25 Authors and What They're Most Looking Forward to Doing When Social Distancing is Lifted
25 Authors and What They're Most Looking Forward to Doing When Social Distancing is Lifted
Amy Poeppel
Meeting friends for a glass of wine! And I can't wait to walk into a bookstore to browse, buy books, and attend author events. I never realized how much I would miss that.
Jennifer Steinhauer
I want to sit at a bar alone and eat a meal, shake hands with strangers, spend inordinate amounts of time at the bird seed store, trying to find ways to attract goldfinch, which will continue to have that elude me. I want to touch books and wine bottles and flour bags without thinking. I want my neighbors to not pull their dogs away in fear. I want my teenager to flinch again when I go to hug her for all the regular reasons.
Melanie Abrams
hugs, lingering in coffee shops, Trader Joe's samples, bikini waxes
Pierce A Koslosky Jr
When we no longer measure our wealth in Charmin but in people again, I am looking forward to going out to a particular little restaurant, paying too much for a good bottle of wine, and arguing with old friends.
Leslie Lutz
This last week, I've been dreaming of heading to the Florida Keys, hopping on a scuba charter, and heading out to explore the wrecks that dot the coast near Key Largo. It's funny that it's not the scuba diving I'm really excited about. I want to be near other divers, stumbling around the charter as it heads out of the marina, or helping someone else zip up her wet suit, then turning so she can do mine. We'll eat cold pineapple chunks with our fingers, and borrow each other's pencils when we log the names of fish we saw. Then, at the end of a long, beautiful day, I'll grab someone's hand as I step off the boat and onto the dock. I guess I just miss people, the casual contact that I've always taken for granted.
Laurie Boyle Crompton
Going to the movies!! It was one of the last things I did with my kids before everything shut down and I remember walking out of the theater after seeing ONWARD and thinking, Onward indeed. Into the great unknown.
Martha Waters
Traveling! I just got back from a trip to Spain at the end of February and I didn't realize at the time how long it would likely be before I got on a plane again. I'm already jealous of my past self who would buy tickets to somewhere new and exciting whenever she saw a good sale -- I feel like our worlds have become so much smaller now.
Deborah Reed
I'm an author, but also the owner of an independent bookstore, and I'm so looking forward to being able to open the doors to my bookstore, and breathe in the fresh ocean air, while chatting with my community about the books that proved the most meaningful or entertaining while they were tucked away. I look forward to hugging my friends, and crying with strangers. Being a bookseller is a lot like being a bartender. People tend to open up and tell you the darnedest things.
Anna Cox
For most of my life I’ve been solidly indifferent to the behaviors of burrowing animals but on March 20 the border between the USA and Canada closed and since then I have been researching the tunneling techniques of groundhogs, prairie dogs, rabbits and gophers, with a dedication that is only marginally sane. I’m looking forward to two things: to stop envying gophers, and to fund a think-tank that develops a powerful, yet silent, sex toy. I’m an American living alone in Canada and I’m in love with someone who lives in Los Angeles, three time zones and a continent-width away. What used to be an expensive inconvenience has lately become an unconsidered impossibility. Over halting FaceTime video, we wonder when we’ll touch each other. Weeks? Months? I’ve learned a lot about burrowing mammals. For example Great gerbils are not gerbils who are well-behaved or perform cool tricks on their tiny wheels; they are a distinct species with complex and communal burrows. Their tunnels are so large they’re seen in satellite imagery and they have separate areas for nesting and food storage. It’s anthropomorphizing, I know, but they seem homey and partner oriented. Many of my friends are having trouble with their partners. In small apartments or large homes, they have forgotten how to be teammates with their mates. They call and complain about fights and tense dinners where the only sound is silverware scraping the plate. I listen and try to be supportive but I’m actually charging my vibrator again and rereading the Wikipedia page on Great gerbils and thinking, but you have someone to scratch your head, and when I say scratch your head, that’s not what I mean, that’s not the itch that needs to be met. Most burrowing animals dig with their teeth but my gums are sensitive, so at night I walk into the front yard of my apartment complex and dig small holes, making notes about the earth-moving capacity of ladles and wooden spoons. Los Angeles is 3,980.49 kilometers away. How many miles is that? Been in Canada too long. I don’t have enough spoons, but I’ve heard of an underground reseller network on Amazon. If you have money, you can buy your way out of a crisis. When the social distancing is over, I predict a baby boom and a spike in divorce rates. People will emerge from houses and maybe hurl their hoarded toilet paper into trees and I will stop night-digging long-distance tunnels. I will clean the dirt from under my nails, put on actual pants, and fly over the border, land in a sunny place, and burrow into my love. Schlocky? Absolutely. After we have scratched each others’ heads, I will head to Silicon Valley in search of venture capital because no matter how far I tunnel under my covers, the sex toy noise is loud. So loud it might sound like a family of Great gerbils running to escape their burrow, hoping to let the sun shine on their tired teeth.
E.Latimer
My writer friends and I are used to seeing one another at least once per week, so this is really hard. I'm very excited to have another in-person writing session with all of them once t his is all over. I also intend to aggressively snuggle all of them. They've been warned.
Lian Dolan
Getting back to my dance class. I'm part of a troupe of women of all ages who cha cha, samba and hip together on Tuesdays called The Della Santina Dancers. We even perform on stage once a year, costumes and all. We're doing a Zoom class together with our teacher, but I miss the sisterhood of being together, trying to master the footwork.
Scott Boyer
Give hugs and handshakes, connect with people I care about. I especially want to see my parents, maybe have a big family dinner so I can love on all my nieces and nephew.
Julie Pennell
I just had my second baby two weeks ago and because of the pandemic, my mom wasn't able to come visit like she had planned. The second social distancing comes to an end I can't wait to have her come meet her grandson. Right now we're doing lots of Facetime but it's just not the same as an in-person snuggle (and he gives the best ones!)
Emily Carpenter
I'm looking forward to going to see Hamilton in an absolutely packed theater in my hometown. I've been waiting since it opened on Broadway, finally bought tickets to the traveling show, only to see the show postponed. I'm going to sing every lyric and cry and just revel in the collective experience.
Brad Aronson
There are so many people I want to hug! I also coach our son's sports teams, and I can't wait to start coaching again!
Emily Liebert
Seeing my friends and family, eating out at restaurants, and getting a haircut!
Tori Eldridge
Although I'm cozy and productive at home with writing, fitness, reading, and book club video events, I'm most looking forward to chatting face-to-face with readers and visiting with my author friends over dim sum brunch!
Brandy Ferner
After hugging every single one of my friends and outside family (and trying not to bawl while doing so), I am looking forward to eating at my favorite restaurant. It's a Japanese Shabu-Shabu joint with huge cartoon murals on the walls, and it's the place I've chosen for birthdays, Mother's Days, and date night meals for the past decade. It is my happy place and their ponzu sauce is the nectar of the gods.
E.G. Scott
As writing partners, there's really no substitute for being able to occupy the same physical space while we're spitballing concepts, mapping out storylines or working through knotty plot complications. It'll also be nice to go see art in a museum setting, visit a community garden or sit for a stretch of people-watching--all the things we do that give us the inspiration to create characters and generate fresh book ideas.
Seth C. Adams
As a bit of a homebody and an introvert, I already "socially distance" by choice. Some degree of self isolation seems to work well for the imagination of a suspense/horror writer. When you're alone, you're only too aware of every unsettling noise, each deep, creeping shadow, and the sometimes disturbing quality of quietude. Dark ideas are ever ready to be explored, disquieting thoughts probed, and sinister imaginings stirred. And when such things get too overbearing, a good dog can lighten things up like few people ever can!
Brian Platzer
I'm most looking forward to my kids being able to visit their grandparents. Also, I'm looking forward to waking up with confidence that close friends and family members aren't going to die anytime soon. After I drop my kids with their grandparents, I'm looking forward to going out to dinner with my wife to a restaurant that's excited to be serving customers again. The following day, I'd like to take my kids to a baseball game, or just a playground. I wonder, though, how long it'll take between the end of social distancing and the first time I'd be willing to do or feel any of the above. When restaurants and schools and stadiums open again, I wonder if I'll feel more or less scared. I wonder if I'll let my parents see my kids immediately. Will we have to wait for a vaccine before we can relax, even if the government says we can go on with what had been our regular life? We're just at the beginning of all this. Hang in there.
Kerry Lonsdale
GNO as opposed to GNI, obviously. But hugging tops the list. I want to visit my parents and meet up with close friends, and give them the biggest, warmest hugs ever. After that, I look forward to booking a vacation that takes me somewhere, anywhere, that isn’t the interior of my house. I had to cancel last summer’s three-week vacation to Europe due to a medical emergency, so I’m clawing my walls to get out and explore. Earth is calling. And I'd like to think we'll all have a new appreciation for her when this is done.
Leslie Gray Streeter
Sitting at a bar and writing on a laptop with a Manhattan and moderately attractive bar staff. You know. Normal reasons.
Emily B. Martin
Ordinary dinners with my extended family and hiking on all the trails that are now closed!
Lisa Braxton
When social distancing comes to an end, I'm most looking forward to taking a road trip to see my parents.They're in their 80s. Mom is recovering from chemotherapy and Dad has Parkinson's Disease. I look forward to not only checking in on them, but spending quality time with them.
BONUS
Alison Hammer
There are so many things I'm looking forward to—first on the list is probably getting a hug! Then, going to a bookstore and seeing my debut novel on a shelf for the first time. I also can't wait until it's safe to have dinner with friends and see live music again!
