My brother’s birthday is coming up. He’s a strong believer in the official COVID narrative. So, what to get him? Maybe a copy of my novel, Much Ado About Corona?

Actually, to my surprise, he already purchased the ebook. Hopefully this novel “about real love and a fake pandemic” might change his perspective. If not, then I’m glad Amazon forbids family members from leaving book reviews. Anyway, to complement his ebook, I’m sending him a signed copy of the print edition (pictured above).

Feeling it was a bit of a self-serving gift, I figured I better get him something else…

Last Saturday, for my birthday, Nicole (that’s my wife) and Jonah (my son) and I had a bit of a movie night with some friends at the home of Julie Fleischauer (of the Jupiter J Bitchute Channel). Julie has long been a fan of the Wingfield Farm theatrical productions about a Toronto stockbroker turned farmer.

We watched the second in the series, Wingfield’s Progress (which I think my brother will love). The wacky story and unexpected one-liners, by playwright Dan Needles, are wholesome and hilarious; while the performance by Rod Beattie is awe-inspiring, as he transitions among the diverse roles so seamlessly it feels like there are multiple actors on stage.

So if my brother doesn’t like Much Ado About Corona, hopefully he’ll enjoy Wingfield’s Farm.

Be brave. Have fun. Stay… sane!
–John C. A. Manley

PS I’m no Rod Beattie, but Margaret Sussmann, a director for Vaccine Choice Canada, described my first public reading of Much Ado About Corona as “so human.” Susan, another attendee at the book launch said, “I was very impressed with your reading… the way you presented it was wonderful.” If you missed the book launch, you can still watch the replay.