I'll make this quick. If you're reading it, you likely already know two things: 1) I've been writing new stories since last fall, and 2) I'm retiring soon. The reasons for the latter have been detailed in the "notes" section of a recent episode and don't need to be re-hashed here. Instead, I'll focus on what's ahead: complete and total freedom.
Some friends and family have offered the opinion that I can't just retire because I'll be bored, will turn into a giant glob of Jello, or whatever. Not so. As long as I'm in my house with my stuff, It's not possible for me to be bored. For more than three decades, I've been amassing media, much of which I've not had time to fully enjoy. I own > 2000 books, > 400 CDs, > 1400 movies or TV series on DVD or Bluray, and > 100 console games (most of them RPGS). While I've made it through most of the books and CDs, I've only watched about two-thirds of the movies/series and barely touched the video games.
So, starting in June, those options will fill out my days of waking up when I want, going to the gym when I want, cooking at home vs eating meals out when I want, going to sleep when I want, going on vacations when I want, etc. My wife is fully aligned with this plan. And it's all made possible by the pension, which was in turn made possible by my consistent hard work for more than thirty years. Effort x Time = Success. I said that in the interview that preceded my last big promotion, and it's valid advice for work and life. Now it's time to finally slow down and enjoy the fruits of that success.
And thanks to the additional free time for me to write, I suspect you readers will also enjoy a steady flow of new stories for a long time to come!