When You Retire, You Have Time To --

Retirement = Doing What You Want To Do

The tight bond between Clinton and Joe, two gay, black lawyers (one of them, married) is broken when Joe is reportedly found hanged. A suicide seems impossible to Clint, and Joe’s widow is acting cagey. Clinton Moore believes Joe Means was tortured and murdered, and that his and Joe’s shared obsession—investigating and fact gathering about cold case murders and assassinations—is the reason.

(short description of The Plan)

* * * * *

I've been doing what I love to do, all year long. Writing my book!

And now --

The Plan is out! I worked over a year on writing this book (as a retiree) and I am excited to share it with you. Real quick—here is how to get your free copy (this week only):

Go to this page

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/370902

Choose the download option.You will have a number of options, from a PDF file to something you can use on your Kindle, Apple or on your computer screen.

When you get to the checkout “basket,” use this code 

BR42M 

for your FREE copy.

I will appreciate your review! (Once you’ve read it.)

Thanks for your interest. It has been a wonderful journey writing this book and I hope that you enjoy the results. I am happy to share this event with you!!

Susan Klopfer 

What are you doing for retirement? Are you having fun? Please share your experiences here. Thanks, Susan

Walk Through the Central Park in Cuenca, Ecuador and You Might Hear Pan Flutes and Guitars

What a nice day for retirement expatting. We enjoyed some great music in the Central Park. It was quite a surprise as we walked downtown to hear the pan flutes, drums and guitars playing. A special Andean musical group had come out to sing and play.

The sun was out, beautiful white clouds were overhead, and we really had fun watching locals and tourists come together to enjoy this wonderful music. Some bravely danced as the music played!

I had to shoot my video from behind the band, since I'm too short to shoot over the crowds. But here they are, playing some great music. Looked this music up in Wikipedia and learned --

Andean music comes from the general area inhabited by Quechuas, Aymaras and other peoples who lived roughly in the area of the Inca Empire prior to European contact. It includes folklore music of parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. 
Andean music is popular to different degrees across Latin America, having its core public in rural areas and among indigenous populations. The Nueva Canción movement of the 70s revived the genre across Latin America and brought it to places where it was unknown or forgotten.

All that I know, is that I love the sound. It's fun to listen to the musicians. One day not so long ago, Fred and I took a bus ride into the Andes and stopped in Seraguro, where we listened to a group of flute players entertain the local crowd. It was amazing,
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With the notable exception of the Otavalan craftspeople and merchants of northern Ecuador, no other indigenous Ecuadorian community has maintained its ethnic identity like the Saraguros.
Centered around the town of Saraguro, 80 miles south of Cuenca, the Saraguro nation, which numbers between 25,000 and 30,000, has maintained an enduring presence in the rural areas of the southern Ecuadorian provinces of Loja, Azuay and Zamora Chinchipe; some say it dates back 500 years, others say for much longer.
Although they have established a strong crafts tradition, the Saraguros are best known to the outside world for their distinctive appearance. They dress in black, women in home-woven pleated skirts, men in knee-length trousers. Both wear matching ponchos, often with shawls with orange and red accents, and white felt hats. Both men and women keep their hair in a long, single braid.

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By the way, the book cover was shot in Seraguro. I fell in love with this public painting on a wall near the bus depot!

THE PLAN

Just another fun day of retirement!

Here is my good news: the book is at the formatters and I'm due to have it in my hands tomorrow. Then I'll need a day to do some more quick work and it should be up at Smashwords by the weekend.

I hope to have it in readers' hands by Sunday! Wish me luck!

Susan

Preview - Just for you. The Plan (Prologue and Chapter 1)

Am I retired? I don't know. I live in Ecuador and have friends who've retired. We have an easy life. Lots of places to go and things to do. BUT -- 

I have to confess that I love writing books. This last one took a full year to birth. Far longer than I'd planned or imagined. My eyes are a little more blurry. In the past year, we've moved to this country, lost a sweet dog, watched our granddaughter play soccer via Skype, and have acquired a taste for South American foods.

Well, The Plan is out of editing and is with the "formatter." This means my new murder mystery thriller (with shades of paranormal and historical fiction) will be out by the end of the week. But I wanted to share a little bit with you before then. Here's a link to the prologue and Chapter 1. I hope that you enjoy the read and send me comments.

Yes. I am retired. But there is no way that I will quit writing. I hope that in your retirement, you find something wonderrful ad fun to do, too.

Here it is! http://ebooksfromsusan.com/blog/peek_preview

Please enjoy!

Susan

Awakening to Retirement in the Andes

Door to Andean Church, outside of Cuenca

It has been a year we've been "retired" in Cuenca, Ecuador. I put the word in quotes, because honestly, it hasn't felt like being retired (whatever that means) at all.

We've been busy. Fred is seeing some patients and writing a book, and I've been WORKING HARD writing my book, The Plan. The best part about our first year has been meeting such wonderful, interesting and fun people.

Recently, we took a Sunday with four new friends (years younger than us!) to visit a small fishing lake and village in the Andes. It was a beautiful, warm sunny day, and when we dropped down into lower altitudes, we didn't need our jackets that we'd so carefully packed.

 Traveling by bus with our friend, Kathryn McCullough (an author!)

Taking photos of us taking photos!

Here's a quick video from our trip. I invite you to see for yourself what retirement can be all about.

Oh, be sure to click on the bottom right of the Youtube screen to enlarge the video. (When you mouse over the four characters the words full screen will pop up.) The Esc. key brings you back here.

The words on the bottom of these photos are from a poem, Awaken, that was written in Ecuadorian Quichuan, a lanaguage spoken by 2.5 million people! As I watched the parents interact with their children, it reminded me a little of this poem.

Enjoy!

Susan