COVID. War. Totalitarianism. Pandemic. Climate change. Terrorism. Nuclear war. Judging from hyperbole in social media, we are out-and-out terrified of these things. Just consider the rhetoric around the use of “tactical” nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Will he? Won’t he? Should we? The job of writers of fantasy and speculative fiction is to reflect our audience’s fears back […]
I wrote that I will never again say “things can’t get worse.” Because they did, and continue to. COVID-19 cases are increasing again in China, Japan, the U.K. and elsewhere. And the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine grinds on. I find this particularly affecting, as I am married to a Ukrainian-Canadian, and I wrote […]
My father, David Thomas Reid, died on January 19, 2022, at age 87 of COVID-19. This is a story of his passing. It’s not the only story. It’s told from the perspective two thousand kilometres away, by his son. The story as told by David Reid’s friends much closer to him will be different. But […]
It’s now the—what? 6th?—week of isolation and #covisolation, and I’m used to it. I don’t mind having to stay in, and work from my house. I have a very nice house. I have put a lot of work into it. It looks beautiful. It’s got my wife, my son, and now three cats (I know). […]
A month after I started sheltering in place, I hear a lot of people advocating for life to get back to normal. Leaders talk about reopening the economy, about getting kids back into school. People want to “get back to normal.” No. Normal just isn’t good enough. We have to put health ahead of money. […]
This is one of those times that clarifies the word surreal. To qualify: I’m neither in quarantine nor isolation. I have no symptoms. I have not been near anyone with symptoms. I have not travelled in over a month. The whole family is healthy and safe. But life is certainly different. Driving to the grocery […]