I love that song.
Do you know it?
« Que sera, sera Whatever will be, will be The future’s not ours to see Que sera, sera What will be, will be »
Doris Day sang it first, I believe.
The rare times I go outside my house now, that song always goes around and around in my head.
As I think about the risk of being too close from a person, as the thought of bringing back the virus with the groceries and therefore putting at a life-threatening risk my hubby-to-be, a full-on at-risk person, as my fingers dive over and over again in disinfectant, the song sings itself in my head.
« When I was young, I fell in love I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead Will we have rainbows, day after day Here’s what my sweetheart said. »
Now is History…
It happened. How? When? Not sure. But it happened alright.
The life before the pandemic is history.
For us writers, it’s time to stop and think a little. What kind of stories should we write now?
I mean, if, like I can’t remember which author, you have written a contemporary Rom-Com taking place in Spring 2020… well…. you now have a historical fantasy of some sort!
I’m joking, but it’s not funny at all. All that work, all those words. Small consolation: nobody, really, could have predicted the length of this pandemic.
(Side note: for scientists in Canada, back in 2006, after the SRAS (remember that one, anybody?) did « predict » another pandemic was bound to happen. And that it would come from where North-America buys almost everything they think they need: Asia. Read the full article here. It’s good for the muse, I can tell you that much.)
What do we write now? The book market seems to rule for « escape read » and « light read ».
So… we should stop writing about injustices, racism, ageism, LGBTQ+ realties, about child abuse (which must be so so so bad during this world-wide quarantine), human rights abuse?
Of course not. But then again, I’m very sorry about this but it’s true, I’m the first one to want to escape in a fantasy novel. So much so, I ordered the whole « Ella Enchanted » series, Lord of the Rings in English (for I read it many, many, many times, but in French) and if I listen to an audiobook, it is indeed middle-grade novels, ya rom-com or fairy tales.
I can’t help but think about the feeling of loss, of discouragement many authors must be confronted with.
I wish I had positive words, some wonderful words to lift up every fellow aspiring writers and writer.
But all can do is sing: « que sera sera / whatever will be, will be / the future’s not ours to see / que sera sera / que sera sera
Fellow writer, I hope you’re safe, healthy and tolerably happy, given this quarantine times. Stay home, stay safe, and thank you many time overs for reading this post.
Until next time !
Marie Alice Writes & Reads 