I live in New Jersey, a mere twelve miles away from New York City, so my area has been hit very hard by COVID-19. We wear masks; we social distance; we wash our hands until our skin is about to flake off; and we stay home as much as possible.

Since I am a writer and sit at my home computer for work even in normal times, my job has changed virtually not at all. That makes me lucky. (On the other hand, I am grateful and admiring of the folks who continue to staff the grocery stores, the post offices, and all the health care facilities for being selfless and courageous. We could not survive without them. A big thank you!)

However, all the terrible and tragic news often overwhelms me, so I have sought the things that have brought me comfort all my life: books.

Recently, I discovered—and ripped through at light speed—the many volumes of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga, an incredible science fiction series with some of the most memorable characters I’ve ever encountered in literature. I literally wept when I read the last book because I would miss all my friends from the Vorkiverse.

Even more than that, I needed to be on another planet, in another time, and that was the enormous gift Ms. Bujold gave me.

I want to say thank you to her and to all the other authors who have swept me away from reality when it became too much. I have depended on the kindness of these strangers my entire life. They have broadened my horizons, reassured me, made me laugh when I felt more like crying, made me cry but in a good way, and made me believe in the human race again, which isn’t so easy these days.

I thank them from a place of profound understanding of what it takes to make that gift to a reader since I am a writer myself. My heartfelt gratitude goes to all those who have spilled their imaginations and guts onto the page, so that I could use them to refill my well and go forward in my life with a refreshed spirit.