and a short story in Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology.
Temblador applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Half Outlaw, and reported the following:
On page 69 of Half Outlaw, Raqi has just awoken on the ground of Juana’s backyard. Raqi is on a Grieving Ride for her uncle, Dodge, the man who raised her after her parents died when she was four years old. Dodge was a member of the Lawless, an outlaw motorcycle club on whose behalf he ran drugs and sold guns. A Grieving Ride is a special motorcycle ride taken for all deceased members of the Lawless, one that strictly follows the deceased’s wishes. Dodge has requested that Raqi meet a number of people on the Grieving Ride, and Juana is the first. Juana is a bone-collecting woman that lives in a small town in Arizona. She used to buy drugs from Dodge and helped him to stop using drugs.Visit Alex Temblador's website.
In this scene, Raqi asks Juana what happened the night before. She recalls a vivid memory of something fantastical happening with Juana and the bones of an animal that had been laid out on the ground. Raqi assumes that what she remembers was a dream. Juana is pushing Raqi to tell her what she thinks she dreamed about. Raqi says, “You looked different, and the bones came together into—” It is then that Raqi realizes that the bones that were on the ground have disappeared.
If a reader opened Half Outlaw to page 69, I think they would be very intrigued and want to know exactly what Raqi has just been through and why she went through it. However, I don’t think that the page represents the overall story, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I think readers like reading books with an engaging story that has them asking questions like, “What’s going to happen next?” Page 69 of Half Outlaw will have potential readers asking lots of questions, and if that entices them to read the book, all the better.
I would be happy if readers used the Page 69 Test with Half Outlaw. As I mentioned, page 69 dumps reader in media res (‘in the midst of things’) of a very engaging scene where Raqi is trying to figure out an experience she had the night before that is not easily explained. I’m confident that if someone read page 69, they’ll continue to read until page 70 which does offer a better insight into what the book is about.
On this page, Raqi explains that she remembers the bones coming together until they turned into a wolf. The reader might chalk this up to Raqi having an alcohol-induced dream or hallucination, but Juana gives off the vibe that there was something real to the experience. And to that effect, it does speak to how Half Outlaw is a magical realism novel.
Juana also has a few poignant lines on this page that stick out. In talking about how she uses the drugs that she bought from Dodge, Juana says, “I help people in pain, but only when they want it.” And then soon after, she tells Raqi, “Such visions can help people figure out those things in their life they don’t want to examine.”
In Half Outlaw, Raqi is on two different journeys. The cross-country motorcycle ride that she is on is sending her through her past, one that she would prefer to forget. The ride is forcing her to face things in her life she doesn’t want to examine. Raqi realizes that despite her tough exterior, she’s in pain, and she wants to figure out why. By realizing that she needs to change, to seek help, Raqi decides that her life can be so much more.
My Book, The Movie: Half Outlaw.
--Marshal Zeringue
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