What a time to be alive! Not only did we have the hottest summer on record, followed by flooding rains and biblical hailstorms, we are now locking down our communities as we deal with a deadly pandemic.

I saw ‘science fiction is dead’ on Twitter the other day and I’m glad I’m not writing post-apocalyptic fiction right now. Events are catching up and overtaking a lot of near-future storylines so you’d have to be a genius to make a new story about the end of life as we know it.

So it’s a good thing I’m writing a crime novel. And there’s nothing quite like a social quarantine to free up some time and energy to put words on a page. Yesterday I managed 3.5k words and woke up with a head full of story this morning.

Of course, I’m one of the lucky ones. I work full time in a job I can do from home and I don’t depend on my writing as income. Now is a tough time to be an artist, especially one who makes their living through touring.

This article from Junkee sums it up well: https://junkee.com/coronavirus-tour-cancellation-support-bands/246690

I’m supporting my favourite artists by buying their albums and merch. It’s going to be a hard year for writers promoting their work so make sure you follow your favourite authors and buy their books where you can.

And batten down the hatches. It’s a wild ride out there.

[image error]