A collection that is bursting with heart, dynamic energy, and unbounded creativity.
Years after the initial outbreak of Covid, this deadly disease is still an invariable topic of conversation. With lingering effects that include diminished life expectancies, volatile economies, increased fear for public health, and widespread mistrust of medical experts, this disease has had far-reaching repercussions that will last for decades. “Who hadn’t been on edge during these strange days of uncertainty?” But even in the midst of global lockdowns, not everything is gloom and doom. Our Magical Pandemic: Stories of Love and Whimsy in Lockdown is a collection of short stories penned by a group of talented authors who experienced the fatigue, fear, and frustration of this disease firsthand and came out with something tangible to show for it. This compilation offers an eclectic range of shorts dabbling in everything from horror and humor to contemporary romance and speculative fiction. Audiences are swiftly transported back to a time not long ago when groceries were thoroughly sanitized and vaccine cards were routinely verified. Here, with the benefit of some well-written fictional embellishments, readers are offered a light-hearted glimpse into what happened in most every household and mind, and how our personalities and long-term behaviors were reshaped by a microscopic virus.
With a focus on lockdown life in and around New York City, audiences will relive the history-making period and gain a new perspective on how others dealt with the outbreak. Fortunately, this isn’t a drab collection of sentimental memoirs about coping with an illness. Rather, the severity of a global disease is tempered with originality and playfulness. Entries such as Stuck On Me and What You Wish For bring readers right back to the height of pandemic paranoia when information was sporadic and tension was at its peak, but with the welcome addition of monsters and fantastical punchlines. And for a sci-fi twist, there’s even an alternate virus origin story to tickle your imagination. Other tales examine some of the what-ifs, peering into the minds of desperate people who are reduced to the basest versions of themselves by fear, obsession, and pure adrenaline. It is clear from the quality and tone of each story that there are a variety of skill levels among the writers that have contributed to this eclectic anthology, but each brings something special to the table. The end result is a collection that is bursting with heart, dynamic energy, and unbounded creativity. Making the best of a dreadful situation, Our Magical Pandemic offers a glimmer of silver lining around the Covid cloud that was hung over humanity.
