John C.A. Manley's Blog, page 7

Combating (real) racism in the 1960s and (real) fascism in the 2020s

In this four-minute video, Robert Vaughan and I discuss why Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird was so effective at combating racism in the 1960s and how I used the same approach in Much Ado About Corona to combat fascism in the 2020s.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/3NWFM2k42mQ

X: https://x.com/JohnMan54880915/status/1852452422855037341

Rumble: https://rumble.com/v5kyoci-the-power-of-harper-lees-timeless-classic.html

Please watch, like and share.

The first sci-fi novel ever written...

The first science fiction novel ever written is widely considered to be Frankenstein — completed by Mary Shelley in 1818 when she was only nineteen.

I read it for the first time when I was sixteen. That summer, I had taken off on a solo hiking trip. I had enough food for two days, a sleeping bag, a mosquito net, a flashlight, and a copy of Mary Shelley's masterpiece.

Nothing like being alone in the woods with a monster story as your only companion.

But, unlike the almost comical 1931 Mr. Bolt Neck movie adaptation, Mary Shelley's original work was an exquisite piece of literature bordering on a psychological thriller — blending speculative science with a philosophical story about how the "different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature."

My son is now the same age Shelly was when she started writing her immortal tale, so I downloaded the audiobook (in English and Spanish) to enjoy together this Halloween season.

I must say that the narrator for the English version, Dan Stevens (of Downton Abbey fame), adds a whole layer of richness to the story. His pacing is fantastic, as he takes a rather melancholy story of personal disaster and turns it into an utter pleasure for the ear.

Check out his voice in the free audio sample available through this link: https://blazingpinecone.com/shop/frankenstein-audiobook/

"...living virtual lives in an A.I. generated unreality..."

I sent Bob Metz, host of Just Right and president of the Freedom Party of Ontario, an advance readers copy of my forthcoming novel, All the Humans Are Sleeping.

A month passed, and I hadn't heard from him... until two weeks ago, when he suddenly sent me an email which opened with:

"As to All the Humans Are Sleeping, I read the entire book in a single day, and once again you have created a masterpiece."

He continued with the following commentary and endorsement:

"Picture a dystopian future following a global nuclear holocaust in which the world's inhabitants have fled to underground facilities where 'all the humans are sleeping' in pods, living virtual lives in an A.I. generated unreality.

"If this theme sounds vaguely familiar, it should.  It was the film The Matrix that 'was the inspiration for All the Humans Are Sleeping,' according to its author John C.A. Manley.

"Not just a story, but an experience, John Manley's narrative transcends his story's plot, infusing insights and observations about some of the most fundamental issues that have faced mankind throughout history.

"One is left wondering whether All the Humans Are Sleeping is a warning against a dystopian future — or a wake up call to our dystopian present, where half of the humans are sleeping."

Bob Metz has long been one of my philosophical role models. His endorsement is like gold.

All the Humans Are Sleeping is coming out in print, ebook and audiobook formats no later than Dec 1st. Until then, you can listen to episode 883 of Bob Metz's Just Right where his co-host, Robert Vaughan, interviewed me on why "the power of fiction is no fiction" at: https://justrightmedia.org/blog/archives/14796

"a chilling reminder of a very real dystopia that many are attempting to shove down the memory hole"

Bob Metz, host of Just Right, has condensed my three-hour interview with Robert Vaughan into a one-hour episode (including some amusing audio bites from the TV show Castle).

Here's how he introduces the episode:

"As a book that just 'had to be written,' Much Ado About Corona is a chilling reminder of a very real dystopia that many are attempting to shove down the memory hole of forgotten lessons of history. Indeed, the absence of current fictional stories, TV shows and movies that even acknowledge the recent and current forced lockdowns, forced injections, and other death cult atrocities is telling.

"Not surprisingly, YouTube immediately deleted our interview with John, recognizing that, even though ostensibly a discussion about fiction and writing fiction, truth is no stranger to fiction. Truth is an essential element of any good fiction.

"In contrast, YouTube prides itself on spreading lies, misinformation, and disinformation while projecting its crimes onto those who are exposing YouTube’s lies, misinformation, and disinformation. YouTube gives new meaning to the phrase ‘truth is stranger than fiction.’

"But the power of fiction is no fiction. Especially when truth becomes ‘stranger than fiction,’ it is fiction that can best reveal that truth in a way that is Just Right.

You can listen to episode 883 of Just Right (cleverly titled "Just write — the power of fiction is no fiction") over at: https://justrightmedia.org/blog/archives/14796

"This book had to be written"

In this two-minute video, Robert Vaughan explains why Much Ado About Corona was "a book that had to be written."

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVX-UgVx49M

X: https://x.com/JohnMan54880915/status/1849242719236857893

Rumble: https://rumble.com/v5jvib1-this-book-had-to-be-written.html

Please watch, like and share.

Banned on YouTube: An exploration of the emotional, psychological, and social dimensions through the immersive storytelling of fiction

Back in March, I sent Robert Vaughan (of Just Right Media) a copy of my novel, Much Ado About Corona. I had a feeling he might like it, as we share similar philosophical views and we both dislike the works of Arthur C. Clarke.

In fact, over a decade ago, I discovered the podcast Robert Vaughan co-hosts, Just Right, after a friend had sent me a link to an episode where he reviewed Clarke's dismally anti-human and nihilistic story, Childhood's End. I've been a regular listener ever since.

But after many months without hearing back from Robert, I assumed he didn't like my novel much better than Clarke's.

Two weeks ago, however, Robert sent me an email letting me know he'd finished reading Much Ado About Corona and had given it a five-star review on Amazon, praising the novel for "exploring the emotional, psychological, and social dimensions [of the first year under COVID tyranny] through the immersive storytelling of fiction."

Robert Vaughan then asked me if I'd be willing to join him for a long-form interview on Just Right's video platform.

That warranted an immediate "You bet!"

Last Tuesday we met and had the most in-depth discussion about the novel ever recorded.

On the weekend, Robert uploaded the three-hour interview to YouTube and... it was promptly deleted for "medical misinformation." (Robert even had to undergo a few minutes of virtual "re-education" camp to keep the channel active.)

Where ChinaTube failed, Rumble came to the rescue. Robert's uploaded the entire uncut interview. It opens with his review of the novel and then dives into a deep discussion of the story, its characters and the underlying philosophy.

Rumble on over to Just Right Media to watch or listen to it now: https://justrightmedia.org/blog/archives/14782

"unlawful, negligent, inadequate, improper, unfair, and deceptive practices"

The Alberta government is facing a massive class-action lawsuit for taking part in "unlawful, negligent, inadequate, improper, unfair, and deceptive practices."

No, they weren't caught running a Nigerian phishing scam from an abandoned call centre in India.

Instead, they coerced and manipulated (along with most other governments) their citizens to take experimental injections that maimed and killed tens of thousands.

I think they should be prosecuting the key figures who executed the carnage rather than the government itself. After all, if victims win the case, the taxpayers will end up covering the cost of settlement, won't they? I'd much rather see Anthony Fauci and Theresa Tam forced into indentured servitude for the rest of their lives. Sure, digging ditches won't raise a lot of money. But their buddies Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab could have all their assets liquidated to help out.

And, maybe sue Pfizer while they're at it.

Either way, you can find updates on this lawsuit and reports on the damage done at: https://NoMoreShots.ca

There, Canadians can also sign a petition demanding the government stop killing and maiming people with these expensive bioweapons.

"...masterfully blends sci-fi thrills with thought-provoking insights..."

Last week, I sent French-Canadian novelist, L.L. Tremblay, an advance copy of my forthcoming novel, All the Humans Are Sleeping. It arrived on Friday. On Monday, she sent me this email:

"I finished reading All the Humans Are Sleeping! Read all day Saturday and Sunday. The story is captivating — it feels like this will be our future in a very short time... I had serious goosebumps reading it as it all sounds so real... I woke up at 3:30 am this morning and finished the book at 7:30.... "

I've had readers tell me they've stayed up late reading my novels, unable to put the book aside. This is the first time a reader told me they woke up early to finish reading it.

Tremblay also sent over this testimonial which will be printed in the front and back matter of the first edition:

"All the Humans Are Sleeping masterfully blends sci-fi thrills with thought-provoking insights into our future, making it a must-read for those curious about human technology's drastic transformation." —L.L. Tremblay, author of Seven Roses and Light Over Dark

All the Humans Are Sleeping will be released sometime in November. Until then, check out L.L. Tremblay's spooky novels about ghosts, mediums and psychopathic boyfriends (just in time for Halloween!) over at https://lltremblay.com/

Bestselling novelist narrowly escapes spending the rest of his life gutting fish on an Alaskan halibut trawler

My fiction has been described as a mix of "gravitas and comedy." Using humour to stop the reader from becoming emotionally overwhelmed by the story is a technique I learned from Dean Koontz, for which I am most grateful (today being Canadian Thanksgiving and all). Koontz's earlier thriller novels were all suspense, but later he started experimenting with more and more humour, as he explains in a GoodReads interview:

“A long time ago — so long ago that saber-toothed tigers were still prowling shopping centers hoping to snare a tender child coming out of Chuck E. Cheese and the internet was not yet a big deal — I began slipping little humorous moments into my novels, to the dismay of the agent and the publisher with whom I worked at that time. They gently but firmly advised me that in novels meant to be suspenseful, humor would destroy the desired mood. I was given to understand that if I kept doing this, I’d destroy my career and have to work gutting fish on an Alaskan halibut trawler.

“I thought if we laughed with the characters now and then, they would be more appealing and seem more real, because humor is how we all — if we’re sane — cope with adversity and peril. I tried to be humorless for the next book, Midnight. At the keyboard, I was a grim, doom-mongering, tornado of paranoia. Then came The Bad Place, which was dark and scary but, at the same time, funny enough that my agent and publisher were not amused.

“In those days, before email, I was receiving as many as 10,000 snail-mail letters each year from readers, and one day it occurred to me that not one of them complained about my often mixing a little humor into the books. In fact, many of them liked it. Thereafter, when I felt the need to wear two hats — the black hood of a grim reaper and a bell-festooned jester’s cap — I didn’t worry about it. So there followed the Odd Thomas series and From the Corner of His Eye and Life Expectancy, among others, and I never had to gut a single fish.”

Of course, just as in life, if humour is overused, a novel never achieves any real psychological heights or emotional depth (depending on which analogy you want to use). But if kept in balance, I think it makes the story even harder to put down.

Now, if you've never read a Dean Koontz novel and would like a story that's amusing, spooky and philosophical, I recommend you check out the Odd Thomas series at https://blazingpinecone.com/shop/odd-thomas

If any other country had done this, the US would have declared war...

I'd never heard about the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty until I read (just finished!) Ken McCarthy's JFK & RFK's Secret Battle Against Zionist Extremism. In this new book, McCarthy principally deals with John F. Kennedy's and, to a lesser extent, Robert F. Kennedy's efforts to prevent the Middle East from erupting into nuclear war. But the chapter on the attack on the USS Liberty was the most shocking and unexpected.

The attack occurred on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War between Israel and neighbouring Arab states. The American naval ship, the USS Liberty, was stationed in international waters on a peaceful, intelligence-gathering mission. Around midday, Israeli fighter jets and torpedo boats attacked, killing 34 members of its crew and injuring 171 others.

Israel claimed they mistook the USS Liberty for an Egyptian vessel — despite riddling its high-flying American flag with machine gun fire.

If any other country had done this, the US would have declared war. They've certainly invaded other countries with far less justification.

The bulk of the book isn't so action-packed, consisting of letters and telegrams exchanged between John F. Kennedy and the prime ministers of Israel. Nonetheless, it makes for an interesting study in watching the Israeli government dodge and evade accountability.

The concluding chapter about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy reads like a great murder mystery. Much as with John F. Kennedy's assassination, McCarthy makes a thorough (though loosely cited) presentation as to why Sirhan Sirhan, the man blamed for Robert F. Kennedy's murder, was no more responsible than Oswald for John F. Kennedy's. He also offers his theory as to why another man — who most people never even heard of, much less suspect — was responsible for the murder of both Kennedys.

JFK and RFK's Secret Battle Against Zionist Extremism: The Documentary Evidence offers a much-needed perspective on the current Israel-Arab hostilities. You can purchase copies here: https://blazingpinecone.com/shop/secret-battle/