The Walking Dumb 11-22-15

There is likely to be a spoiler or two here. You’ve been warned. Here’s my assessment of the last episode of The Walking Dead in 259 words or less:

The Good: We received some resolution about Glenn. It was predictable and fairly lame, but it was resolution.

The Bad: A tremendous amount of time was expended showing Rick and others reinforcing a wall because of a tiny hole in the metal that was seeping blood. This blood-seeping hole was even the focus of last week’s preview. Instead of trying to figure out how a continuous stream of blood could seep through a hole that is five feet off the ground, Rick decided to measure and saw and fasten a wooden band-aid. After all his efforts, he was rewarded by having a another section of the wall completely demolished during the collapse of an unstable building. Look around you Rick, you’re missing the big picture. Intentional for sake of metaphor or not, the entire story-line was dull.

The Ugly #1: They are surrounded by an unmitigated herd of zombies (not to mention the Wolves). Maggie is unable to get out to search for her husband. Rick is paralyzed and content to wait for the others to hopefully eventually return. And yet, a teen-aged girl is able to escape Alexandria and live in the town on her own with nothing more than one handgun and few bottles of water.

The Ugly #2: Karl found that stupid hat again.

Bottom line: I am fully prepared to be disappointed by the mid-season finale next week.

Book review: Junior Inquisitor by Lincoln Farish

Bottom line: Read this one immediately and brace yourself for the next one, “Soulless Monk.”

Junior Inquisitor is fierce and taut, yet quirky and fun. Lincoln Farish has a penchant for writing action sequences and developing unique characters. The main character, Brother Sebastian, is a complex character indeed. He is a badass. He is a caring friend. He is emotional. At times he is in way over his head. At other times he is an invincible warrior. Ultimately, he is a vulnerable vigilante exploring the full spectrum of good and evil.

juniorinquisitor

The story itself is immensely intriguing. Part suspense, part horror, part fantasy, Farish creates a mythology that is otherworldly yet firmly grounded to reality. The juxtaposition of paranormal entities (witches, ogres, and much worse) with modern warfare tactics was exhilarating. Farish’s depiction of combat is detailed and very very real.

There were many lines and moments that I loved, but this line served almost as a thesis statement: “We went to meet the battle.” It reminded me of a quote about from Thucydides: “But, the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” Brother Sebastian certainly lives up to that sentiment throughout. I wish I could share a Guinness with him and talk baseball; I’d also want him by my side if I ever encountered a Screwface.

Follow Lincoln Farish on twitter and check out his blog, Farish’s Freehold.

Random thoughts on writing Once in a Blue Year

“Once in a Blue Year” started as a 13 page short story about a guy who might have fallen in love with his best friend’s wife. Navy service was only a brief mention. I expanded that part of the story and began to explore the pressures placed on young enlisted sailors, boys who were in high school one day and then at war on a nuclear submarine the next day. Essentially they are forced to come of age overnight and are unequipped to handle the responsibility. They make mistakes and the consequences are significant. They get married and have children. They don’t know how to manage their lives, loves, or their money. They don’t know their own limits, and they exceed them constantly. With only the back story actually take place at sea, “Once in a Blue Year” focuses mainly on the emotional strain to the young families. The love and loss. The waiting, and the uncertainty. It’s essentially a story about choices. Choices made, choices avoided. Some bad, some worse.

I worked on the novel for almost 15 years. I put it away for long periods at a time and worked on other things. Each time I came back to it, I had a slightly different focus. It changed a lot through the repeated revisions. I think that resulted in layering and has given it a depth it didn’t have in the early drafts.

I struggled with the title for quite some time until one night I was doing some research about the gulf war. I was reading a Newsweek article and a line about the first night of the attack caught my attention, a reference to the moonless night. With the war starting in mid-January, that put a full moon on or near New Year’s Eve, which would also make it a blue moon (the second full moon in a single month). I already had a lot of repeated imagery about night skies and the moon, and I realized the main narrative took place within a single year with that full moon in the center. I was explaining all of this coincidence to a fellow MFA student the next day and I said, “I think I should just call it Once in a Blue Year.” He agreed emphatically and I never gave it a second thought. The cover concept was really quite simple: I needed a moon, I needed an ocean, and I needed some blue. It took a little searching, but I eventually found the image; I instantly knew it was the one.

I’ve been pleased with all the reviews I have received, but the following lines from the Kirkus review make me smile the most:

“Debut author Durkota writes a remarkable narrative centered on the afflicted mindsets of his Navy men… And while Durkota’s work often feels like a thriller, it’s more of a psychological study in which the characters, like flashes of lightning, are wonderfully alive for a very short time.”

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