A new book, the coronavirus and me

I am sure I’m not alone in having plans disrupted by the pandemic. Even, perhaps among writers, my situation wasn’t unique. However, it’s worth a blog post so here goes.

My husband and I spent the months of November through February at our house near Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, having a wonderful time and with not a care in the world. It was sometime in early March that news of the pandemic started filtering into our little corner of paradise. At first, it didn’t seem to impact Mexico very much. We were not due to leave until late in April and we thought we could just ride it out. Who wouldn’t rather spend isolation time in Mexico than Ontario in March? But then I started wondering if the government was telling the truth and why El Presidente Lopez Obrador had adopted such a nonchalant response to the crisis. Also a concern was the number of people on the beaches. I suspected the reason for all this was the tourist dollars spent during Spring Break and Easter.

The talk at Happy Hour or lounging in the pool was all about coronavirus. No one wanted to go home early but when Westjet cancelled their regular flights, our friends from Western Canada began to fear that they might be stranded. I cannot begin to describe the panicked scramble for replacement flights. One couple got themselves onto three standby lists, intending to take the first one with available seats. Another couple booked a flight but when another came available just one day earlier, they booked that one as well. Two couples had to take separate flights from their partners because only 1 seat was available.

In the midst of all this panic, I was dealing with a book launch. I had scheduled the launch for April 1st. (In retrospect, that wasn’t the best choice.) I was determined to do it with all the fanfare I could muster from my second home. Not that we had to deal with the flight fiasco, because we drive to Mexico. (Yes, it’s a long, long journey, 4,400k from Toronto to Puerto Vallarta, but we can now do it in only 3 nights on the road.) I did manage a ‘cover reveal’ and a little pre-virus promotion. But in late March we decided we had better get out of Mexico. Packed the car. Closed up the house. Prepared lunch and a cold chicken dinner for two days on the road. On the other two days, we bought take-out and ate in the car.

Interestingly, when we stopped for the night at a hotel in Mexico, the bellman took our temperatures with a laser device and there were 2 bottles of hand sanitizer on the desk. There was nothing like that at the 2 hotels in the U.S.

When you do a preorder, Amazon requires that you post the manuscript a minimum of 3 days before the launch date. I arrived home on March 28th, the very last day to post. Even then, I had to wait a couple of days longer before we got internet back. Surprisingly, Amazon was very understanding when I told them my sob story and allowed the launch to go ahead. A little late, but as sob stories go at this time, it’s not too terrible.

Stay safe and don’t forget to laugh.

 

The War King by Eric Schumacher

Set in 10th century Norway, this is the third book in the saga of Hakon the Good. I haven’t read the first two, but I had no difficulty reading this one and understanding what went before. Hakon took the kingdom into his own hands after the death of the previous ruler and exiled his sons instead of killing them as he was urged to do. (Maybe that was why he was called The Good). There was a price to be paid for such clemency. Battle scenes dominate as Hakon fights to maintain his position against the dispossessed sons supported by the Danes. Descriptions of wounds inflicted by various weapons in various ways are not for the faint-hearted.

Hakon is a Christian with his own priest and has to walk a careful path between his own beliefs and those of his pagan followers. Juxtaposed against gory battle scenes is a later-life love affair that blooms between him and Deidre, the daughter of one of his chiefs.

The book doesn’t spare us the violence of those days but I would have liked to see a little more detail about Viking ‘life’. However, I am sure it will appeal to those interested in Norse sagas and war in general.

I wrote this review for Discovering Diamonds.