A little comfort for writers and readers in these dark times

by Rick Blechta

Well, here we are, week 2 in coronavirusland. I’d like to share some random — though connected — thoughts with everyone today.

I was speaking with a musician-friend in New York yesterday and he said something that stopped me in my tracks. “You do realize, Rick, that likely every musician in the world is out of business right now.”

Whoa.

That’s a lot of people, many of whom live on the edge of financial ruin at the best of times, they’re self-employed most likely, and now they have no income. Things really are desperate for them. And don’t forget those others who support the musicians offstage. They’re in the same boat.

Writers on the other hand can still write. As a sidebar, I’ll bet there may be some writers who haven’t even noticed there’s a pandemic going on! Just joshing, but we do generally work in seclusion, and we can keep doing so without endangering our health.

If I were to extend that further, we could even get our works published without ever seeing someone face to face, and if the work was published electronically, it could be distributed and enjoyed without any “hands on” contact.

I doubt things will come to that, but it is a comforting thought in a way, isn’t it?

Stay well, everyone!