I spent all weekend without interacting in person with anyone. I did talk on the phone, text, and FaceTime.  It was fine. I took a few walks and saw people, but didn’t interact.  In normal times I spend hours in front of my computer alone in my study almost every day, so this isn’t very different or difficult. I’m sort of socially distant by nature.

However, as a writer with a book coming out on 5/5, I’m concerned and disappointed about my bookstore events being cancelled and bookstores being closed.  Other writers who have spring publication dates are saying the same. I think we’ll just have to overload our social media channels and push our events to the fall.  What fun: my favorite part of being a writer is the self-promotion and marketing that we have to do…NOT.  I vowed I would master Twitter during this time, and learn to use Dropbox without frustration.  Hasn’t happened yet.

I’m not getting as much done as I imagined I would during this social distancing, and I think this is because I’m reading and watching a lot more news—a bit obsessively I think.  Yes, we’re walking toward the unknown, but checking the NYT online 12 times a day probably won’t help me navigate it.  I was going to write 1,000 words a day on my new novel, deep clean one room at a time, and do some work on those bins in the basement. Well…

As a barometer of what I’m doing, I ordered six books on my Kindle today.