Hello Readers,
Many people are doing it tough around the world in the current environment and yours truly is no exception. Like many others, I’ve been looking at ways I can generate a bit more income while I’m out of work in these times of Covid-19. I read a statistic just yesterday that said you have a 0.5% chance of getting a new job in Brisbane right now. If you’re looking for work too – I know, it doesn’t fill me with confidence either, but hey, we’ve got to keep trying or that chance reduces to 0%.
It has been good to see communities helping each other out in these times. I’ve seen people volunteering to get groceries for other who are in isolation, businesses offering free courses, writers offering discounted books (myself included), friends playing games via Zoom, etc. I’ve even started learning the guitar again through a free online course from Fender. It has been a welcome distraction from everything else that’s been going on over the last couple of months.
I’ve also been finding it a struggle to write at present. You’d think this would be the ideal time to knuckle down and get some writing done, but it’s hard for me to get into the mindset with everything else going on around me. I will need to get more work out if I want to break even with my writing though. I do have some new short stories I have finished, but I need to get them edited and that costs money, so I need to hold off on those until I find a new job. I could put ads on my website, but I’ve always hated going to websites only to be inundated with them, so I’m very reluctant to use ads on my own website. I had arranged with a couple of local businesses to get some of my art up for sale on their walls. Then lockdown measures were put in place… that’s going to have to wait until the restrictions are lifted now (which thankfully isn’t looking too far away here in Queensland).
In the mean time I’ve been toying with the idea of adding one of those ‘buy me a coffee’ donation type plug-ins to my website. But then I got to thinking. My short stories cost less than a cup of coffee anyway – and my readers get something to read during isolation. It’s a win-win right?
So, if you want to help out this author in these uncertain times, don’t buy me a coffee, buy one of my books! You’d make this guy really happy, and who knows, you may even enjoy my stories.
How are you coping in the current environment? Feel free to let me know in the comments section below.
Happy Reading.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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