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Are you ready to graduate from the grind?

Then here’s your most important project: Future You.

Learn more.

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You’ve spent decades building a career, mastering a craft, and maybe even raising a family. But what happens when the ‘work’ stops? Do you stop creating? Or do you finally have the freedom to chase the ideas that used to visit you only in daydreams?

Today, we’re joined by a father-daughter duo who turned a foggy night’s inspiration into a historical fantasy trilogy. Neil McLaughlin, a veteran of commercial real estate, and his daughter Michelle, his editor and collaborator, talk about their journey writing The Witch Hunt series and the first book Torment of the Bloodlines together. We dive into how skills from a 50-year business career can transfer to novel writing, and the surprising health benefits he discovered of the ‘author life. Whether you’re aspiring to write a book or just curious about a new adventure in your second act, this conversation includes a lot of valuable tips on reinventing yourself in retirement.

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Bios

Neil McLaughlin has enjoyed storytelling and writing short stories and poetry since childhood. He wrote his first book, The Witch-Hunt, in retirement after a 5 decades long career in commercial real estate. Neil is passionate about sharing his journey which serves as inspiring proof that retirement can be an opportunity to explore passions, share wisdom, and contribute meaningfully to culture and knowledge. Neil and his wife Linda enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren, travel, wine, murder mysteries, live theatre, books and boating on Lake Ontario.

Michelle McLaughlin, with over 20 years of business and corporate experience, brings a wealth of knowledge and strategic insight to every project. She passionately manages the book marketing for her father Neil’s writing business. Combining her expertise in marketing and her deep appreciation for literature, she expertly promotes Neil’s work, helping to expand its reach and impact. Dedicated to blending professional acumen with family values, she thrives at the intersection of creativity, business, and community connection.

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For More on Neil and Michelle McLaughlin 

The Witch Hunt (website)

The Witch-Hunt (Torment of the Bloodlines Book 1) on Amazon

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Podcast Episodes You May Like

Why Retirement Was Just the Beginning – Neal Lipschutz

The Art of the Interesting – Lorraine Besser, PhD

Edit Your Life – Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

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About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast

There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time.

About Retirement Wisdom

I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident.

Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms.

About Your Podcast Host

Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking.

Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University.

In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy.

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On the Origin Story

“It started late one night about three years ago. I was staring out the window and it was a foggy evening. And I wondered, we’re all asleep at night. And I was wondering, what happens at night? The coyotes are howling and no one is walking about. What really is going on? So I imagined in my own mind a short story evolving… I had something. Maybe four or five pages. And I showed it to Michelle. And she said, Jeez, Dad, it’s kind of an interesting story. Have you ever considered writing it into a novel? And I thought, well, I never gave it any thought. But now that you mention it, it might be a good idea.” – Neil

On Intergenerational Collaboration

“So this isn’t the first time we had worked together. We did work together professionally in commercial real estate, but this was the first time we had worked together on a creative project, more of a passion project. And what really struck me was how much we both loved writing and creativity. My dad had written things, as I mentioned, I have written things, but we’d never worked on something collaboratively together. So this to me was really surprising because it was so much fun.  And had I known it would be this much fun, I would have suggested something sooner. The work in this case is the fun. And another point in a professional setting, especially in real estate, my dad was the mentor and I was the mentee. Whereas this was new, this is new for both of us. The editing process, the literary world is a new discovery, which is fun equally on both sides. No one is the expert in this case. We’re learning together, which I found was really refreshing.” – Michelle

On Transferable Skills

“I found the process of writing a novel to be very similar to what I did for a living for about 50 years. Earlier on, as we were getting ready to build something, we would hire an architect, we would hire designers and planners and tradesmen. And I found myself ironically finding the same in script writers and editors and influencers that came to the party as well. And I found that writing a novel and building a building were very, very similar. And one of the characteristics in real estate development is the attitude of patience.” – Neil