My Year on Vacation

Empty Nest Syndrome affects a lot of people in different ways. My husband Tom decided the best thing for us to do when our son Alex decided to go to college in a different time zone was to move away ourselves. Not in the same state he picked – it’s one of those states that always leads the list on bad things and is at the end of the lists on good things – but in the state known for beaches, hurricanes, and best of all, no state income tax. Yes, we’d be moving from Maryland – where we’d both lived our entire lives – down to Florida, a state where we knew absolutely no one. And our only child was a mere 11 hours away by car.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Or perfect…

What writer doesn’t dream of having hours and hours to herself to create? Novels, poetry, journal entries. And of course reading… because you have to keep up with your reading in order to write. Yes, hours and hours without having to cook dinner, drive carpool, do tons of laundry, etc.

But.

Our house has a pool and the intracoastal waterway is in our backyard.

Paddleboarders glide by all day long, many with their dogs riding shotgun.

And I joined a gym and signed up with a personal trainer who books our next session before I can escape, muscles screaming.

And I have new friends to make.

And I’m addicted to pop culture, and the new TV season is coming out.

And it’s an election year, and I’m a “left of Castro” (my husband’s words) Dem who is tracking every utterance on both sides.

I have a lot of goals for this next year. Publish my novel “Keeping Score,” either traditionally or via self-publishing. Finish my current novel, which I’m adapting from a screenplay I wrote. Research for a third novel I’ve planned on a subject I know little about. And start a logical follow-up (not sequel) to “Keeping Score.” Plus, I’m a reviewer at a highly popular book blog, http://chicklitcentraltheblog.blogspot.com/, so I read and review about a book a week.

But with all these distractions, will I be able to get it all done? Will my year on vacation be productive, or a waste?