Getting Through: Tales of Corona and Community

by Gerald Elias, Robert Baldwin, Riccardo Betti

GETTING THROUGH is the fruit of a grassroots effort to grow community through story-telling during this unprecedented period of coronavirus physical isolation. By donating ALL of our profits from book sales to the Red Cross, reaching out to help those who are in desperate need during these harrowing times, we extend that sense of community. The stories, essays, and poems contributed to this collection were mostly written within the first few weeks of confinement by some old friends and many from new friends whose faces I’ve never seen; from aspiring writers to established authors; from every corner of the US and from around the globe; from scientists, musicians, birders, high school students…you name it. Some pieces are deadly serious, others a touch bizarre, and some I hope will give you a chuckle in these difficult times.`In GETTING THROUGH, you'll find fiction, nonfiction, poetry, dystopia, essay, memoir, humor, science fiction, children’s stories. Stories of faith and hope. Stories of biting satire and of empathy. Love letters from parents to children. It’s all good. People are creative in many ways. The collaborative effort has given us, the authors, direction and hope and spirit as we face the harsh realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. By sharing the fruits of our labor with you, the reader, we hope you will join us in our community-building aspirations so that when it's finally safe to go outside again--as it will be--we will enter an even better world hand in hand.Here's the honor roll of contributors to GETTING Robert Baldwin, Riccardo Betti, Johanna Fridrich, Dan Blum, Ann Chamberlin, David Cowley, Mi a Bella D'Augelli, Robert Debbaut, Victoria Dougherty, Gerald Elias (author and editor), Katherine Fast, Priscilla Halberg, John Harrison, Jesse Hercules, Rosalind Horton, Stephen Hughes, Tana Hunter, Julie R. Ingelfinger, Janet K. Linder, Cheryl Marceau, Julia Moser, Kim Nagy, Laura Osborne, Steven Sedley, Sam Shames, Cami Shaskin.

160 pages, Paperback

Published April 6, 2020

About the author

For decades, Gerald Elias has brought joy to countless mystery fans and concertgoers alike.

His dozen novels include the critically acclaimed Daniel Jacobus mystery series, set in the dark corners of the classical music world. An audiobook of Murder at Royal Albert, the eighth installment of the series, features musical excerpts by the Boston Symphony and Elias himself, and was declared “an altogether delightful experience” by AudioFile Magazine. His standalone Western mystery, Roundtree Days, was a 2023 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion finalist. (Look for the sequel in 2026!)

Elias’s many short stories have appeared in such prestigious magazines and anthologies as Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Coolest American Stories 2023, and in his own short story collection, It’s a Crime! Coming up are two all-new collections of lighthearted short crime fiction, Murder on Vacation and Murder Goes Abroad, both featuring a new hero, retired NYPD Police Chief Maury Gross and his perspicacious wife, Bobbi.

A former violinist with the Boston Symphony, Elias has performed and taught on five continents. He has also been music director of Salt Lake City’s popular Vivaldi by Candlelight chamber orchestra series for over 20 years.

Elias currently divides his time between the shores of the Puget Sound in Seattle and the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, where he continues to expand his literary and musical horizons while enjoying the outdoors, travel, coffee, sports, cooking, and most of all, being a devoted grandpa.