote?

I have been distributing my latest offering a story CD - which is getting some good comments - I just love it, the narration is by an 'old gentleman' actually my daughter's father in law - he has a wonderful, rich, voice, perfect for young, listeners - it reminds me of the old Uncle Mac from the BBC Children's Hour, many years ago now - who is old enough or British enough to remember? the language is rich, the pace gentle and the studio which did the recording put in music breaks which allow a child a moment to catch up and reflect - a really neat device
maybe I will do some more CDs - they are popular for car bound children - and I have several 'homeless' poems none of them strong enough for a book but together a good listening experience I think

soooo this is where I came in, establish a routine, back to two morning hours of Murder in the Gun Room, an afternoon walk, a dry sherry in the evening, and reading yet another mystery novel by the fire

lazy hazy days

sooo - here we are in the lazy, hazy days of summer
I finally retired - a huge adjustment, and a move I wasn't ready to make - but I didn't like my schedule for the fall and at 71, after 32 years of teaching, decided maybe I should quit rather than suffer
so I have been alternating between a sense of freedom and did I make a huge mistake? I will miss the structure and the sense of purpose every day and of course the social aspect, "my coffee and my ladies" as a friend of mine put it!!
however, now I am a full time writer, a somewhat solitary life, no ladies, but plenty of coffee
I need to push myself to get out there and sell, that is the part of writing I hate most
CAPA magazine 'The Authority' did a good write up on me - I am moving forward with Murder in the Gun Room , I posted a new novella on Kindle 'She Should Have Come For Me' which got some very good comments
I have been reading several mysteries recommended by the Daily Telegraph UK as examplars of the tradition, Endless Night by Agatha Christie, On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill, Frost at Christmas by RD Wingfield, Operation Mincemeat by BenMacIntyre

so aiming for a schedule, but being seduced by Midsomer Murders!