OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

I woke up feeling completely broken today: a shoulder that hurt so much I could hardly turn in my bed without pain, a headache that made it difficult to open my eyes, cramps that made me want to curl up for the day and not get up, and a general state of reluctance (the ‘joys’ of monstruosity). Coffee helped, of course, and a hot water bottle under my shoulder, and the last stories of Searching for Simphiwe. What a wonderful collection – worth waiting for, even a decade.

And because the bed was warm and my body was gradually relaxing into the day, I started reading the two gems pictured above, and continued with them in the evening next to the fire after finishing my work.

Paul Anthony Jones is the person behind @HaggardHawks – the one who taught me the word ‘oysterhood’.

My Viennese friend is back home after a freaky hospital stay. We skyped in the evening and it was good to see her in her own space, doing much better.

Work was done today. Work-related deliveries were made. All small steps, but progress in the right direction.

Beautiful manuscripts keep coming in for Karavan Press. Decision-making is nearly impossible right now because of all the uncertainties involved, but there was an email with a manuscript attached in my inbox today that moved me deeply – a true literary treasure. I can’t wait to read it. There are times that one has to forget practicalities and simply dream. When I open this manuscript, I will allow myself to dream. The rest will have to follow. Earlier in the week, I received a manuscript I know I want to publish, but I simply don’t know how yet. And then there was the one that will need some work, but the story is so important to tell that I will do whatever I can to make it happen. How? I don’t know. “It’s a mystery.”

Well over six thousand infections in the last twenty four hours. Among them people I know.

Tonight, I will fall asleep to the sounds of the rain falling outside and the fire whispering inside my bedroom. May this be a kind night to all of us.

Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others. Stay at home.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD