Unless you're a soccer fan or live in Europe, you probably missed the news that Liverpool FC and Portugal striker, Diogo Jota, died in a car accident with his brother exactly one week ago.
He was just 28 years old.
He leaves behind a wife (his high school sweetheart by all accounts, whom he married just ten days earlier), three young children, and parents who have now lost both their sons.
Tragic is too soft a word for it.
The last time I was rocked by a public departure like this was when the late Queen of England joined the Night Shift. But like old Lilibet, Diogo’s passing revealed a truth that can be seen as either a reassuringly good thing or a sad one:
PEOPLE FORGET.
Faster than we’d like to admit, too.
Even the biggest headlines eventually retreat to the back pages until finally, they vanish completely, and with that, from our consciousness.
It doesn’t discriminate either.
You could be the Queen.
A footballer.
A playboy.
A criminal.
A pope.
Obscurity claims us all with enough time. And we don’t have to be walking the heavenly fields of Elysium for that to happen either.
Take authors for instance.
Go long enough between releases, and readers will drift. Some will come back when the next book drops. Some won’t. And some will forget about the author entirely. Unless they’ve sprinkled some fairy dust on those pages that keep readers hooked until the sky turns green, one will have to suffer the aforementioned ills.
That is, unless, authors take a leaf out of my mean (and always lean) book and communicate with their horde of devoted readers daily.
It helps to keep them top of mind for a lot longer.
Does it mean I am guilty of sending out blockbuster musings every day?
Of course!
(Not.)
But it keeps me in the hearts and inboxes of readers who enjoy my work most. And it’s a nice excuse to share a few giggles, grunts, and sobering thoughts along the way.
Speaking of giggles, grunts, and sobering moments, my microfiction has plenty of those.
Find them here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/Tiny-Epics-Vol-1
DJJW