I’m referring to COVID-19:

To be, or not to be referenced in your upcoming work of fiction? That is the question.

Rounding the bend to publishing my Contemporary which takes place in the near past or pre-COVID— there’s been no elephant in my writer’s room to contend with.

Certainly, if one writes a story where the pandemic has an intrinsic foothold, the elephant is addressed. Perchance: a character succumbs to COVID; a character’s small business goes under during lockdown; a character gets into a physical altercation over mask wearing at a department store.

All well and good. However, this is not what I have in mind as ideas begin fermenting for my next Contemporary. Lit with grit, I choose to incorporate my signature realism through the creation of female protagonists over forty who confront and come to terms with their drama, demons, and dilemmas. COVID would get in their way.

Of the mind that art imitates life, I’m thinking I must acknowledge the elephant breathing down my neck by invoking some pandemic-induced norm without derailing my story. If only to set the tone of the times, but not define or defile the setting. Therefore, the pandemic will not permeate my upcoming story. I don’t think it serves a purpose for my potential readers looking for a literary escape, or looking to strengthen their convictions.

*May each of us ply our creative wiles for addressing the elephant in the writing room, whatever the controversy.

My sincere appreciation if you’ve read this far.

Eva’s Authors Den Page: https://tinyurl.com/yycm7d2w