Hi all. I hope you've been enjoying Dark Empire Book Five: Desperate Measures. I'm delighted your patronage put it on a couple of Amazon's bestseller categories. It means so much to me.
Unfortunately, the time has come to emerge from my beloved fictional worlds and face reality. Since graduating high school, my special needs son, who is currently unable to work or attend college, has been demanding more of my time and energy. I was already overwhelmed by the responsibilities I had, so this has been a rocky adjustment period.
I live in Georgia, which is sixth from the bottom in the U.S. for disability services. When a child with intellectual disabilities enters adulthood, the situation becomes worse. It's as if the state declares him or her as magically cured at the age of eighteen and leaves them out to dry. There are a few options, but it's a massive bureaucratic fight to access services to assist my son and family so I have the time to devote to writing.
Thus, I'm considering semi-retirement. I can still fit in some writing, but the books would be released at a rate of only one a year...two, if I'm really lucky. In such a case, I'd be doing other work that isn't quite as time-consuming as writing in order to meet my responsibilities as a mother and guardian.
I am weighing some options that will allow me to earn a livelihood. Among the choices I have, Patreon would give me access to an income while affording readers consistent monthly material to enjoy...and allow me time to meet my son's needs. Using Patreon, I could produce in small but steady increments of writing, blogs, first-looks at books still being written, etc. I might be able to afford a caregiver for a few hours a day, during which I'd be able to write books at the rate we're accustomed to and make semi-retirement unnecessary. It's a thought, and I'm researching it among my other income possibilities.
No decision has been made yet as to where I go from here. I still have books I've begun and plan to finish, such as Clans of Kalquor 13: Alien Haven, the fiftieth book in the Kalquor Universe. I'm hoping to have that particular book out by the end of the year. If I do decide on semi-retirement from writing, it won't come until 2025.
No matter the final decision, I thank you for having followed Kalquor's journey for so long. It is truly a delight to write for all of you. You have my gratitude and love for making my life as an author possible. Thank you so very, very much.
Tracy
