To mask (in fiction) or not to mask…

There’s been quite a bit of discussion among authors recently about whether or not to mention the pandemic in their fiction. The general consensus seems to be “Ignore it.”

All well and good, unless (ahem) one writes books that take place in real time. The first Kevin Brodie book will start with the second day of his new job, which was July 2, 2020. (He spent all day of July 1 in new employee orientation. Y’all know how that is.) That’s been set up in previous books and I can’t change it. Nor do I want to. I also don’t feel that I can ignore the overarching event of 2020.

There’s an argument both ways. Yes, mentioning the pandemic will “date” the book. But the book is already dated; pandemic or no, “Thursday, July 2, 2020” will be at the top of the first page. If I ignored the virus, surely there are people who would say, “Wait. Where are everyone’s masks?”

Therefore, you’ll be seeing masks and social distancing in Painted to Death, Kevin Brodie Mystery #1. This will be the only book that will be so constrained, though. The second Kevin book will take place next spring, after everyone’s had their vaccines and COVID is mostly (let’s hope) behind us.

My plan is to write the third Space Coast book in between Kevin #1 and #2. It will take place before the pandemic, so no problems there.

The next series I write (more on that later) will not come with dates! LOL.