Blazing Reader:

When I first handed my 77-year-old mother a copy of my novel, Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, she had one question for me:

"What does 'dystopian' mean?"

She's never read 1984 or Brave New World. I doubt she would like them. Yet she read all 500 pages of Much Ado About Corona in a matter of a week.

In my last post, I asked readers of this column whether you felt the dystopian subtitle may be misleading or repelling potential readers.

"Considering the dystopian times we are living through," emailed Gwyneth Cann of Ontario, Canada, "I think giving the reader this information as part of the title was exactly right."

"Personally," wrote Pete Toccalino, "I like the subtitle and the word 'dystopian' is pretty much baked into my vocabulary..."

I agree with Pete and Gwyneth, though at the same time I think it's fair to say the story doesn't feel or look like your typical "dystopian" novel — think Hunger Games or I Am Legend — which are often considered a subsection of science fiction. So I was relieved when apocalyptic novelist Gary W. Ritter wrote to say:

"[The subtitle] was one of the things that drew me to [Much Ado About Corona].  I read a fair amount of dystopian works. I would keep the subtitle as it is."

But will it scare off people who don't "read a fair amount of dystopian works"? Jean Thiessen, from British Columbia, Canada, says I needn't worry:

"The fact that you're saying it's a love story should negate the fact that it takes place in a dystopian atmosphere... I know that whenever I spoke to people about your book, I always said the whole title because I felt that they wouldn't be interested in it if they thought it was just more corona propaganda."

Likewise, Jim Couch, agreed: "I was concerned about the word 'dystopian' but 'love story' drew me more! I was very awake to the whole corona project within a couple [of] months of it going public...  I read your fiction with much appreciation.  In a way it was a respite, like any great fiction would be."

That's just a sampling of the 100% dystopian positive responses I have received.

Still, I plan to test advertising the book differently to audiences that I suspect would either be turned off or confused by the word "dystopian," yet really like the story's unique blend of humour, horror and humanity.

People like my mom.

Maybe your mom, too? Have you bought her a copy yet? Mother's Day is coming up. Can you think of a better gift than a dystopian love story? Okay, maybe flowers. But this 500-page novel will last longer.

Stay sane and read good books,

—John C. A. Manley

PS I even received a short email from Dr. Mary O'Conner, the Ontario MD who was threatened with jail time by a dystopian judge for writing masks and vaccine exemptions: "John, I like the title as you have it; it makes the story more intriguing."

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