Today is the book birthday of my fourth novel, Griffin's Cure.
When it landed two years ago, we were in pandemic lockdown, and had been for three weeks. COVID was new and scaring the hell out of us all. What would this bizarre virus do to us? It clearly produced terrifying effects, filled our hospitals, and had the potential to kill.
I agreed with the measures taken by our government. I followed them to the letter. I am happy I did.
But on the book front, that wasn't frustrating AT ALL. Along with the restaurants, gyms, a plethora of stores and myriad other public places . . . the bookstores were closed. Including the one, of course, that carries my mysteries.
Ergo, no book launch.
I must say I was devastated, even more than I would have been with another book, because Griffin's Cure dealt with the potential discovery of new drugs derived from a unique fungus that could treat various inflammatory disorders and infections.
I doubt my little chiral mushroom would have been any help on the COVID front. But still. There were elements of the book that might have chimed at the time, and I could not get the word out. And not just locally.
News organizations were covering nothing but COVID. Books were flying off the Amazon shelf, but they were generally children's books and health tomes. People were not yet reading for pleasure. They were freaking out. (Rightly so. I certainly was.)
That changed as the pandemic rolled on, but after the early mayhem, it was too late to release; and in-person launches to this day are rare.
Worse, I could not write. I had finished and released this book and had almost completed the next; but COVID, or rather the fear of it, had strangled any new creative thoughts.
I was more concerned with making money (also an issue in the early COVID days) and staying relatively healthy.
To this day, I am struggling. I hope to get my brain back, and soon.
To all the authors, musicians, actors and other performers who battled lockdowns . . . and in many cases, found new ways to share their art . . . for your resilience, strength, innovations and creativity, I admire the hell out of you.
Here's to the future. One with book launches in it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085NDCH5R
Yes I can relate Joanne. I have three boxes of books in my closet which have never seen the light of day. I am hoping for some kind of local author fair in the near future. Perhaps I should organize it myself if I want it to happen. I have never done an in-person book promotion even though I've published three books so it's long overdue.