These are stressful times, particularly if you live in the epicenter of an outbreak. Many of us are under quarantines, mandatory or recommended, and the sense of dread can feel overwhelming.
How are you doing? What are you doing to keep your head afloat? What do you need?
I’m especially grateful for the writing community and the people who participate in this blog and forums these days. I think we’ll be needing each other in the days ahead.
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Art: Caspar David Friedrich by The Monk by the Sea
I live near Chicago and currently adapting a book into a screenplay for an author. I still have a day job that requires me to go into the office each day. All of the bars and restaurants are closed to patrons. I’m typically good at dealing with stress but have felt pretty deflated this week. I took a break from writing last night and caught up on Better Call Saul. It actually felt good to take an evening and relax a little bit.
For some reason I’ve been craving Fritos. I haven’t eaten Fritos in years. I’m giving myself permission to order a lot of page turners. I’m going to learn to make good cocktails at home. I’m not going to feel guilty about napping. I’m going to finally watch Lodge 49. Also, lots of twitter, John Oliver, Tik Tok compilations with my kid, and, when the weather is decent, a walk around the neighborhood. But this is just the beginning, I guess we’ll see. Do New Yorkers have to stay in their homes more? Can you walk the streets? I’m wondering about crowded cities.
Most non-essential businesses are closed and restaurants are takeout only, but you can still go outside and like walk to park if you keep social distancing.
I personally haven’t been outside in a while, but I hear it’s pretty grim. Some of my Asian-American friends have experienced harassment too.
I’m glad you can get some air when you need. And I’m glad you had a lot of travels recently to, hopefully, carry you through for a bit.
It’s horrifying to hear about your friends. Not acceptable. Wish we could have humane (and competent) leadership that didn’t encourage these racist and xenophobic acts. I hope the good, altruistic, and compassionate will beat out the fear, the ignorance, and the hate. Let’s keeping making our voices loud.
*keep
Too bad some people need a scapegoat to blame at a time like this instead of focusing on helping each other to get through it.
I shouldn’t say this, but I am thriving. I suppose I’m a recluse at heart but now it’s my civic duty to be so. I’ve always worked at home as a free-lancer, married to a social man. We have lots of friends who love to have lots of dinner parties which are killers to the next morning at the desk. I’ve completed the 5th draft of my novel and will now begin my summary of the next.
I’m doing OK. A bit of a hermit already due to health problems (none that would make me more susceptible to covid 19) I’m continuing my writing.
I never go to restaurants, etc. but most are still open here in the Myrtle Beach area. I feel for a friend in LA who is highly social, never stays at home. All the eating places where she has met with friends daily for years are closed down. She has no family in the area and tells me she’s in a deep funk. I’ve been trying to cheer her up, but she’s not a long-distance kind of person.
Well, since social activities are canceled, I’m doing great! While I will miss people, I am managing 3000+ word days! I do have a bit of anxiety about how long this will last, but I am working that out in the garden. For an introvert, it’s very nice to not have to focus on anything else.
I do know several families with people in nursing homes, and they are devastated they can’t go in during this time. We are all so blessed to live in a time of digital communication, but it can be hard for those who cant engage for one reason or another.
????How about some good news?????
????????China has closed down its last coronavirus hospital. Not enough new cases to support them.
????????Doctors in India have been successful in treating Coronavirus. Combination of drugs used: Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine. They are going to suggest same medicine, globally.
????????Researchers of the Erasmus Medical Center claim to have found an antibody against coronavirus.
????????A 103-year-old Chinese grandmother has made a full recovery from COVID-19 after being treated for 6 days in Wuhan, China.
????????Apple reopens all 42 china stores,
????????Cleveland Clinic developed a COVID-19 test that gives results in hours, not days.
????????Good news from South Korea, where the number of new cases is declining.
????????Italy is hit hard, experts say, only because they have the oldest population in Europe.
????????Scientists in Israel likely to announce the development of a coronavirus vaccine.
????????3 Maryland coronavirus patients fully recovered; able to return to everyday life.
????????A network of Canadian scientists are making excellent progress in Covid-19 research.
????????A San Diego biotech company is developing a Covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with Duke University and National University of Singapore.
????????Tulsa County’s first positive COVID-19 case has recovered. This individual has had two negative tests, which is the indicator of recovery.
????????All 7 patients who were getting treated for at Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi have recovered.
????????Plasma from newly recovered patients from Covid -19 can treat others infected by Covid-19.
… While some of us are scared & freaking out (????????????????????????????????) .. REMINDER .. it’s not ALL bad news.
❤️❤️Let’s care for each other and stay focused on safety of those most vunerable.
Please share ❤️ (copy and paste) the power of social media is HUGE! Let’s use it to spread hope instead of fear!! #repost
Peaceful Blessings!
I can’t thank you enough for this amazing list of positives. Hope, indeed. ????
Frankly, with schools closed and my kids now homeschooling, I can’t write a word. I know lots of us will have great ideas that are born from this horrible misfortune but for now my most creative challenge is making all that pasta interesting.
Bright spot in my day? When I get an email from Nathan. Thank you for making this content readily available and for being social glue! We all need it.
How about the stress of the idiocy of current writer promotions. I receive a lot of writer promotional newsletters and emails. I want to grab some of these people’s lapels and shout at them, “Stop using Covid-19 to sell your dang books, you self-absorbed idiot.” At best, they should say something like, “Lots of free time? How about trying my ebooks. They’re on sale now.” The absolute worst was one I opened a few minutes ago where the writer declared that this was a literal Apocalypse, but we should read her books to feel better about it. That one deserves a hammer applied liberally on her toes while she hears some history about the yellow fever epidemics and the Spanish flu to learn what a true disease apocalypse looks like. Aaaargh!
Laughing!
I’m so grateful to be healthy, to have a home and to be too poor to have done any recent international traveling. Fingers crossed for everyone.
Yes, I found 🙂
Waving Hi from Oz, land of loo paper panic buying, which we manufacture – both the loo paper & the panic – and no matter how often folks are told the latter, they are not stopping the former. From that I conclude on the whole we’re well off, as those panicking are in fact engaged in recreation – re-enacting disaster movies. They are also spending money, which is good for the economy. Bankers are warning we’ll have the biggest recession ever, which fuels the panic, so folks run out to buy more stuff and thus we have a neat economic loop.
Me? I’m just at my desk thinking if you made this up it’d be dismissed as implausible – oh wait, there was that movie Dumber & Dumber. Jim Carey is right: we’re living it.
I suspect it’s all a conspiracy – it was instigated by comedy writers needing new material and it’s working,
I don’t recommend telling people who live in one of the epicenters that this is a conspiracy or comedy.
Indeed, the situation does stretch our sense of humor, but I hope it doesn’t snap.
All of my family work in hospitals. Nurses and doctors often have to deal with unmentionable stuff in their ‘normal’ working day and developing a sense humor is their life preserver; without it they would sink. Some of it rubs off on me.
We have been on alert since the onset. Melbourne, Australia, has several universities, we host thousands of international students, a lot come from the epicenter of the outbreak. The personal, social and economic ramifications of that are vast. Life changing.
Our government has been reactive rather than proactive, thousands of doctors signed a petition to get action.
Given the situation, everyone is quite calm – apart from the folks hoarding loo paper, but even they are starting to laugh at themselves now, dressing up with their stash and posting funny little clips.
Apart from that, it’s a lovely autumn here, the sun is shining, but without searing summer heat. The bush fires are out and there are green shoots breaking through charred bark.
PS
If my post offended just delete it and the follow up.
I appreciate your blog Nathan and Thank You for sharing your considerable industry knowledge.
Hi Nathan… On my blog, ( https://changesinourlives.com ) I wrote a post about how our household is coping with COVID-19…
“I’ve also had time to catch up with many saved entries from Nathan Bransford’s writers’ blog https://nbrans.wpengine.com/ I’ve followed Nathan for years, and am always impressed with his writing advice and publishing savvy. “