What's wrong with a
"dry desert" and a "wet lake"?

Blazing Reader,

One of the reasons I've been so intent on recording the audiobook version of All the Humans Are Sleeping before its release is because I wanted to catch any last typos or edits that needed to be made to the print edition.

For example, this line survived until the final draft:

"...a calm sense of peace embraced him."

A calm sense of peace? As opposed to what? A riotous sense of peace? An angry sense of peace? A rageful sense of peace? A warlike sense of peace? If any of those adjectives were the case, their presence would have been needed (and interesting!). But a "calm sense of peace" is about as redundant as a "dry desert" or a "wet lake."

Don't worry! I'm only so compulsive about writing. In daily life, I think I'm more laid back. But when it comes to making a work of art, I'm a perfectionist.

If you haven't already yet, you can see the 479 edits and retakes I still have to make to the audiobook version of All the Humans Are Sleeping here: https://blazingpinecone.com/news/2024/11/13/.

Stay sane and read great books (with no superfluous adjectives),

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/