The greatest blessing that we have
Is the dawn of each new day
A chance to finish what we started
And made a mess of yesterday
As day comes out of night
A chance to get it right
A chance to start again
A chance to get it right
- Lyrics by Steve Hogarth, from the song 'Happiness is the Road' by Marillion.
I woke up with these words on my mind today. Today wasn't really anything special compared to yesterday or the day before as so many of us are in a work-from-home situation. My wife is working at the kitchen table on her laptop, doing conference calls. My daughter is doing a combination of schoolwork and highly essential going-on-her-phone work, whilst the dog is wondering why we're here all day in between demanding a socially-distanced visit to the park. Fortunately, it's just at the end of the road so we can do that. You'd think that self isolation would be fertile ground for writers but I guess I'm not alone in feeling that it isn't necessarily the case. But the dawn of each new day is something I'm greeting with a renewed sense of just enjoying the moment. The silence in the air is something that we're experiencing now, the distant rumble of traffic even more distant and the sound of birds taking over. I'm seeing every day as a chance, which is ironic given how static many of us seem to feel at the moment. A chance for what exactly I don't know yet...
As far as writing goes, I've just finished my latest script for 'Commando' comic, entitled 'Chaos in Coventry', set in November 1940 during the Coventry Blitz. It's a story about communities coming together against a bacckdrop of war. Community seems to be one of those things that we have a chance to rediscover right now, and I'm seeing it all around me. Some of the book's supporters in fact are driving forward schemes to support the needy and housebound during these difficult times, and some of us - me included - are key workers. Some of you work within the NHS and you deserve far more than a round of applause. Thank you not only for your continued support for my writing but for being wonderful people.
I've been posting some of my older short stories - most of them aimed at children but actually written for a general audience - on my blog as free to read online, so if you're so inclined, please delve in. https://writingcobblers.blogspot.com/
Redrafting of A Hundred Years to Arras continues...
Destination 100% by 7th June - my 52nd birthday! We're on that journey, not there yet, but guess what? Happiness is the road!
Keep safe and take care, everyone.