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Some time ago Mike Allen was looking for some more ARC readers for A Sinister Quartet (a quartet of novellas by CSE Cooney, Jessica Wick, Amanda McGee, and Mike Allen himself), and I expressed an interest, and so he put a copy in the mail for me.
And time went by, and the foursome did a reading (preserved on Youtube), each sharing part of their novella, and when that happened, I dropped Mike a line saying I really would read and review, but that the book still hadn't arrived yet--and he sent me the tracking number, and it looked like it had gotten as far as the nearby city of Springfield, but not managed to make it to my town.
No worries, we both agreed--it would come eventually. In the meantime, he sent me a digital ARC. About a week more went by, and still the package hadn't come. Still "in transit." I noticed that there was a 1-800 number you could call, so I decided to do that.
"If you haven't received mail for two days, press one," the recording said. "If you haven't received mail for three or four days, press two."
Well, we've been getting mail, so I didn't press either of those. The recording continued, saying that in this time of COVID-19, they're working with reduced numbers and under difficult circumstances, and that they're trying very hard to make sure that mail gets through, especially important things like people's medicines, but that there are some delays due to...
... And at that point I was overwhelmed by shame and sadness. What the hell was I doing?? I had an electronic copy of the book! Why was I calling? It would come when they were able to bring it! There were people waiting on medicine, for crying out loud! And I thought about the two young women at my local post office, so cheerful and friendly, how gradually protections were put in place for them--plastic screens and masks, but still how hard it is--people come in, people who need money orders, people picking up packages--me, mailing a package to Japan--and they're there, dealing with every person. And thought about how hard all of this is.
And I hung up the phone and instantly felt better.
And later that day, the package arrived.
And time went by, and the foursome did a reading (preserved on Youtube), each sharing part of their novella, and when that happened, I dropped Mike a line saying I really would read and review, but that the book still hadn't arrived yet--and he sent me the tracking number, and it looked like it had gotten as far as the nearby city of Springfield, but not managed to make it to my town.
No worries, we both agreed--it would come eventually. In the meantime, he sent me a digital ARC. About a week more went by, and still the package hadn't come. Still "in transit." I noticed that there was a 1-800 number you could call, so I decided to do that.
"If you haven't received mail for two days, press one," the recording said. "If you haven't received mail for three or four days, press two."
Well, we've been getting mail, so I didn't press either of those. The recording continued, saying that in this time of COVID-19, they're working with reduced numbers and under difficult circumstances, and that they're trying very hard to make sure that mail gets through, especially important things like people's medicines, but that there are some delays due to...
... And at that point I was overwhelmed by shame and sadness. What the hell was I doing?? I had an electronic copy of the book! Why was I calling? It would come when they were able to bring it! There were people waiting on medicine, for crying out loud! And I thought about the two young women at my local post office, so cheerful and friendly, how gradually protections were put in place for them--plastic screens and masks, but still how hard it is--people come in, people who need money orders, people picking up packages--me, mailing a package to Japan--and they're there, dealing with every person. And thought about how hard all of this is.
And I hung up the phone and instantly felt better.
And later that day, the package arrived.
