I think I know what it’s like to work in a missile silo.

You know what I’m talking about? Like the eerily prescient short story Game by Donald Barthelme, we’re all in the missile silo, slowly going crazy.

My wife, son, and I are all home, quarantined away from the world in the spring of 2020. When we go for walks, the park is covered in yellow caution tape. People look up from soaping cars in their driveways to stare as we walk past. Every person wonders (at least a little) if I’m carrying death in my lungs as I near them.

It’s a crazy time.

I don’t have it nearly as bad as others. As far as I know, I’m not sick, we still have food in the cupboard and a roof over our heads. I’ve been working from home for a while now. My wife has often worked from home, so we’re used to waving to each other in the “break room.”

It’s the uncertainty that makes everything so challenging. When I talk to people, the only sage advice I can offer is this:

No one knows anything, everything changes daily, so the only option is to live one day at a time.

Unfortunately, as an author with plans, I can’t simply do that. I have books coming out that need finishing (the Six Assassins series), another book that’s finished and needs a release date…

Plus a brand new, seven-book series I’ve been planning for a couple months now. But with all the uncertainty, this new book series was overwhelming me. I wrote the prologue and chapter 1, then it’s been languishing since. I’m too scared to work on it. It’s too much of a commitment right now.

I’m not the kind of author to procrastinate.

So, I’ve been upset with myself for about a week now, trying to figure out what to do.

Then, yesterday, I had a breakthrough. A way to still produce content and not stress about launching a giant new series while all this is going on. Of course, the breakthrough happened in the shower, where I do all my best thinking (and singing).

I wish I could tell you about it, but it’s still too early, and I don’t want to promise something I can’t deliver. But, we’ll just say that, by the end of this year, you’ll get to spend some time with a couple of your favorite characters again…

 

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Have a great day!