Well, I’m lucky. I got to have another birthday. Many people didn’t–more than usual. I got some fabulous birthday presents: My wife made me a fresh apple pie and gave me the five books of Conn Iggulden’s Genghis/Kublai Kahn series. An agent sent me a rejection letter that was very encouraging. She had even given the book a second reading before deciding against it. And I received a similar rejection from Tor not too long ago. While it may seem strange to view rejection as hopeful, the tone of both rejections is telling me that I’m close. I keep reminding myself that a professional writer is simply an amateur who never gave up.

Speaking of aging, a quarter of a century ago I was studying French history and compared my achievements to Napoleon’s. At age 35, he had done so much more than I had. Then I stepped back and thought about how many million people I didn’t kill, so maybe I wasn’t doing so badly. Today, I can say that when Napoleon was my age, he’d been dead for ten years. Plus I’m happily married, have lived on three continents, once stood on the edge of the polar ice cap, and never, ever tried to put my children on the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. Not bad at all.

My heart goes out to everyone in the throes of the covid-19 crisis. I was “potentially exposed” recently and had to take the test–an experience best described as asking a long-fingered stranger to help me pick my nose. I wasn’t infected, but I have withdrawn more to my home since then. I try to cope by keeping the current tragedy in a bigger historical context. It isn’t a good strategy (phrases from Connie Willis’s short story Fire Watch keep coming to mind) but it seems to be the best I can do for now. And if you have never read Fire Watch, it’s worth your time.