Going Off The Rails On A Crazy Train

Author Commentary #6

Chapter 6 and 7 bring the first - I hate to say twist because that makes me feel like I'm trying to be M. Night fuckin Shyamalan- so I will say moment where the plot careens off the rails a little bit.  That's right, going full Ozzy over here.

*Bites head off bat*

*Spits out bat head*

Eww.... that's nasty.

So one of my favorite movies or, at least, one movie that probably had a larger than average influence on my writing is From Dusk 'Til Dawn.  This trashy, overly-violent, b-movie vampire flick probably doesn't make many people's top ten and, to be honest, it's not a movie I watch on the regular either.

But it is a movie I think about quite a lot.  And, more specifically, there is a moment that I think about a lot.

For those who haven't seen it, From Dusk 'Til Dawn can be summed up pretty easily.  A group of bank robbers meet a pastor and his two teenage children, kidnap them and force them to smuggle them across the Mexican border.  They stop at a strip club where the bank robbers are supposed to meet a contact that will take them to a safe spot but things start happening and, you know what... fuck it, everyone in the bar is a vampire.  RAMPAGE!  It's a kind of black comedy horror flick that those who are fans of Quinton Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez will laugh and cheer at and leave everyone else staring at the screen with a mixture of disbelief and horror.

So why in all the hells does this blood splatter on film even warrant a mention.  To be honest, it's the 'fuck it, vampires' part.

The viewer is treated to the trials and tribulations of a group of anti-heroes, a pastor facing a crisis of faith and his kids who are in clear danger after being kidnapped by this pack of murdering thieves.  Plot point follows plot point as tensions ramp up and then, at a critical moment, the camera tilts down and, when it comes back up, everyone is a vampire.

So... yeah... you know all that plot that was happening before?  Crumple it up and file it under G for garbage, because it don't mean a thang no more.

So what, if anything, does that have to do with this?

Well, to a certain extent, that is what I was trying to do here.  It's not quite as dramatic and I didn't want to throw away the entire plot.  After chapter 7, the goal of Isra and her band of misfits is still quite the same as they had when they came in.  It's just that now.... well things just got a lot more complicated.


And that nice straight narrative just plunged down a hill and is heading for the loopty-loop.

Because I like that sort of thing.  I like that moment when I'm watching a show or reading a book and something happens that just blows up the entire plot. 

Because some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.