Therese "Tree" S, from Louisville, Kentucky had this to stay about her quarantine...

"I have had a great quarantine.  Eight years ago I started working for my church on the weekends, along with my 40-hour work week.  I am single, primary caregiver, and live with, my 92 year old Mother.  So I take care of meals, our home and small flower garden.  The few times I have had any time off, a few days here and there, I do not get a lot done.  Since the quarantine started 3 weeks ago, I have thoroughly cleaned most (2 rooms to go) of our home.  I cannot begin to tell you of the massive amount of donations we will be making to GoodWill once they re-open.  And how nice all the furniture is shining, drawers are tidy and closets organized.  It is tiring, and I sleep well at night.  I take the weekends off and read.

So far, my boss is still paying us.  So I have had a great three weeks.  But I am looking forward to more reading time! I love all romance with the exception of paranormal, alien, shifter - give me a real man!  Since I am single, anything else goes, sweet, erotic, dark, BDSM, ménage..... alpha males and strong females .... love it!"

Shannon C from Delta, BC, Canada has the following very useful advice:

"The best advice I can give is two-fold. First be mindful of your sources of new info. Don’t believe everything you hear or read. Fact check against reputable scientific documentation. Second, don’t OD on the news. It’s easy to get sucked into it and let it consume all your thoughts. Check once a day in order to stay informed, then shut the rest off. Move your mental energy onto the things that make you happy. It makes a huge difference with mental health."

A big hello to Susan P from Queensland (Australia!) who has been very busy lately...

"Usually we are not home at this time of the year as we trip around in the caravan but that is not allowed now. I am doing the spring cleaning I did not do last year because of the drought. We garden a lot, always have, and grow our own vegetables and fruit, only have a suburban block, read an awful lot, walk long distances (still allowed out to exercise) do a lot of craft, crocheting and weaving, and husband is always in his shed working on a project. We also play cards (usually with friends but that is no longer on the books so it is just us) I love to cook so am doing a lot of that although that is nothing new, keep in touch with scattered family via FaceTime and phone.

We are thinking of you all over there. Stay safe."

Mary F contacted us with the following advice...

"Make sure to spend as much time as possible, interacting with your family, if you have one. Play games, tech, & others, teach each other, cook other domestic shores. Watch movies, talk about them. Write letters, cards, etc to others. Share yourself with each other."

Thanks, Mary! Those are some great ideas!

Thanks to Cécile S who contacted us to share that...

I'm distracting myself with DE, Paranormal Erotica, and BDSM novels.
I can recommend my method, because HOTDAMN! It works!

Thanks, Cécile. I hope many more of the BrazenBookshelf family are using your "method"... I know I am!

"If you had an old routine, try to stick to that. This has helped me keep my head on straight massively. But also be kind to yourself. If I have a day where I'm really not feeling writing, I take the day to read or bake or catch up on a marketing course--anything that feels inspiring!"

"If you're feeling down, reach out, don't think you're alone, because you aren't. We're all feeling trapped, in one way or another. Reaching out eases that claustrophobic feeling."

"I would like to tell people to try and stay sane in these crazy times, if they feel a dose of anxiety, that's natural, they should embrace it and try to find a way to feel better, different people have different strategies for it..."

Thanks to Chasity M, we're loving your book recommendations! Stay safe as you continue to work.

"They consider my place of work essential but I’m just a cook. I don’t feel like I should be an essential worker, not like the nurses, doctors and emt’s that are actually battling this pandemic. Most of my coworkers have been laid off because business is slow and I’m only working a few hours a week.

I’ve been keeping myself busy reading the start to the Dirty Heroes collection (The Black Fox by Brianna Hale) and Draekan Mates by Lee Savino and Lili Zander. I also absolutely adored Chasing Her Lion by Golden Angel and all 4 of Jagger Coles books. Hope you’re staying safe and busy!"

Btw, Chasity, no one's "just" a cook... you're feeding and nourishing other keyworkers so they can do their thing. We think that's pretty awesome, girl!

Thanks to Kate from America who is another of our essential keyworkers.

Kate is super-busy (and super smart) as she works in preparing income taxes. (That sounds complicated!)

When Kate gets home again, she likes to switch off by reading erotic romance.

Thanks to Karen from Australia.

Despite the fires earlier in the year coming within a kilometer of her home, she's working as an essential keyworker. Thanks for making sure all the animals have someone looking out for them!

"I work in a pet produce store so i am still working but it is a mad house out there.

Supermarkets here in Oz are limiting everything due to the fools who have gone in and wiped the shelves clean not thinking about anyone but themselves!

Take care and keep safe!"

Thanks to Jenny who is a keyworker and contacted us…

“My name is Jenny and I work at Target, both as a cashier and in the back, filling online orders. Reading has always been my way of escaping the outside world, and even more so now! I go to work every day excited to come back home and immerse myself in a book. I’m running out of room on my Kindle because I have so many books! Stay safe everyone!”