Social Distancing is an experimental short story written in conjunction with my friend, Anthony Black. It is a story written during the early months of the pandemic that becomes more true by the day. SD brings us to a fragmented society where people live in solitary dwellings surrounded by all the things meant to sustain them.
Writing a dystopia while living in a dystopia is extraordinarily difficult, and so the collaborative approach worked really well. Anthony and I had many conversations on the direction of the story all the while discussing the future of our own society during these trying times.
The moment our character concludes his date in virtual reality and logs into his job as a cleaner via drone we knew we had the right setting. The second we are introduced to the local artificial intelligence we knew we struck the right tone. The moment the characters meet in person we knew we have the right theme for the right time.
Ultimately, we are very satisfied with the result, and by what we are hearing from readers. Many have expressed a thirst for more, and I’m glad to say we are drafting another story in this new world.