John C.A. Manley's Blog, page 6

Voice actresses needed for All the Humans Are Sleeping book launch

As part of the virtual book launch webinar for my forthcoming novel, All the Humans Are Sleeping, I'm working towards including a multi-cast reading of select chapters.

I'm currently looking for one or two female voice actresses to read the lines of an older female historian and/or a 16-year-old girl. You don't have to be a professional (just good). No memorization is required, but there will be at least one rehearsal. It's a paid position (either a signed copy of the novel, cash or bitcoin).

The online book launch will be on Sunday, December 1st at 3 p.m. EST (12 p.m. PST or 8 p.m. GMT).

To audition, email me at john@blazingpinecone.com and I'll send you an excerpt to record and submit.

Please note: No transgender auditions will be considered. Biological females only! Call me a transphobe or whatever you want (except a girl!), that's the rule.

Is the book always better than the movie?

In Steven Pressfield's article on how film adaptations of novels destroy the writer's voice, he did add this caveat which I reluctantly agree with:

"By definition, when you make a movie of a book, you lose the writer’s voice. We’re no longer reading the writer’s words on paper and hearing them in our head, we’re looking at images on film. It’s a whole different vocabulary. The filmmaker can try using a voiceover, but that rarely succeeds. The one act that does work is when the director’s voice is as strong as the writer’s, as [Robert] Mulligan’s was with To Kill a Mockingbird, in which his filmic voice equaled or even surpassed Harper Lee’s voice as the novelist."

While I still feel the novel's running first-person point-of-view narrative worked better, the movie was a masterpiece that overcame the limitations of its medium.

For more on why I feel To Kill a Mockingbird was such a great novel (and movie!) check out my short video on "The Power of Harper Lee" at: https://x.com/JohnMan54880915/status/1852452422855037341

What's wrong with a "dry desert" and a "wet lake"?

One of the reasons I've been so intent on recording the audiobook version of All the Humans Are Sleeping before its release is because I wanted to catch any last typos or edits that needed to be made to the print edition.

For example, this line survived until the final draft:

"...a calm sense of peace embraced him."

A calm sense of peace? As opposed to what? A riotous sense of peace? An angry sense of peace? A rageful sense of peace? A warlike sense of peace? If any of those adjectives were the case, their presence would have been needed (and interesting!). But a "calm sense of peace" is about as redundant as a "dry desert" or a "wet lake."

Don't worry! I'm only so compulsive about writing. In daily life, I think I'm more laid back. But when it comes to making a work of art, I'm a perfectionist.

If you haven't already yet, you can see the 479 edits and retakes I still have to make to the audiobook version of All the Humans Are Sleeping here: https://blazingpinecone.com/news/2024/11/13/.

The reason why books are often hard to translate into movies

People often ask me if I'd like to see my novels turned into movies — as if the big screen is the pinnacle of story-telling expression. While screenplays certainly have their advantages, they also have their losses.

One big loss is described in novelist Steven Pressfield's article, "The Writer's Voice":

"The reason why books are often hard to translate into movies is that the very act of moviemaking destroys the writer’s voice. Maybe what was great about the book, what you loved about it, was that voice. Hemingway’s voice. Philip Roth’s voice. Joyce Carol Oates’ voice.

"The genius of that voice is that it creates its effect using only words on paper. As soon as we make a movie of Hemingway’s stuff, the camera destroys that. It can’t help it. What was brilliant when it was painted using only words becomes ordinary when it’s filmed by a camera.

"That’s why Hemingway’s books rarely work as films. What’s left is characters and story. Excellent as those may be, what made them great was the voice."

You can read the post on Steven Pressfield's blog at: https://stevenpressfield.com/2024/04/the-writers-voice/

479 edits and retakes

I'm slowly nearing the finish line with the making of the audiobook version of All the Humans Are Sleeping. All 327 pages have been recorded in a local studio used by Penguin Books Canada. I finished listening to the audio proofs this weekend, making notes in the manuscript of 479 edits and retakes we need to make.

ou can see a screenshot of just one page of mark-ups here:

https://blazingpinecone.com/news/2024/11/13/#screenshot

Texan Trumper Versus Woke Techie

Maybe it's post-election stress, but Moontajska Production's latest comedy sketch of a Texan Trump supporter calling into a woke Indian call centre made me laugh pretty hard. Krishna Bagadiya's writing is only outdone by his acting.

Here's the short video: https://blazingpinecone.com/news/2024/11/12/#video

Warning: So clever you may want to watch it twice.

Preventing (rather than predicting) World War III

For Remembrance Day today, I'd like to release another preview from my forthcoming novel, All the Humans Are Sleeping. This near-future dystopian fiction seeks to prevent, rather than predict, another world war:

“Modern nuclear fusion had made Hiroshima look like a dress rehearsal. Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Regina, Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg were reduced to craters in under six seconds. The revenge of the Russian Federation had been exact and without delay or negotiation.

“Forty-eight hours after the Russians decimated Canada, the Americans retaliated with the same heartless efficiency, devastating Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Novgorod and Chelyabinsk. Two days later, China, Iran and North Korea returned fire — beginning with Los Angeles and ending with New York City.

“Herding 95% of the world’s population into megacities made them easy targets for a nuclear attack. Some say it was intentionally done. But such an act, of course, would have been monstrous.”

If that piqued your interest, check out the synopsis of All the Humans Are Sleeping at: https://blazingpinecone.com/news/2024/10/02/

Why we need to vote... every day for ourselves

Many years ago, I saw a YouTube ad promoting a video for this Indian astrologer claiming he knew EXACTLY what would happen on the day of an approaching major astrological conjunction where ruthless Saturn would be colliding with a retrograde Mercury (that should've been paying attention to where he was going).

Idle curiosity subdued my self-restraint, and I clicked on the video.

"Here is exactly what's going to happen on [date]," he began in a thick Indian accent. "You will wake up in the morning. You will brush your teeth. You will eat your breakfast. You will go to work..."

In other words, life as usual, even if Saturn and Mercury are fighting it out in the constellation of the groundhog.

That's how I feel about the election results. While I'm glad people voted for Trump, I wish they'd be just as hyped up about voting for themselves... every day. Multiple times per day.

Making even one small, lasting change to our day-to-day routine will probably have more impact on our lives than whoever is leading the USA for the next four years. For example:

Going for a walk or run in the morning instead of doom scrolling. Starting a business doing something we love instead of remaining trapped in a job we hate. Getting serious about finding a spouse instead of the usual "progressive" promiscuous behaviour that has been depopulating Western culture faster than an mRNA clot shot. Reading books instead of binging on Netflix (or getting lost on YouTube watching astrology videos).

Little changes such as these transform us in the long run — rippling out into our community, culture and, yes, even government. Independent, happy, healthy, productive people living, working and supporting other independent, happy, healthy, productive people may be the greatest threat to the globalist agenda.

Every day, I vote for myself and a better world by writing philosophical fiction for two hours (on average). Casting that daily story-telling vote for two years led to the publication of Much Ado About Corona.

If you haven't read it yet, you can cast a vote for entertaining fiction that inspires people to be their own heroes in this culture war by buying a copy here: https://muchadoaboutcorona.com

Is Trump a Trojan horse?

Is Trump a Trojan horse? Many anarcho-capitalists suspect he's a Deep State plant that has usurped the freedom movement so he can leverage a concocted crisis (e.g. another scamdemic) to excuse ushering America into a totalitarian dictatorship. In contrast, the QAnoners believe he's a time-travelling superhero here to save the world from child-sacrificing globalists with a soccer ball Putin gave him.

I'd like to think the truth is somewhere in between the two extremes. Either way, I'm relieved the Americans (well, most of them) made the only logical choice (given the binary nature of the US elections). If nothing else, it shows more people are valuing freedom and personal responsibility over a sadistic nanny state.

Either way, we'll soon find out how great Trump can make America again. He has another four years to prove that he is a war horse for freedom rather than a Trojan horse for tyranny. The reins are in his hands.

Jordan Henderson, the cover artist for both my novels, does not have much hope for the 47th President. Last week, he released a new painting called "People's Choice," depicting two giant Trojan horses — one red, one blue — standing guard in front of the White House. You can view the oil on canvas here: https://jordan-henderson.pixels.com/featured/peoples-choice-jordan-henderson.html

Is it just me... or has this presidential race become the most petty and childish in U.S. history?

"They're garbage!"

"She's stupid!"

Whether it's Biden calling Trump supporters "garbage" or Trump calling Harris "stupid" — it sure feels like this presidential race has become the most petty and childish in U.S. history.

Yes, some of Trump's jokes have been clever, tasteful and witty — such as when he told Senator Chuck Schumer that "considering how woke your party has become, if Kamala loses, you still have the chance to become the first woman president."

But other jabs — like calling Harris "low IQ" and "stupid" — sound more like schoolroom taunts than political debate.

When I wrote Much Ado About Corona I never called people stupid — instead I showed how they were doing stupid things. It's far more effective and entertaining. Some days, I miss Ron Paul — he was both articulate and hard-hitting without any pettiness.

Otherwise, I'm completely undecided regarding Trump's authenticity. Supporters seem to gloss over the fact he still believes there was a pandemic and that the poisonous injection he "warp-speeded" saved the day. He's either corrupt, ignorant or playing five-dimensional chess. I hope it's the latter. And I do hope he gets elected (though I would have preferred Ron DeSantis or Vivek Ramaswamy) so we can find out for sure (judge a tree by its fruit). There's no question what kind of Marxist hell a Harris presidency would lead to. Trump, at least, offers some mystery, hope or, if nothing else, entertainment.

But even if Trump proves to be freedom incarnate, it's questionable how much a president can do with $36.95 trillion in debt. Millions of name-calling Americans who believe McDonald's takeout will "Make America Healthy Again" may not be ready for the belt-tightening required to climb out of such a deficit.

For a hopeful spin on Trump and his showmanship, check out episode 884 of Just Right, "The Trump card — is being played" at https://justrightmedia.org/blog/archives/14806.

And for a sobering take on Trump Mania, check out this interview on The Way Forward with Derrick Brooze explaining why he believes voting for either party is pointless and what should be done instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agxol3fmqms

There. I said something about the election. Or, whatever it really is.