THE PANDEMIC - 08.10.20
August 10, 2020
How will the Coronavirus Pandemic affect writers and their novels?
First, there was no book launch party for 'Death on the High Seas.'
There was an article on Facebook recently about how the Coronavirus has emptied office buildings around the world. Shortly after, I read that Google has decided to have their staff work from home through 2021. A vision popped up in my mind of large office buildings in city financial districts and dotcom campuses being converted to residential units. Maybe there will the return of the old company towns in the form of company employees and their families living and working in a company owned complex. Yes, novelists are dreamers. We make up things that will entice people to read our works.
Thus far, I have not included anything about the current Pandemic in my work. But, I'm sure others have. I do believe the Pandemic will modify society and the landscape where we live. It will change work, play, and crime. These changes will be reflected in writers future plots.
The Pandemic did impact the launch of my current FBI Special Agent Hartmann series novel, 'Death on the High Seas.' I had carefully planned for the release of the book to be just before summer and early enough in the year to be able to enter it into several book contests. The virus hit my publishers' facilities hard. Even though the novels publishing date is indicated as May 5, 2020, there were no books available for distribution until quite recently. This was the result of considerable confusion between the publishers' editorial, promotional, and production staff, many of whom contracted the virus. Both my novel and I learned from a friend his picture book suffered delays in getting the correct information up on Amazon.com.
Personally, the virus has not changed my daily life much as I write at my pad in the Burbank, California Senior Artist Colony. My daily walks have been shortened because the mask drives me nuts. Like many others, I'm putting on weight or at least shifting where it is on my body. I miss my visits to my local watering hole, which has resulted in my consuming more red wine at home. I'm not sure if that is good or bad as respects my writing.
I have a feeling the Pandemic is not going to go away for a while. This is because the United States is a diverse nation (ethnically, religiously, economically, politically, etc.) that has been moved in recent years to strong viewpoints leading to tribalism. The concept of "my tribe matters" (black, white, Asian, Hispanic, women, gay, etc.) has contributed to the tribalism. Some of the tribes promote the wearing of masks and social distancing, and others don't. This is not going to change. The results of the upcoming election will have no effect on this. Because of this, the Pandemic will not dissipate until a vaccine is developed and distributed. It appears we will need to grit our teeth of six, twelve, eighteen months of the same. Confusion!