This is a peculiar time, when we are afraid to reach out and touch each other. Or even be in the same room with another. Life evolved to be symbiotic. And so we depend on nature and each other for food and security. But we also depend on each other for comfort, a comfort that is conveyed through a touch or a pat or a hug. If we are deprived of the feel of another’s skin against ours month after month, can we retain our sanity? As a human being, is it possible to find solace in isolation? For me, writing provides much of the amity I miss in these times of lockdowns and quarantines. The characters I encounter in the alternate realities I inhabit comfort me with their companionship.