The year is 2020. We have seen fires in Australia, locust plagues in Africa, both flooding and drought elsewhere, and riots and marches, too, but all pales in comparison to what 2020 is really about. A global pandemic. We have endured lockdown, and it appears it will befall us more than once as this virus runs its course.

We no longer live with any kind of certainty. We need to cope with the reality, which includes the virus itself, the loss of loved ones, and economic devastation, if only by staying as positive as is possible.

Understanding who we are and who we can be if we take care to be honest with ourselves is the first step to dealing with the progress of utter change and helps us forge a path through the chaos. Therefore, this book. Our Lanterns Glow is a deliberate choice of title. We are, each of us, lanterns in the darkness. We shine, and we hoist our lanterns for others to find their way. We can trim the wick of our lamps to brighten our inner selves, and will, thus, shed the resultant glow ever outward.

Based on fictional insights, for fiction has helped us in these trying times, Our Lanterns Glow isn’t a cure-all. It is about insight and the inspiration we need to move forward. We have everything to gain in trying something new, something different.