Writing books in the time of COVID
Until about a year ago, I was obsessed with pandemics—the Black Death of mid-1300s Europe, the Great Plague of London (1665-1666), the Spanish influenza of 1918-1920*, and OMG, anything to do with hemorrhagic fevers. I have a shelf of nonfiction titles for research on infectious disease. Facebook Memories reminded me of a post from January 2020 wherein I was excited about a new series on Netflix called Pandemic. I’ve often joked that I should’ve been an epidemiologist or virologist, a paradox since I’m a germaphobe, but it’s the same reason I know more about spiders than your average Jo—know thy enemy. Upon listing my favorite movies over the years, you’d find Contagion, Children of Men, Outbreak, Blindness, The Road, I Am Legend, and World War Z on the page.
On February 27, 2020, just as the whispers were growing louder about a strange, scary disease making its way around the globe (first confirmed case in Canada was January 25, 2020, in Toronto), I posted on my Jenn Sommersby Instagram (twice!) stacks of beloved books from my collection, all of them about disease ravaging the world unchecked, including a then-new plague novel (We All Fall Down) by local ER physician and noted author Daniel Kalla. Among my top five favorite books of all time is Station Eleven (Emily St. John Mandel), about the world AFTER a plague has felled most of its citizens.
What the hell is wrong with you, woman?
Suffice it to say, with twelve months of an ACTUAL, relentless pandemic under my belt that no longer fits thanks to my ongoing love affair with Boursin cheese now that I can finally eat cheese again, I think I’m done talking about disease for a little while.
And this applies directly to my books.
I’ve polled readers and fellow writers alike—is anyone interested in COVID in their stories? The answer: a resounding NO. A few authors have said they will weave COVID into their ongoing contemporary/romance series, but these are folks who write way faster than I do whose books are rapid-released. Their readers might revolt if they don’t get a dose of reality on the pages.
But most of the writers I’ve talked to agree that it’s not time yet. Right now, we need to ESCAPE the constant headlines, the red BREAKING NEWS banners at the bottom of our TVs and across the social media sphere. Escapism when we can’t (and shouldn’t) be hopping on planes for far-off destinations has thankfully come to us in the form of books and movies and binge-worthy TV shows. What a time to be alive and hiding from a terrible pathogen!
Speaking of television shows, some are in fact incorporating COVID into their storylines. Grey’s Anatomy, This Is Us, Superstore, The Good Doctor, Station 19—even South Park—are just a few that have successfully woven the current pandemic into their ongoing story arcs. But what about novels?
I still cannot figure out how to keep my glasses fog-free.
Keep in mind that novels are wholly different beasts from TV and movies. Some authors have books coming out in 2021 that were written long before any of us knew anything about PPE or R-naught values. And authors who were able to buckle in during lockdown to write new stories (like me!), well, we’re just not interested in talking about stupid COVID yet. It’s still evolving. It’s still too fresh. It’s still too bloody scary.
My next book, the first in a new series, is called Welcome to Planet Lara and releases on Earth Day (April 22, 2021). I’ve included an Author’s Note right up front to let readers know that this will be a COVID-free storyline. If readers are bothered by a book that doesn’t include the hallmarks of daily life as we’ve come to know it over the last twelve months—social distancing, lockdown, masks, thorough hand-washing, etc.—then they don’t have to read the book. Easy-peasy.
But remember, too, that eviscerating writers in the reviews for NOT including the COVID subplot in their stories … yeah, NOT COOL. Like I said, some of the books coming out over the next couple years will have been written pre-COVID, while still others, like mine, consciously and purposely ignore this despicable little germ, even while in the midst of its merciless carnage. Maybe in a few years. Maybe when the scab forms. Just not yet.
Feel free to comment or message me about the books, TV shows, and/or movies that have kept you going over the last year (and if you haven’t discovered Schitt’s Creek yet, remedy that posthaste! OMG! Obsessed!). We’re not out of the woods yet, folks, but soon. Soon.
Seriously. You need to watch this show. Love, love, love David and Alexis and Moira and Johnny and Stevie and Patrick and Ted!!!
Until then, be kind, take care of each other, thank your local healthcare and frontline workers, and by all means, BUY MORE BOOKS!
*The only year the Stanley Cup wasn’t awarded in the history of ice hockey was 1919. The playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and Seattle Metropolitans was canceled five games in because the H1N1 flu (or Spanish flu) absolutely devastated both teams. Canadiens defenseman Joe Hall, age 37, died just four days after the series was called.
