Authors in Quarantine – Derek Kunsken

With this this series, I am hoping to capture how this cultural moment is affecting our speculative fiction authors and how our authors are surviving during the COVID-19 outbreak

Spec Can: What have you been up to during the COVID-19 outbreak?

Derek Kunsken: My day job has been adapted to working remotely from home, so I’ve still been working full time. I’ve also received some friends of mine who were evacuated from Europe, so they will be with me for a few months in my guest rooms. They have a daughter the same age as my son, so that’s been a social plus. And they cook well!

Spec Can: How are you adapting to social distancing?

Derek Kunsken: I had just spent 4 years working as a full time writer and parent, so I’d actually practiced staying at home before. I think I’ve been relatively okay during social distancing, but I’ve been feeling really bad for friends who have lost jobs, writers with books coming out right now, and families who have lost loved ones.

Spec Can: How is the outbreak affecting your writing?

Derek Kunsken: Everything seems to take more effort, and I described the feeling as having my max hit points dropped by 20% and being unable to find the cleric some days. That being said, I’m been getting up at 6am each day to write before work. At first, I tried meeting people on Twitter, but now I meet a smaller group by Zoom to keep ourselves honest and working.

Interviewed by Derek Newman-Stille, MA, PhD ABD