Happy Birthday to My Mother, Betty Orr. She Keeps Herself Going In So Many Creative Ways!!

Betty Orr, accomplished writer AND mother

I'm tired and my eyes hurt. I've been working all day on marketing The Plan. Mostly recently, I put it up as a kindle book on Amazon.

All of this (researching, writing, marketing) is hard work and sometimes I get worn out! But what is the alternative?

Oh, any one of us could sit around bored. Watching television, smoking, drinking, complaining. But where does this leave us at the end of the day?

My mother is celebrating her (about) ninety-fifth birthday today. She sure doesn't stay bored!!!!! In fact, she had a lunch date with a ninety-eight year old man who drives a big Cadillac. "I don't let him drive me very far," she admitted. But the old guy still drives and he is able to get around and have some fun.

I want to be this way as I age. This is why I spend my time writing. Anyone can do it. Just start. I learned this from my mom. She got me started working as a journalist when I had no idea what to do with my life.She still writes books as a profession, and uses the Internet. She is amazing. It is these activities that keep her mind so youthful. She looks great, too.

What a great gift she has given me. What a tribute to her personal drive and accomplishments.

Happy Birthday, mom!!!!! You're allowed a day off to have some fun. But you'd better get back to work tomorrow. I know that you have writing to do!

Love, your daughter,
Susan

P.S. We rarely had babysitters when growing up. But I remember one lady who watched us a few times when our parents went out. Her name was Peggy Blockinger and she was a professional author!

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)

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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

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

My Big Adventure - Writing eBooks as an Expat

The Plan: Murder, Mystery Conspiracy eBook Publish Date Set For September. 

I am almost done! The Plan is with the copy editor, and should be ready by the middle of this month. I have to admit that as a retired person, I’ve been working awfully hard. But I don’t think I would be happy doing NOTHING! I am happiest when writing, and now I have more time to follow my dreams, and in such a beautiful location. I highly recommend “expating.” Here's what our week looks like:

In the next hour, Fred and I are going out to lunch with a couple of soon-to-be expat friends from Arizona, who are planning to come back to Cuenca to retire next year. We actually have a busy schedule this week —three lunch dates, a raw foods cooking class with Susan Schenck, a trip to the organic market and on Sunday, helping our friend Don Colón move his restaurant to a new location on the Central Square. Colón is a character in my book. This chef once hosted a television cooking show in Quito, and is a fun person to be around. He saves the beautiful lady, at the end! (of course).

THE PLAN is an alternative fiction novel based on the real lives of two Deep South, gay black lawyers. The bond between Clinton and Joe (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 the cover-up of various murders of civil rights activists, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,and President John F. Kennedy—is the reason for Joe’s death. Clinton believes he is next on the list, and that solving Joe’s murder is his only chance of survival.

When he discovers Joe’s wife has been spirited away as an expat to South America, Clinton sends his trusted legal assistant, Mollie Johnson, to Cuenca, Ecuador for the adventure of her life. She joins forces with journalist Sara Mercury, and together they take readers into the high Andes to bring home the widow, Tara Means. Filled with civil rights and alternative history, hopefully to titillate the most sophisticated conspiracy theorist, this is my first foray into thriller fiction; my goal has been to write a book that is thought-provoking and a fun read!

Reader will discover ties to the Ku Klux Klan, Militia, Neo Nazis, Chile's Colonia Dignidad, NSA, FBI,CIA and the assassinations of two famous civil rights leaders and President John F. Kennedy keep the pace moving in this historical fiction thriller novel, first of a crime action adventure and mystery series.

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See more at: Ebooks From Susan

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My advice —Stay with the story. It's fast and furious, offers a paranormal subtheme, and includes a high-speed car chase in the Andes with Colón at the wheel. I promise you'll be surprised.

The story opens in New York City, when a friend of Clinton Moore, a history professor and crime sleuth reads news of an upcoming trial in Chile. One of his own colleagues disappeared in a South American CIA-supported torture camp, Colonia Dignidad, and he plans to travel to Santiago, to aid his friend's sister who will be testifying.

THE PLAN moves to the Mississippi delta, as Clinton Moore lays out the story of why he and his friend have been murdered. But then, it is on to Cuenca, Ecuador as a talented paralegal tries to save the wife of her (now) dead boss’s dead best friend!

Does Mollie Johnson have a ghost of a chance finding Tara Means? Perhaps she does, when a compromised but passionate journalist, fired from The Dallas News for writing too many JFK assassination stories, tries to help, with interference (good and bad) from an Embassy attaché, a flirtatious Cuencano chef and a very old CIA asset with ties to the assassinations AND to Colonia Dignidad!

Are you looking for adventure and mystery? THE PLAN is based on a true story, and is a work of historical or alternative fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either come from my imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

ALTERNATIVE HISTORY CATEGORY

—Historical Fiction

—Alternative Fiction Novel

—Mystery Novels

—Crime Thriller

—Action and Adventure

ISBN-10:  0-9826049-7-1

ISBN-13:  978-0-9826049-7-7

THE PLAN - an alternative history adventure and mystery novel - is set for publication in September of 2013. - See more at: Ebooks From Susan

Women making Panama Hats by hand in Sigsig, Ecuador

Just finishing some research on Sigsig for my novel, The Plan (due out next month) and I wanted to share this video of women hand weaving Panama hats up in the Andes, in this remote villate.

I got a hat there, myself, when I traveled thee last month. Unbelieveable! It was just $10.

Anyway, a big chase scene takes place here, when the widow of a murdered black lawyer from Alabama hides out, while her friend goes to Guayaquil to purchase plane tickets to go back to the U..S. The bad guy learns she's in Sigsig, with a friend, Colon, and he sets out to find her, and ends of chasing her and Colon back to Cuenca!

Enjoy the weaving -- Sigsig is a beautiful journey from here, about 90 minutes by public bus. There's an unbelievable hostel there on the mountain side with swimming pools. Great place to knock off a Sunday afternoon. Susan

Day trip into the Andes, near Cuenca

I'm having so much fun researching for my book, The Plan. The final part involves a car race down the Andes from a small village to Cuenca. It has been so interesting to go out and see these villages, and I wanted to share this video with you.