Bows, Hoes & Hammers:
Hands-on research for the next novel

Novelist Dean Koontz was asked (via Twitter):"You’ve opened a few books with scenes in a bar. Why?"

Koontz's answer: "I just delight in the research."

Well, I'd rather scarf down one of those NWO beetle burgers than drink a pint of alcohol. Instead, I have found the research I've been doing for Brave New Normal (the sequel to Much Ado About Corona), if not as delightful, certainly more invigorating.

In the second novel's alternative reality, those who refused the COVID-19 injection are being pushed into rural anti-vax communities. To gather first-hand experience, I have been spending time at Golden Acres Farm—hoeing corn, hammering shingles and even shooting arrows.

Here I am with farmer-writer-poet Julie Fleischauer (of JupiterJulie.com) uprooting weeds from a hundred acres of corn (I think we made a dent)...

And here local fitness coach Joseph Campbell and I are exercising our right biceps (while battering our left thumbs) hammering shingles into a shed...

And for some fun self-defence training, Julie broke out the bows and arrows...

And here's one of my son Jonah (of JonahsWorld.net) after planting five hundred potatoes by hand...

To me, it feels like summer camp (without that annoying kid with the buck teeth who never would shut up). And, hey, beyond novel research, learning how to grow food may prove a life-saving skill in the years ahead (especially since I'm really not that keen on those beetle burgers).

—John C. A. Manley

PS I'm 90,000+ words into writing the sequel to Much Ado About Corona. Still hundred hours of writing, editing and research to go. If you can't wait for book two, please tell your friends and family about book one (or buy them copies). The more money I make from writing novels, the faster I can get them out. Otherwise, I may have to become a permanent farmhand.

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