How bleak would it be if the Hermit of Iapetus, and various other stragglers in the outer solar system, were the only ones to survive a virus outbreak in the inner solar system?
I know. Topical and cliché. It’s probably been done a thousand times before. Also sure there are a thousand monkeys pounding away at a thousand typewriters right now on the NEXT BIG CORONAVIRUS BLOCKBUSTER NOVEL, so by the time I got mine out on the street seventy thousand others will have gone live in that space.
And the more I think of it, the more I like the idea that the Hermit is on Iapetus just because he wanted to be. And because he’s probably a little bit crazy. Not enough pathos, I’m sure, but I still like the idea.
Most novels want to focus on the Big Idea. The Hermit of Iapetus, in its current form, does not. It’s just about a crazy dude who decided to go live on one of Saturn’s moons. Is that compelling enough? I don’t know. I haven’t shown it to anyone as Doleful Creatures, a Bigger Idea novel, has occupied my brain space, if not my writing desk.
One coronavirus bright spot: If it comes to social distancing with school and work closed (school, thus far for our kids, is staying in, but letting out Thursday, two days earlier than planned for Spring Break; BYUI is shut for the next few days as preparations go underway to take what classes can be online into that online space) maybe I could get working on the novel again. Or the chores around the house, now that winter is finally dying. Maybe both. Might even get new concrete underneath the master bathtub tonight as I prepare to re-tile everything.
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