In these COVIDy times, we all find it harder to stay connected. In stores, we have learned the appropriate-distance dance as we navigate aisles; we have learned to interpret smiles, frowns, and other expressions by just what appears above the other person's mask.
Inevitably, though, writers and publishers have to get together from time to time. Phone calls, emails, and virtual online meetings do not cover all use cases.
When Jan Fancy Hull signed contracts fro two (TWO!) volumes of fiction to come out in 2021, she did it in the parking lot at the golf club near Annapolis Royal, to the amusement of the plus-fours crowd.
Author and editor whipped their masks off just for the signing photo.
When publisher Brenda Thompson delivered copies of A Rebel for Her Time to author Marie Mossman, they kept as far apart as they could without falling off their respective sides of Marie's front porch.
(Can you infer the broad smiles?)
This new reality is not going to go away soon, and we need each other's support even more than perhaps we did before the pandemic started wreaking its havoc. Keep safe; wash your hands; order your books online.