Happy Leap Day! Yes it is that one day which only happens at four year intervals. That means that the lovely people at Lovebytes have given me the chance to write something today.

It’s not been the best of weeks but that had little to do with the dreadful weather or the Coronavirus, it’s because I miss my people! Following last weekend’s awesome gathering in Birmingham for Shimmer, I fell foul of the notorious ‘con-drop’ which affects so many of us after spending time with lots of ‘our people’.

So who are our people? They are the ones we are attracted to because they share our values, they share our interests and passions, they laugh with us, argue with us, they cry with us and they love us for who we are. Whether we are readers or writers, our people raise us up and this is why we seek them out whenever we can. As Ariel, The Little Mermaid sings “I want to be where the people are.” We all want to be where our people are and that’s why we arrange meets, conventions and signings so that we can share our love of good stories and sexy men.

Convention season has started but I have some concerns for this year. Brexit and the virus have conspired to create uncertainty and this makes people nervous about committing themselves to booking, especially where international travel is concerned. Whether you are attending the UK Meet in Southampton or GRL in St. Louis, whether you are off to Edinburgh  or to Australia they will all be wonderful events for all who attend. As I have been heard to say many times before, If you are struggling, you need the convention. If you are enjoying success then the convention needs you!

When we decided to cancel this year’s EPC in The Netherlands it was no easy choice and we will miss it so much! There was already no small amount of uncertainty about things in Europe but it now seems that with the virus popping up around mainland Europe, we definitely made the right decision. But, of course, we still intend to return with a bang next year!

Now if we are to keep in touch with ‘our people’ this year what can we do? Well it’s easier than you might think. For one thing, Social Media is easy to take for granted. We sometimes forget that it is called SOCIAL media for a reason. So let’s get social. don’t just ‘follow’ friends on social media, interact, develop relationships. Use Whatsapp or Skype and make time to chat with people face to face. Make the effort to go out and meet people. Authors and readers alike love any excuse to get together over a coffee, a glass of something, or a slice of cake. Arrange to meet them informally, maybe with a few like minded friends?

Support the big events because they play an important part in our year. At the same time don’t depend on them. We all need ‘our people’ so lets make every effort to go out and be where our people are.

T. J. Masters