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***The CRC Blog welcomes submissions from published and unpublished fiction genre writers for INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION. Contact CRC Blog via email at caccoop@aol.com or personal Facebook messaging at https://www.facebook.com/car.cooper.7
****Stacia Levy’s Girl Crush is #100 in a never-ending series called INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION where
the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC)
focuses on one specific excerpt from a fiction genre and how that fiction
writer wrote that specific excerpt. All INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links
are at the end of this piece. (Right: Stacia in 2018)
Fiction
genre? Ex science fiction, short story,
fantasy novella, romance, drama, crime, plays, flash fiction, historical,
comedy, movie script, screenplay, etc.
And how many pages long? This is a mystery/suspense novel, a genre I often
write in, along with romance. I’ve completed about 80 pages so far.
Has
this been published? And it is totally fine if the answer is no. If yes, what publisher and what publication
date? This
is a work in progress, and no part has been published yet, although I do
frequently share in writer’s groups.
What is
the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you
completely finished the piece of fiction? I began writing this in 2014
and have been working on it off and on along with other shorter pieces I’ve
published.
Where did you do most of your writing
for this fiction work? And please describe in detail. And can you
please include a photo? I most often work in my home office or coffee shops.
Starbucks and Shari’s in south Sacramento are favorite places (my plug, if you
don’t mind, for the fine folks at the corner of Florin Road and Greenhaven
Drive.) I’ve attached a photo of me in my office. Pardon the mess. (Left)
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? I most often write on a laptop. In theory, I’m freshest in the morning; in reality, the time of day I can most often work is the afternoon or evening. I have to be drinking something, most often coffee or water, when I write.
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? I most often write on a laptop. In theory, I’m freshest in the morning; in reality, the time of day I can most often work is the afternoon or evening. I have to be drinking something, most often coffee or water, when I write.
What is the summary of this specific fiction work? In this suspense novel, Detective Sharona Feinstein investigates a suicide of a young artist, Gina Abrams. The case is about to close, but Sharona becomes increasingly suspicious that the suicide may have been murder, due to her conversations with the victim’s brother, Jude. Her attention focuses on the victim's neighbor, Barbara Wilcox, who seems obsessed with Gina. She is taking an unusual interest in the case, making odd claims to have been exceptionally close to the victim, harassing Jude, and even apparently stealing some of Gina’s belongings.
At the same time, Sharona is balancing her complex personal life with her
domestic partner Kevin and foster daughter, Michaela. In a prior novel, Sharona
and Kevin met when taken hostage in the retail store they both worked in. The
incident inspired both to go into law enforcement careers.
Can you give the reader just enough information for them to understand what is going on in the excerpt? This excerpt is a flashback in which Sharona reflects on when and why Wilcox has transferred her obsession for the late Gina Abrams to her, Sharona.
Can you give the reader just enough information for them to understand what is going on in the excerpt? This excerpt is a flashback in which Sharona reflects on when and why Wilcox has transferred her obsession for the late Gina Abrams to her, Sharona.
Please include the excerpt and include page numbers as reference. The excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer.
Excerpt,
p. 14-16 :
I parked in front of Barbara’s house that day I
went out after my conversation with Jude about the strange neighbor. My
antennae went up immediately. Because the woman I recognized as Barbara Wilcox
was standing not in her own yard but in Gina Abrams’s—actually now Jude
Abrams’s—yard next door to hers. There was a “For Sale” sign on the lush lawn
that spread out for what seemed half a mile from the porch to the street.
Barbara
was lumbering about, watering the bushes around the front porch with what even
I recognized as a pretty ineffectual although cute little pitcher. It made kind
of a weird incongruous picture, the bear-like woman with her pretty little
canister, watering the plants like she was freaking Bo Peep or something.
I
had just gotten out of the car to mosey on up to ask her what the hell she
thought she was doing, as I was pretty sure she didn’t have Jude’s permission
to be there, and it looked like he’d hired pros to take of the lawn anyway.
But then my phone went off. I glanced at it and
saw it was my commanding officer’s number. Tom Morris, of the chronically
fraught home life and multiple “sick” days that left me floundering, figuring
out the job on my own.
I answered the call. “Feinstein.”
“Sharona, where in hell are you?”
“And good morning to you, too, Tom.” I rolled my
eyes, a bad habit. “What’s up?”
“I’m sitting here in my office wondering where
you are while I’m taking a million calls and my lieutenant is breathing down
neck and four people are waiting to talk to me.”
“Oh, sorry about that.” I eyed Barbara.
She was just standing there staring at me from
across the lawn, the pitcher tipped.
It weirded me out a little. I turned my
attention back to the call. “Really sorry about that, Tom. Truly. But I didn’t
even know you’d come in. On another note,” I lowered my voice, although there
was no way Barbara would be able to hear unless she had some kind of
high-frequency auditory implants, “where I am is outside the Abrams’s
place—remember Gina Abrams, killed herself back around the New Year? —anyway,
standing here watching her totally creepy neighbor water Gina’s bushes. The
brother reports she’s stalking him.”
“Just get in here, asap.”
“Absolutely.” I shook my head and hung up.
And now, looking back, I think it might have
been something as stupid as that, that little conversation that I had all but
forgotten until sitting here with plenty of time to think, that set off the
whole episode. Just me standing there, phone in one hand, other hand on my hip,
rolling my eyes, in one of my signature smart-ass poses, totally abandoning any
professional demeanor for a what must have been a couple of minutes at the
most.
Then I pulled myself together and started up the
drive, smoothing down my shirt, tucking in strands of my hair. It was already
heating up at not even ten in the morning and would be sweltering by noon. The
drive was long, circular, the house set back from the street.
Red flags started going up about then, as I
wondered how Barbara could afford this neighborhood, single women with badly
permed hair and polyester slacks and no apparent job not usually being rich. In
the routine interview we did of the neighbors during the initial stages in the
investigation, she’d stated she had a “home-based business.” I’d thought that
meant lotions or soap or something, but maybe she was one of the new internet
millionaires who worked from home, who knew.
I called out when I got closer, “Barbara
Wilcox?”
She was still staring. And actually then it
didn’t seem so weird, something that I put down to just not being very used to
or comfortable with encounters with the police.
She finally nodded as I stopped a nonthreatening
three feet back from her.
“I’m Detective Sharona Feinstein. We talked about three months ago regarding
Gina Abrams’s death.”
She nodded again, still staring at me.
Most people would have said something by then,
like “yes,” or “hi,” so I wondered about this, that maybe it wasn’t just general
unease with the police that I was looking at.
“Well,” I said, “Jude Abrams has been into my
office to talk to me about you.”
Her muddy brown eyes widened. Then she nodded.
“Yes.”
She set the watering can down on the porch
railing and wiped her hands off on her slacks. “Would you like to come over to
my place so that we can talk? I think we should
talk about Jude.”
That was interesting, that she’d actually want to talk to me about the very guy
she’d reportedly been harassing.
“Yes, let’s do that.” I wanted to get her off
the Abrams’s property anyway.
I walked with her across the lawn to her place.
I asked, “How are you this morning?”
“Fine, Detective.” She now was coming off as
normal, just distracted, as if she had a number of pressing chores to take care
of today, this being just one of them. She was looking down, searching her
pockets, probably for her house keys.
“I won’t keep you long,” I said. “Let’s just sit
out here on your porch.” I was following her up the steps and nearly stumbled
over a loose board. “So did Jude ask you to water his bushes?”
“Oh, no.” She blinked. “Gina did.”
“Gina did?” Gina had left no notes, letters,
anything, and it had seemed, like many suicides, an impulsive act, after having
consumed too much alcohol that night, as the toxicology report had shown. “Why
would she have asked you to water her bushes?”
“Because she told me she was going on vacation.”
“I see.” I followed her suit and sat on the
porch swing with the faded flower print cushions. The house’s paint job, I
noted, was cracked and peeling. “You didn’t mention that when we spoke to you
after Ms. Abrams’s death.”
“I know. I just forgot about it. I was
still in shock.”
That actually did seem possible. “And you
remembered it when?”
“The next day. When I remembered her cats, too,
that the poor cats had to be fed.”
“Her cats. You’ve been feeding her cats?”
“Yes, two of them. She loved them.” Her eyes
teared up.
People
did get emotional over their pets—I could relate to that, having just dropped a
significant amount of money for treating my own cat for an abscessed cheek.
“Did she ask you to feed her cats, too?”
“Yes. She told me she was going up to Lake Tahoe
for a couple of days.”
“Okay.” So according to this new testimony it
seemed there’d been some plan involved. “How are you feeding the cats?”
“I’m just putting some food out on the porch.
The cats go in and out of the house.”
“So Gina didn’t leave you a key?”
“Oh, I had a key to her place. We had each
other’s keys.” As if out of habit, Barbara set the swing into motion by pushing
the floor with her foot. The swing creaked a little, and she stopped. “But Jude
changed the locks.”
“Okay. Let’s get back to Jude. Why isn’t he taking care of the plants and the
cats?”
“Because Gina told me to.”
“And did Jude tell you not to?”
“Yes. He keeps telling me to stay off the
property. But Gina did ask me to do it. So don’t I have some responsibility,
some right—?”
“I’m sorry.” I stood up. So maybe that was all
this was, a simple misunderstanding between neighbors. I hoped so, hoped I
wouldn’t have to come out here again. “I
understand your pain, Ms. Wilcox. And I appreciate your commitment to Gina and
how you want to honor her wishes. But the property now belongs to Jude Abrams.
If he’s told you to stay away, you need to stay away. Stop texting him; stop
calling him. Do you understand?”
And she nodded, staring up at me without
speaking, eyes wide and glistening.
internal void.
Other works you have published? I would like to mention in particular the published short works that feature the same protagonist, Sharona Feinstein: “Father” and “Three Methods to Save Your Life.” Forthcoming are “Group Bonding” and “The Real Me.”
Past publishing credits include
short stories in The Blue Moon Review,
Sambatyon, True Story, Storgy Magazine, Forge, and The Apalachee Review. Finally, I was a second-place winner in The Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards of
2010 for “Father.”
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drstacialevy/
INSIDE THE EMOTION OF
FICTION links
001 11 15 2018 Nathaniel
Kaine’s
Thriller Novel
John
Hunter – The Veteran
002 11 18 2018 Ed
Protzzel’s
Futuristic/Mystery/Thriller
The
Antiquities Dealer
003 11 23 2018 Janice
Seagraves’s
Science
Fiction Romance
Exodus
Arcon
004 11 29 2018
Christian Fennell’s
Literary
Fiction Novel
The Fiddler
in the Night
005 12 02 2018 Jessica
Mathews’s
Adult
Paranormal Romance
Death
Adjacent
006 12 04 2018 Robin Jansen’s
Literary
Fiction Novel
Ruby the
Indomitable
007 12 12 2018 Adair Valerez’s
Literary
Fiction Novel
Scrim
008 12 17 218
Kit Frazier’s
Mystery Novel
Dead Copy
009 12 21 2019 Robert Craven’s
Noir/Spy Novel
The Road
of a Thousand Tigers
010 01 13 2019 Kristine Goodfellow’s
Contemporary
Romantic Fiction
The Other
Twin
011 01 17 2019 Nancy J Cohen’s
Cozy Mystery
Trimmed To
Death
012 01 20 2019 Charles Salzberg’s
Crime Novel
Second
Story Man
013 01 23 2019 Alexis Fancher’s
Flash Fiction
His Full
Attention
014 01 27 2019 Brian L Tucker’s
Young Adult/Historical
POKEWEED: AN ILLUSTRATED NOVELLA
015 01 31 2019 Robin Tidwell’s
Dystopian
Reduced
016 02 07 2019 J.D. Trafford’s
Legal
Fiction/Mystery
Little Boy
Lost
017 02 08 2019 Paula Shene’s
Young Adult
ScieFi/Fantasy/Romance/Adventure
My Quest
Begins
018 02 13 2019 Talia Carner’s
Mainstream
Fiction/ Suspense/ Historical
Hotel
Moscow
019 02 15 2019 Rick Robinson’s
Multidimensional
Fiction
Alligator
Alley
020 02 21 2019 LaVerne Thompson’s
Urban Fantasy
The Soul
Collectors
021 02 27 2019 Marlon L Fick’s
Post-Colonialist
Novel
The
Nowhere Man
022 03 02 2019 Carol Johnson’s
Mainstream
Novel
Silk And
Ashes
023 03 06 2019 Samuel Snoek-Brown’s
Short Story
Collection
There Is
No Other Way to Worship Them
024 03 08 2019 Marlin Barton’s
Short Story
Collection
Pasture
Art
025 03 18 2019 Laura Hunter’s
Historical
Fiction
Beloved
Mother
026 03 21 2019 Maggie Rivers’s
Romance
Magical
Mistletoe
027 03 25 2019 Faith
Gibson’s
Paranormal
Romance
Rafael
028 03 27 2019 Valerie Nieman’s
Tall Tale
To The
Bones
029 04 04 2019 Betty Bolte’s
Paranormal
Romance
Veiled
Visions of Love
030 04 05 2019 Marianne
Maili’s
Tragicomedy
Lucy, go
see
031 04 10 2019 Gregory Erich Phillips’s
Mainstream
Fiction
The Exile
032 04 15 2019 Jason Ament’s
Speculative
Fiction
Rabid Dogs
033 04 24 2019 Stephen P. Keirnan’s
Historical
Novel
The
Baker’s Secret
034 05 01 2019 George Kramer’s
Fantasy
Arcadis:
Prophecy Book
035 05 05 2019 Erika Sams’s
Adventure/Fantasy/Romance
Rose of Dance
036 05 07 2019 Mark Wisniewski’s
Literary
Fiction
Watch Me
Go
037 05 08 2019 Marci Baun’s
Science
Fiction/Horror
The
Whispering House
038 05 10 2019 Suzanne M. Wolfe’s
Historical
Fiction
Murder By
Any Name
039 05 12 2019 Edward DeVito’s
Historical/Fantasy
The
Woodstock Paradox
040 05 14 2019 Gytha Lodge’s
Literary/Crime
She Lies
In Wait
041 05 16 2019 Kari Bovee’s
Historical
Fiction/Mystery
Peccadillo
At The Palace: An Annie Oakley Mystery
042 05 20 2019 Annie Seaton’s
Time Travel
Romance
Follow Me
043 05 22 2019 Paula Rose Michelson’s
Inspirational
Christian Romance
Rosa &
Miguel – Love’s Legacy: Prequel to The Naomi
Chronicles
044 05 24 2019 Gracie C McKeever’s
BDMS/Interracial
Romance
On The
Edge
045 06 03 2019 Micheal Maxwell’s
Mystery
The Soul
of Cole
046 06 04 2019 Jeanne Mackin’s
Historical
The Last
Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli
and
Coco
Chanel
047 06 07 2019 Philip Shirley’s
Suspense/Thriller
The
Graceland Conspiracy
048 06 08 2019 Bonnie Kistler’s
Domestic
Suspense
The House
on Fire
049 06 13 2019 Barbara Taylor Sissel’s
Domestic
Suspense/Family Drama
Tell No
One
050 06 18 2019 Charles Salzberg’s
Short Story/
Crime Fiction
“No Good Deed” from Down to the River
051 06 19 2019 Rita Dragonette’s
Historical
Fiction
The
Fourteenth of September
052 06 20 2019 Nona
Caspers’s
Literary
Novel/Collage
The Fifth
Woman
053 06 26 2019 Jeri Westerson’s
Paranormal
Romance
Shadows in
the Mist
054 06 28 2019 Brian Moreland’s
Horror
The
Devil’s Woods
055 06 29 2019
Epic Fantasy
Wings
Unseen
056 07 02 2019 Randee Green’s
Mystery Novel
Criminal
Misdeeds
057 07 03 2019 Saralyn Ricahrd’s
Mystery Novel
Murder In
The One Percent
#058 07 04 2019 Hannah Mary McKinnon’s
Domestic Suspense
Her Secret
Son
#059 07 05 2019 Sonia Saikaley’s
Contemporary
Women’s Literature
The
Allspice Bath
#060 07 09 2019 Olivia Gaines’s
Romance
Suspense Serial
Blind Luck
#061 07 11 2019 Anne Raeff’s
Literary
Fiction
Winter
Kept Us Warm
#062 07 12 2918 Vic Sizemore’s
Literary
Fiction-Short Stories
I Love You
I’m Leaving
#063 07 13 2019 Deborah Riley Magnus’s
Dark
Paranormal Urban Fantasy
THE ORPHANS
BOOK ONE: THE LOST RACE
TRILOGY
#064 07 14 2019 Elizabeth Bell’s
Historical
Fiction
NECESSARY
SINS
#065 07 15 2019 Lori Baker Martin’s
Literary Novel
BITTER
WATER
#066 08 01 2019 Sabine Chennault’s
Historical
Novel
THE
CORPSMAN’S WIFE
#067 08 02 2019 Margaret Porter’s
Historical Biographical
Fiction
BEAUTIFUL
INVENTION: A NOVEL OF HEDY LAMARR
#068 08 04 2019 Hank Phillippi Ryan’s
Suspense
THE MURDER
LIST
069 08 08 2019 Diana Y. Paul’s
Literary
Mainstream Fiction
THINGS
UNSAID
070 08 10 2019 Phyllis H. Moore’s
Women’s
Historical Fiction
BIRDIE
& JUDE
071 08 11 2019 Sara Dahmen’s
Historical
Fiction
TINSMITH 1865
072 08 19 2019 Carolyn
Breckinridge’s
Short Story
Collection
KALIEDESCOPE
& OTHER STORIES
073 08 21 2019 Alison Ragsdale’s
Emotional Women’s
Fiction
THE ART OF
REMEMBERING
074 08 22 2019 Lee
Matthew Goldberg’s
Suspense
Thriller
THE DESIRE
CARD
075 08 23 2019 Jonathan Brown’s
Mystery/Amateur
P.I.
THE BIG
CRESCENDO
076 09 02 2019 Chera Hammons Miller’s
Literary
Fiction w/ suspense, concern with animals & land management
Monarchs
of the Northeast Kingdom
077 09 09 019 Joe William Taylor’s
Literary
Mystery
The Theoretics of Love
078 09 15 2019 Linda Hughes’s
Romantic Suspense
Secret of the Island
079 09 19 2019 Max Elliot Anderson’s
Middle Grade Adventure/Mystery
Snake Island
080 09 22 2019 Danny Adams’s
Science Fiction
Dayworld: A Hole In Wednesday
081 09 24 2019 Arianna Dagnino’s
Social/Historical/Adventure
The Afrikaner
082 09 29 2019 Lawrence Verigin’s
Thriller/Suspense
Seed of Control
083 10 05 2019 Emma Khoury’s
Fantasy
The Sword And Shield
#084 10 07 2019 Steve McManus’s
Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
SEVEN DEVILS
#085 10 08 2019 Sheila Lowe’s
Mystery/Psychological/Suspense
with Scientific Bent
PROOF OF LIVE
#086 10 10 2019 Jess Neal Woods’s
Historical Fiction
THE PROCESS OF FRAYING
#087 10 11 2019 Karen Odden’s
Historical
Suspense
A TRACE OF DECEIT
#88 10 14 2019 Kate Maruyama’s
Love, Loss
& Supernatural
“HARROWGATE”
#89 10 17 2019 Sherry Harris’s
Mystery
“LET’S FAKE A
DEAL”
#90 10 18 2019 Linda Mooney’s
Science
Fiction Apocalyptic/ Post Apocalyptic
“THE TRUNK”
#91 10 19 2019 Jayne Martin’s
Flash Fiction Short Story Collection
“TENDER CUTS”
#92 10 22 2019 Janice Cole Hopkins’s
Inspirational
Romance
“IT ALL STARTED AT THE MASQUERADE”
#93 10 29 2019 Kristi Petersen Schoonover’s
Short Story Collection
“THE SHADOWS
BEHIND”
#94 11 01 2019 David Henry Sterry’s
Fiction:
Sexual Violence
“THE TENDERLOIN WARS”
#95
11 03 2019 Jay Requard’s
Dark Fantasy/Horror
“DEATH
& DUST: THE PALE SAND ADVENTURES”
#96
11 04 2019 Caroline Leavitt’s
Fiction
“WITH
OR WITHOUT YOU”
#97 11 06 2019 Kelsey Clifton’s
Science
Fiction
“A DAY OUT OF TIME”
#098 11 13 2019 John F Allen’s
Urban Fantasy
Tale
“The God
Killers’
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/98-inside-emotion-of-fiction-god.html
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/11/98-inside-emotion-of-fiction-god.html
#99 11 16 2019 Damian McNicholl’s
Historical
Novel
“The Moment of Truth”
#100 11 19 2019 Stacia Levy’s
Mystery/Suspense
Novel
“Girl Crush”
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