Book: Last Year's Resolution
Publication date: 25 April 2016
Synopsis:
Last Year’s Resolution is a novel about Edmund Stovender, a famous author who
falls in love with Marie, a journalist who calls him for an interview just
before the performance of his hit play. Their lives accelerate through an epic
adventure testing their faith, strength, and love for each other, as they
discover that their story might pivotally influence the fate of the world.
Excerpt from Last
Year’s Resolution
Eddie spent the majority of his childhood as most
children do, divided between mandatory school work and outdoor adventures with
the other kids in his neighborhood. He loved sports, but that love
quickly faded at age thirteen when he took up smoking cigarettes, at which time
he turned his attention to skateboarding and playing guitar. Proving successful
at neither one of those activities, he spent more and more time reading books,
watching films, and writing both fiction and nonfiction stories of his own.
By the time he graduated high school his writing had been published by a
number of literary journals and featured in various newsletters, making his
parents very proud. After attending Illinois State University for two
years, he dropped out to pursue his career full time, and moved to New York,
because that’s what writers do. Eight years later, Edmund Stovender was
the author of three bestselling novels and a National Book Award-winning play, The
Hopeful Sigh, then in its third year on Broadway.
This is where Eddie’s story begins: He sits in
a coffee shop, drinking a beer, a mile down the street from the theater where
his play will soon start. His phone
rings.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Eddie?”
“Yes?”
“Eddie Stovender, the writer?”
“This is he.”
“Okay, hi. My name is Marie, Marie Altnikov.
I’m a journalist with The Triune Times.”
“Sorry, I don’t do interviews with people whose
middle and first names are the same.”
“You don’t—I’m sorry?”
“You said your name was Marie-Marie, I was making a
joke. Never mind, I’m an idiot.”
“Oh, ha-ha. That’s… kind of funny. I
actually don’t want an interview, I’m calling because I’m going to see your
play tonight, to review it for the Times, and I was hoping you could
answer a few questions first.”
“How is that not an interview? Answer a few
questions, that sounds like an interview.”
She was silent for a moment.
“Hello?”
“I’m here. Maybe it is an interview. I
hadn’t thought of it like that. Do you have a minute? I’m sorry to
call you out of the blue like this.”
He checked his watch. “Marie, the play starts
in forty-five minutes.”
“That’s fine. I only need ten, fifteen tops.”
“Excuse me, bartender, may I have another Blue Moon,
please? Sorry. Alright, fire
away.”
She cleared her throat and he heard papers rustling
on her end of the phone. “Question number one. What inspired you to
write The Hopeful Sigh, and what were your goals for this piece when you
started writing?”
“Um… Well, four years is a long time ago—that’s
when I wrote the play. Honestly, at the time I think I was trying to save
the world.”
“Interesting. And you thought writing a play
could do that?”
“The right play, sure, if it performed its function
correctly.”
“What is its function?”
“Sorry, Marie, I explained all this a long time ago
in my other interviews. Didn’t you read—”
“I don’t read newspapers.”
“But you write for one.”
“Yes, sir. Do you mind answering the question
again? I’d appreciate it.”
“Sure, fine. I thought The Hopeful Sigh,
if I wrote it properly and it was performed properly, could help people
realize… we’re not home yet. The world
we’re in now, it’s really just a stage, and what each of us does here, our
work, our families, our dreams, the best parts of our lives, that’s what our
true homes are going to be like, you understand?”
“Sorry, I’m writing… ‘what our true homes are going
to be like.’ Okay. I think I got it, like Heaven. A place
where dreams never die.”
“Exactly. A place where nothing ever dies.”
“Question number two,” she said. “Who is your
greatest influence?”
“Whoa. Can I do top three?”
“No, you have to choose one.”
“Why?”
“It’s the rules.”
“Then I’d have to say Shakespeare. I mean
everyone says Shakespeare, but it’s true, he really is the most influential
writer we’ve got. War, politics, love, faith, humor, betrayal, death,
salvation… It’s all there, packed into a neat entertaining format for
real human beings to bring to life.”
“Lovely. Well said, Mr. Stovender.”
“That’s what I do.”
“Question three, last one. What would you say
are the autobiographical elements of the play?”
“Huh.”
“If you don’t mind answering.”
“It’s not a matter of minding, it’s more whether or
not it’s possible to answer. Everything and nothing, really.
Nothing that happens in the play ever happened to me personally, but at
the same time I feel like it all happened to me, like I’ve lived through those
events somehow. I don’t know.” Eddie laughed, “Is that clear
enough?”
“Not a problem. I know exactly what you mean.”
“So, are we done here?”
“Yes, indeed. Unless you’d like to add
anything.”
He thought for a moment, watching the bubbles rise in
his glass. “Something I learned a few years ago, the first season, on
opening night.” He drank the last half
of his beer. “If you write a play that’s meant to take people up to
heaven, you had better be willing to walk through hell.”
“Thanks for your time, Eddie.”
“God bless.”
Robert Lampros is an author of Christian poetry,
essays, and fiction who lives in St. Louis. He earned a Bachelor's degree
in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis. His books
include Fits of Tranquility, Illuminating Sidewalks, Om-Bork, Afternoon, Eleven
Floors, and What Is Sacred. His latest novel, Last
Year's Resolution, is currently available as an e-book and is set to be
released in paperback in Fall 2016.Connect with Robert Lampros via his Blog, Goodreads and Twitter account.
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