"The heart hardly has a chance to get around one thing before..."
Blazing Reader,
Two weeks ago, the day before my mother went into ICU, I gave a proof of my forthcoming novel to my neighbour Karen Goldthorp. She's a sweet, grandmotherly lady who thoroughly enjoyed Much Ado About Corona, yet whom I felt certain would not take well to All the Humans are Sleeping. I suspected it would be way too dystopian for her.
The next day, I had just arrived home around 5 pm from the ICU to make some dinner and head back to the hospital. That's when Karen called. I was expecting her to tell me that my new novel was just too dark and she couldn't continue.
My concerns were not mere conjecture. A year ago, I had lent her a copy of Wool — a fantastic dystopian novel by Hugh Howey — and she couldn't read past the first few chapters.
However, with All the Humans are Sleeping, she told me she had read all 65,000 words in one sitting.
"It was such a page-turner," she told me on the phone. "I couldn’t put it down. So action-filled. The heart hardly has a chance to get around one thing before... oh my God, what’s going to happen next? Loved the ending. Left me wanting to read book two."
Well, that was a pleasant surprise.
I guess I added enough humour, humanity and hope that it relieved the dystopian weight of the story.
Here's a photo of Karen in the chair in which she completed her marathon read, holding her proof of All the Humans are Sleeping (complete with the "Not for Resale" strip across the cover):
https://blazingpinecone.com/news/2024/09/09/#photoStay sane & read great books,
John C.A. Manley
P.S. With my Mom's passing (and other mishaps) I'm delaying the release of All the Humans are Sleeping until later this fall. But I have released the cover, which you can view here (without the "Not for Resale" strip): https://blazingpinecone.com/news/2024/08/15/
