Happy belated Easter! How is everyone doing? I hope everyone is staying home and staying healthy. We see “social distancing” mentioned everywhere. What I like better is “physical distancing.” We are social beings and during these uncertain times, it’s more important than ever to keep connected with family and friends, whether that is through text messaging, FaceTime or video chats, old-fashioned phone calls, or other social media outlets such as Facebook.

My work colleagues and I have for the most part have been working remotely prior to the pandemic. Since the pandemic, we are making more of an effort to communicate with one another using Microsoft Teams. This keeps us “talking” and connected. Keeps us sane too with our children and spouses also home.

My kids are adjusting to “distance learning.” Today, we got in my SUV and waited in a line of vehicles to do a drive-by pick-up of their learning packets for the week. I’m grateful that though the teachers and school district is communicating via email and recorded phone calls, the kids have access to the learning materials via the old-fashioned way of paper. It’s great for them to “feel” and “see” what they are working on.

As for writing and releasing new books during these uncertain times, there are two camps of thinking. One says to write and release new books. We are in need of escapism. Others say it’s okay not to, that writers shouldn’t feel they need to produce when there is so much uncertainty.

I’m opting for somewhere in between. I plan on continuing to write. Writing is my outlet. I did release a novella, Once. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do, finishing off the amnesia trope romance theme with a third book in order to make it a “series.” I named the series Forget Me Not then changed it to Love Forget Me Not when I saw on Apple Books that another author had already started a series with the same name. That’s what I love about being an indie author. I can make changes and have control of my work.

Just a background on Once. When I started the story, I didn’t know which path the story would take other than the similar theme of amnesia after an accident. As I wrote more of the story, my hero “showed himself” and who he turned out to be in the story is different than what I initially imagined. I think that’s why I’m a pantser and not a plotter. Plotting a story in advance hasn’t worked for me. I also understand now why Once can only be a novella rather than a full length story. The hero is unlike any I’ve written. I hope you’ll indulge in some escapism and give Once a try.