(or “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Quarantine!”)
Hello again,
I’ve been trying to write this email on and off in my head for about a week, but it feels like every ten minutes, the situation changes. Today, I’ve decided to sit down and just cover what’s happening behind the scenes at this exact moment, even if it’s outdated by the end of the day.
As you probably guessed, it’s mostly bad news.
In accordance with Governor DeWine’s new rules regarding events and gathering places in Ohio, every event on my calendar has been canceled or postponed until Pulp Fiction Con in Westlake/Cleveland on June 14th. That means Massillon Library, Green Library, Cleveland Concoction, Oddmall: Emporium of the Weird, and perhaps one or two events I’m forgetting about have been canceled. I don’t know how every state (or country, for that matter) is responding to the health crisis, but as of last night, non-essential gatherings of more than 50 people are banned, which was originally set at 100 only a few days ago. This now means that many shops, gyms, movie theaters, and restaurants in the area are closing for the next eight weeks, or so I’m told.
So how am I dealing with all this?
I want to say that I’ve been writing, but that isn’t the case.
Early last week, I had an appointment with my doctor regarding a sleep study. I thought it was going to be straightforward, but it was anything but. I mentioned that I had a slight cough, and that was enough. I was placed in unspoken isolation for an hour before the doctor came in to see me. She came in covered in a plastic dress (probably not the right word) and a face mask. She ran a few tests and determined that I “probably” didn’t have the virus, but due to the manifestation of several more flu-like symptoms over the following days, I was told that I needed to quarantine myself. As of today, I feel fine; however, I will still observe the quarantine as long as it’s recommended that I do so.
I’ve made the decision not to write during this time. Again, I feel fine now, but I’ve been feeling very distant from most of my projects. I blame most of this on the fact that I didn’t have a “next project” set in stone once Siron was finished. Since that book came out, most of my writing work has been outlining new books and debating if it’s time to resume projects I’d put on hold during the Hail to the King edits. I nearly always know what book I want to work on after finishing and publishing my latest, but right now my brain just feels like it’s slowed to a crawl. Honestly, from a creative standpoint, I feel drained.
That said, I’ve decided to take some time during this outbreak and give my brain a break while also opening up to new creative ideas. If any of you are familiar with J.F. Penn, she talks about the process of “refilling the creative well”, which in short means taking time away from your art to partake in the work of others. I plan to watch/read/listen to a lot of new stuff and hopefully find some new favorites along the way. So far, I’ve fallen in love with The Evil Dead films and the original Wicker Man, while also spending some time tracking down several animated masterpieces by Fantastic Planet director Rene Laloux that I hadn’t seen. Before the library shut down, I grabbed about twenty more movies I’ve never seen, about half of which are films that my friends are “shocked” that I haven’t watched. On the musical side of things, I’ve been listening to more metal and punk lately while also experimenting with creating my own music. I’m also pecking away at Dune, which so far I’m thoroughly enjoying. Worst case scenario, this will all make for some good conversation once life returns to normal.
For now, my tentative plan is to stay on this break until either the quarantine is no longer necessary, or until I get back from a late May/early June trip to California (should it be safe/legal to travel, of course.)
While the loss of these events has been a heavy blow, both personally and financially, if I let myself grow bitter, I’ll get nothing done. There’s nothing I can do about this, so I might as well enjoy these next few weeks. And luckily, my wife works primarily from home as well for the power company, so in the end, our day-to-day lives haven’t been turned too far upside down.
I do have a bit of good news, though: I don’t know how much I can and should say, but the good people behind Cleveland ConCoction, among others, have reached out to the authors and vendors affected by the closures and want us to produce some online content in the form of videos or possibly podcast interviews. It’s not much, but I’m going to do all I can to be a part of it! Once I know what we’re all doing, I’ll send a newsletter out with the links!
That’s about it for now, but I do have one or two questions for you guys!
First off, whether the online readings and interviews happen or not, I have been planning to produce some more content on a consistent basis. One avenue is my blog, which I’ve posted regularly on in the past but have since taken a break from. I’m interested in getting back into that, or maybe moving into podcasting or videos. What do you guys think? What would you want to see?
Secondly, do any of you have any movie or music recommendations for me? Preferably, I’d like the films to be available via streaming services, but worst case I’ll look for them once the world settles down a bit. As far as music goes, I should be able to at least sample anything from Youtube, so basically anything works! I love most music nowadays, so don’t be afraid to throw me what you might consider a curveball. The only things I’m not really looking for are TV show and book recommendations since I’ve got a pretty big stack of both I need to get through. That doesn’t mean you can’t throw them my way, but just know they probably will just end up on the TBR/TBW pile for a while.
With that, I’ll take my leave. Stay safe out there!
– S.T. Hoover