The Power of a Title: Why A Bad Hand Was the Only Choice

Harrison Jenkins — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 23:53:55 +0000

Front Cover: The worst luck

If you’ve seen the cover, you already know the first metaphorical reference in a A Bad Hand. I’m sure many literary agents or publishers representing book club fiction or YA fiction authors have already noted that the cover doesn’t look like other popular titles today. I knew at the start of this project that story would be different from anything on the market today—an under-served audience, no wizards or magic, no science fiction. I also knew it wouldn’t be an easy sell for any literary agent that wanted to take a risk. Suffice it to say, the cover was as intentional as the content of the book.

The three cards on the cover of the novel are gambling cards from Edo Japan. Those three cards are make up the unluckiest hand one can have a game of chance called Oicho-kabu (おいちょかぶ). The cards are a 8 (ya), 9 (kyu), and 3 (za). In Oichu-kabu this unlucky combination scores zero points—quite literally a bad hand.

The cards above are taken from a traditional kabufuda deck. More common today are the cards that look less abstract like the hanafuda deck (also known as “flower cards”) shown below:

Those who enjoy Mario Cart or Super Smash Bros. might be interested to know that the Nintendo company got its start printing cards like this many years before Donkey Kong or the Nintendo Entertainment System.

UCL Tear: A Common Baseball Injury

When my son was twelve, he developed Little League Elbow—a condition that affects about 25% of all youth baseball players. The condition results from repeated strain on the Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) that stabilizes the elbow during normal throwing motion. Thankfully, he was back on the dirt after a few weeks of rest. I recall seeing other kids his age at tournaments who wore braces on their elbows signaling that they had undergone Tommy John surgery to reconstruct their UCL using tissue donated from their leg. It’s quite common for professional and college pitchers to have this procedure done during their career.

A Yakuza Tradition

Some members of the Yakuza voluntarily dismember their little finger as a gesture of atonement to their brethren in the Japanese underworld in a ritual called Yubitsume. It’s said that this practice is rooted in the tradition of the samurai and weakens one’s grip on the sword. It was interesting to discover a cottage industry of prosthetic fingers has emerged to help reformed Yakuza members rehabilitate back into society.

More Than a Title

A Bad Hand is an over-arching theme throughout the book that touches on more than just the metaphors above. You’ll read about characters who have been dealt a bad hand in life. Some show resilience. Others succumb to the challenges that life throws at them. I hope A Bad Hand is an inspiration to keep grinding forward regardless of the challenging circumstances life might be throwing at you.

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What is a Nazar?

Harrison Jenkins — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 19:35:33 +0000

You might already know what a nazar looks like. Maybe you have seen one and didn’t even know it. A few years back, everyone from Gigi Hadid to Kim Kardashian and Megan Markle were photographed with nazar-themed jewelry and footwear. Maybe I was late to the nazar game.

Nazar icons have traditionally been associated with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures. This video features Turkish fishermen adorning their boats with Nazar talismans for protection. When I was writing this book, I happened upon a boutique that specializes in imported Turkish jewelry in downtown Palm Springs, California. They had dozens of nazar designs on bracelets, keychains, necklaces, and other items. You might’ve noticed that a nazar is the icon image for this website.

The nazar pendant in A Band Hand is on a keychain and reminds characters of two forces in their favor: 1) They aren’t alone, 2) That God will “re-build” them. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who lived some 1,800 years after the ancient patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, also known as Israel) expounded on the promises God had made to these patriarchs:

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli…” (Found in Isaiah chapter 54, verse 11)

A reference to this passage is engraved on the back side of the nazar pendant in the book, reminding its owners (yes, that was a bit of a spoiler) that God will always honor promises he has made with anyone who chooses to follow Him—that He will re-build them into someone better than they ever thought possible.

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