Writing Update

Did I mention that I'm slowing down? I'm almost 57 so do consider myself semi-retired although I don't ever plan to stop writing, at least while I have the mental and physical capacity to continue. I realized that I had been really pushing myself for five years, mistakenly believing that if I put out more and more books I'd start earning more and more money. My modest goal was to earn enough money to equate to what I might pull in with a part-time retail job. Lol, well that didn't happen. And I worked my arse off. I had so many books published between 2020 and 2025 I astounded myself. But the payoff never came. My earnings remained at a steady and disappointing trickle barely worth mentioning.
Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that people are actually reading my books. I'm with small publishers who take the majority of my earnings but I can't see my way to self-publishing for many reasons. And I don't do this for the money. I would have stopped a long time ago if that were the case. 
But my goal was to feel like I was contributing to the family income, even by a little bit. Unfortunately, I can't even cover all of my author expenses, because there are so many (website, Bookfunnel, professional email, purchasing paperbacks to sell at events, event registration, occasionally hotel fees). Luckily, my husband is advanced enough in his career that he can support me and our two adult kids who are still living at home (mostly), but I have always felt a bit shitty about this writing gig not being more of a help. 
Now that I'm over 55 and living with a serious chronic disease, I feel less guilty about not working outside the home and not having a job that contributes to our income. I realized that my older brother retired at 55 and lots of folks do if they can afford it (he is partially supported by his wife who has a very important job in the government, and he also receives a modified pension). My husband and I have enough investments that he can probably retire at 60, as long as the kids are supporting themselves by then (fingers crossed).
The third and probably final book in The Arrow and The Flame series, Mist and Snow, is signed with NineStar Press. I imagine I'll be doing edits in the fall as it will be out sometime early next year. 
As for current projects I'm working on, I'm writing what will be a free reader magnet involving my pirate universe right now, and when that's finished (by end of summer or sooner) I'll be writing either a vampire novel or a sci-fi android novel - I haven't decided yet. 
Now that I'm off social media completely, I feel like I'm coming back to myself and I'm fully immersing myself in the present moment. I'm reading actual books again, which was always one of my greatest joys. I didn't realize how less satisfying reading ebooks feels to holding an actual book in my hands. I'll still be reading ebooks, for sure, but I'm rediscovering the joy of physical things, which is delightful. I only have a limited amount of time left on this planet and I feel very intentional and fulfilled right now.
I recently disconnected from Google as well, which took a few weeks as I had three Gmail addresses that I'd been using for years and had to update so many services with my new email address before I could make such a huge change. Please be advised that you can no longer reach me at any of my three gmail addresses ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected]). If you need to get in touch you can contact me at [email protected] or [email protected].
Posteo is a German based email service that costs a handful of euros a year (around $20 CAD) and prides itself on privacy, sustainability, and excellence. I also have a personal email address at Posteo as they allow up to three alias addresses as part of the paid service. They also have an easy email migration service and collection service, so that I can get all of my emails in my one inbox. It's brilliant.