APRIL FOOL? NOT MY FRIEND!
Knowing I’m going to be visiting this site on April 1st has made me think of retirement. You might wonder why this would be the case…a good friend of mine thought it would be the best possible day to retire, so today she’ll turn up at her office for the last time, and celebrate the end of her working life with friends and family at a big party this evening. It’s the sort of pattern many of us have grown up expecting: I have vivid memories of the first day of my own father’s retirement – my sister, mother and I all enjoyed breakfast with him at the Savoy in London – a perfect way to start life as a retired person.
It’s made me wonder if I’ll ever “retire” from writing – and, if I do, how I would mark that decision. Writing is, as all writers would acknowledge, a solitary job. I am sitting here right now at my desk with my keyboard in front of me and my two chocolate Labradors at my side. They wouldn’t notice if I didn’t write any more – well, they might get a few more walks with “mum”, but that would be the only change in their daily lives. So there’d be no one to party with, no one to pat me on the back and thank me for a job well done, and my books would still be out there – with (hopefully) new readers discovering them all the time, regardless of whether I am still writing them or not.
The other thing about “retiring” from writing is that it’s hard to do. I often wonder if I only exist insofar as I write. Certainly my characters only exist because I keep inventing their daily lives, but me? Of course I could work harder in the garden, enjoy more time with my spouse (so long as he’s retired too, of course) or develop a hobby or two – but why? It might be that writing is a solitary job, but I’m doing it at home without the necessity for a commute, and I can work it around other responsibilities and duties. So why stop? Nope – I have to admit, I don’t see “retirement” on my horizon – but I am looking forward to celebrating the end of an illustrious career with a good friend tonight. April Fool’s Day? Not her – she’s made a decision to take a huge step, and I’ll be wishing her well as she takes it. Do you hope your favorite writers never retire.
Cathy Ace’s latest Cait Morgan mystery is The Corpse with the Garnet Face.
Cait’s husband Bud gets word that his elderly uncle has died–which wouldn’t be so unusual, except that Bud had always believed his mother was an only child. Cait and Bud travel to Amsterdam to settle Uncle Jonas’s affairs. Naturally, Jonas’s existence is only the first of many secrets remaining to be discovered.
Amsterdam comes alive on the pages of The Corpse with the Garnet Face, a bustling, colorful tourist destination that for Bud and Cait is layered with mystery, past loss, and present danger. Cait is an entertaining first-person narrator, stubborn and opinionated but likably self-aware. Bud is an amiable foil for her strong personality. The Corpse with the Garnet Face is one of those wonderful “just one more chapter before I go to sleep” books–it pulled me in and kept me hooked until the end.
About The Author
Originally from Wales, now-Canadian Cathy Ace writes the Cait Morgan Mysteries. Her series has found her criminal psychologist, foodie sleuth stumbling upon Corpses with a Silver Tongue, a Golden Nose, an Emerald Thumb, Platinum Hair, Sapphire Eyes and, now, a Diamond Hand during her globetrotting. The winner of The Bony Blithe Award for Best Light Mystery in 2015, when not helping Cait solve traditional, closed-circle mysteries, Cathy’s a keen gardener, ably assisted by her green-pawed chocolate Labradors.
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