Chapter 11 - The Covid Diaries
I'm thankful for the Covid summer. Yes, there were nonsensical rule changes, paranoid neighbours, death, sadness, and constant media updates, but when you have to stay put and work on yourself, good things can happen.
Summer 2020 in southern England was beautiful. No cliché weather for once.
I ticked off all the lockdown cliches — daily Yoga, fitness, and writing a book — all while revelling in the online education boom.
Many of my stories and books begin with a desire to master a topic.
- A story about a Country singer.
- Trying my hand at Horror.
- A book about ‘time’.
The trigger for my book was how our experience of time was turned on its head during Covid. Days were suddenly hard to track; time was malleable.
With no idea for the story in mind, I began to research what time actually comprised: biology, philosophy, physics, language, narrative, chemistry, astronomy, and more. I listened to podcasts, discovered Carlo Rovelli’s book, read Einstein's Dreams, and went down the rabbit hole of how time itself is a mere construct.
Short stories are a way to explore themes without investing years in a fully blown book project. With time, I thought to expose the fractal: eighteen approaches to time with brief character narratives, all connected by one place.
I researched, I wrote, I edited, I paid for professional feedback, I submitted, I got a ‘maybe’, I waited, I queried again, got a ‘yes’, celebrated, edited again, and eventually, my book was scheduled for 2022 publication.
Here are the terms the independent publisher offered me to put my first traditionally published book into the world:
Production costs: paid by publisher
Other rights: publisher takes a percentage
Marketing: some tweets by the publisher
Distribution: a ropey website with 25-dollar worldwide shipping and no Amazon version
Print: black & white pamphlet with no eBook.
Author copies: bought at discount
Royalties: 0%
While the terms seem laughable, independent publishing is a rough business. The publisher was a one-woman operation, probably making a significant loss. Her model supports excellent literary works that would not be published elsewhere. She put real effort and care into editing.
Going through the process, doing an online launch, sending copies around the world (to reduce the silly shipping cost), and being able to call myself an author without the self-publishing caveat was life-changing. The book is with another publisher now, but I’m grateful to the first person who took a chance on me.
Fifteen Shades of Time is a book I'm proud of. I think it contributes to the canon of narratives on the subject. So does David Eagleman, the author of a best-selling book on afterlives with a similar structure. I was thrilled he read my book and gave a cover quote.
After the Covid summer, I moved to a place where time runs slower: The Canary Islands.
#unphiltered