Yes, it’s true. Yet another website – this one – is updating its policies for the duration of the C-Plague.
After giving it a great deal of time and thought, I must regretfully announce that delivery of the remaining Feedback for entries in PEOPLE’S PILOT 2019 is being suspended until, well, until further notice, I’m afraid, and certainly until this coming Fall at the earliest.
Similarly, PEOPLE’S PILOT 2020, formerly scheduled to open for entries June 1st, is also being suspended until further notice, and I’m as regretful about that as I am about the Feedback.
The Covid-19 situation may well be the most stressful event I have faced in my life. I’ve had to face the possibility of death before, due to such things as the Vietnam War, my two heart attacks, quintuple coronary bypass surgery, and most recently prostate cancer treatment and surgery, but the current pandemic has me in a much stronger grasp.
At this point in time my psyche just plain isn’t as resilient as it once was, nor is my ambition anywhere nearly as important to me as in the past. I feel a duty to fulfill my obligations – which is why I’m announcing a postponement instead of outright cancellation – but I’m simply unable to do so.
Compounding this is the fact that for past weeks I’ve been running TVWriter™ and PEOPLE’S PILOT entirely alone. The kind and wonderful people who have helped so much in the past are dealing with their own virus-related and personal issues. Which is as it should be, but taking care of business has unfortunately become more difficult and time-consuming than ever.
FWIW, my original reaction to this time of self social isolation, was, “Hey, great, I love working alone, especially when the work is writing. Been practicing it for years and should be at the top of my game!”
Over the last month and a half, however, I’ve come to realize how much more is involved here than writing. I have a wife I love beyond measure, plus four children and seven grandchildren (including two I haven’t yet met), plus a pair of amazing dogs, and the overarching awareness that any or all of us I could die any time now overwhelms everything else. Period.
To put it bluntly: I would never forgive myself if I didn’t spend as much time as possible attending to my loved ones while there is still the chance to do so, and I hope that those who read this will understand that feeling. Our lives aren’t only about writing. They’re about being there for those who love and need us and doing everything we can for them.
What’s that? Did I hear somebody ask about the TVWriter™ website itself? And my Master Class?
After thinking long and hard about what I’m capable of doing and what I need to do to remain, well, myself I want to tell you all that, yeppers, kids, I fully intend to continue updating TVWriter™ daily (in the slightly abridged form it’s been for the past few weeks, but the voice underlying everything will be mine and mine alone. Which reminds me to say, “Please humor me, gang, if I make too many blogging mistakes, grammatically, tonally, and everything in between.
Similarly, I will be continuing the Master Class Sessions and their once/week meetings because I love, love, love ’em. Period.
To reiterate, because I once read in a book about essay writing that this is the place where I’m supposed to do that:
- Larry Brody’s PEOPLE’S PILOT 2019 Feedback has been indefinitely suspended
- PEOPLE’S PILOT 2020 has been indefinitely suspended
- TVWriter™ will continue to be updated daily indefinitely
- LB’s Master Class also will continue indefinitely
Welcome to Generation Covid. No matter when we were born, we’re all in it together.
Love You Mean It, and please stay healthy and safe!
LB
