What is there to say at this point?

We were warned. We were given numerous explanations what the novel coronavirus could do. Nevertheless, our country has persisted in harmful policies and inconsistent measures that have set us back months if not years and decades in the fight not just against the pandemic but our standing in the free world.

It’s a lot to deal with on a day-to-day basis, and I’m very grateful my family has remained so far healthy and secure in these difficult times. But I’m not immune to the psychic toll of the upheaval on so many intersecting fronts, calling into question countless aspects of American life. Writing has been hard, with good days and many bad. I have to remind myself of something I said in an interview once:

“To be a writer—knowing the odds and the time it takes to build a career after getting a foot in the door—you have to be both persistent and audacious. Sometimes that means being persistently audacious and audaciously persistent as well. You have to keep going when it gets hard. And the audacious part is to always believe your words will matter, regardless of how long it takes to get them out there.”

So that’s where I’m at. I’m writing (if not as robustly as before), but it’s hard with so many things in flux. If the new ideas I have percolating are any indication, my capacity to be audacious remains undaunted even if my persistence has waned in the face of so much uncertainty.

But tomorrow is another day. Let’s meet it together.