Saturday, December 28, 2019

#112 Inside the Emotion of Fiction "TILL DARKNESS COMES" by Sandra De Helen


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****Sandra De Helen’s Till Darkness Comes is #112 in the 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. 

Has this been published? And it is totally fine if the answer is no.   If yes, what publisher and what publication date? Yes, McCorkle Ink (self-published), November 2015.

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I wrote it for NaNoWriMo November 2012. I “won” the month, and had a sufficient number of words, but it was a hot mess. In January 2016, I undertook the editing of it, which took me many months. Then it had to be copy edited, proofread, and formatted. So, November 2016 it was published.

Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work?  And please describe in detail.  I did most of this work at my dining room table.

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 wrote directly on laptop, from morning till late afternoon. Sometimes I listened to music, for specific moods.

What excerpt of the book was the most emotional for you to write? This excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer.

The hotel room smelled of roses. The lights were soft, almost pink. Beth's skin glowed. The temperature was just right, the carpet was so thick she couldn't wait to take off her heels and sink into it with bare feet. Josh removed his shoes and socks too, and they ran around the room on the carpet, then jumped on the bed several times, falling down laughing.
"Roll over, I'll undo your dress."
She did. Then she stood before him in her ivory lace corset and silk half slip that matched her wedding gown.
"God, you're gorgeous! I could eat you up with a spoon!"
Beth laughed, and reached for him. She began to unbutton his shirt.
"No. No, I want to eat you with a spoon. Leave my clothes alone. We got a spoon in here? Lay down on the bed."
"No, Josh. I don't want you to do anything weird. Let's make love. It's our honeymoon. Let me ..."
"No! I said. You're mine now, Beth. I married you, I own you. You're my wife. Didn't you hear the preacher? Man and wife. I'm the man, you're the wife. You do what I say. I say you lay down and I do what I want. I want to get a spoon and stick it in you. I might want to eat a piece of you. See if you taste as good as you look."
"No. You're acting crazy." Beth moved away from the bed to get her overnight bag and change into a tee shirt and jeans she had brought for the next day. Josh jumped off the bed, grabbed her from behind, swung her around and slapped her face with an open hand. Hard. Beth nearly fell to her knees.
"Don't ever call me crazy. I am not crazy. I am the man. You got that?" She nodded. "All right then, let me hear you say it."
"You're the man. You're not crazy."
"That's right. Now get your clothes off and lay on the bed."
Beth did as she was told. Josh walked around the room opening drawers and doors until he found the coffeemaker and utensils. Then he undressed, returned to the bed with a plastic spoon, yanked open Bess's legs, stuck a spoon inside her vagina, twisted it around and pulled it out. He repeated this several times until he pulled it out streaked with blood. Then he raped her.

Why is this excerpt so emotional for you to write?  Because it is based on a similar scene that actually happened to me in the first days after my own marriage at 15. 

And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific scene/excerpt? I felt the old feelings of fear and danger, my throat tightened, my body tried to make itself smaller, my mouth dried up.

Were there any deletions from this excerpt that you can share with us? No. I don’t do it that way. I do it all on computer and I don’t save the old drafts.

Other works you have published? I have a female Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson series: The Hounding is the first; The Illustrious Client is the second in the series.


Anything you would like to add? I also write poetry. My first collection [Desire Returns for a Visit] was published last November by Launch Point Press (a lesbian indie publisher), and my second will be out this November. Launch Point contracted with me to publish at least eight collections of my poetry.

Sandra de Helen, author of the Shirley Combs/Dr. Mary Watson series and the lesbian thriller Till Darkness Comes is a produced playwright, as well as a poet. Her full-length play A Missouri Cycle garnered her a residency for fall of 2017 at Firefly Farms; her play A Grave Situation was produced in 2017 by Athena Cats as part of their theatre festival in Santa Monica. Something's Got to Give was produced in Oregon in 2015 as part of the 365 Women A Year Playwriting Project. Singer Clashes with Cougar was produced in New York in July, 2014 by{Your Name Here} A Queer Theatre Company. Her poetry collections are published or forthcoming from Launch Point Press. Samples of her work are available at her website
http://sandradehelen.com


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
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POKEWEED:  AN ILLUSTRATED NOVELLA

015 01 31 2019 Robin Tidwell’s
Dystopian
Reduced

016 02 07 2019 J.D. Trafford’s
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Little Boy Lost

017 02 08 2019 Paula Shene’s
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018 02 13 2019 Talia Carner’s
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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
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Silk And Ashes

023 03 06 2019 Samuel Snoek-Brown’s
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There Is No Other Way to Worship Them

024 03 08 2019 Marlin Barton’s
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Pasture Art

025 03 18 2019 Laura Hunter’s
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Beloved Mother

026 03 21 2019 Maggie Rivers’s
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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
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Veiled Visions of Love

030 04 05 2019  Marianne Maili’s
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Lucy, go see

031 04 10 2019 Gregory Erich Phillips’s
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The Exile


032 04 15 2019 Jason Ament’s
Speculative Fiction
Rabid Dogs

033 04 24 2019 Stephen P. Keirnan’s
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The Baker’s Secret

034 05 01 2019 George Kramer’s
Fantasy
Arcadis: Prophecy Book

035 05 05 2019 Erika Sams’s
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Rose of Dance

036 05 07 2019 Mark Wisniewski’s
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Watch Me Go

037 05 08 2019 Marci Baun’s
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The Whispering House

038 05 10 2019 Suzanne M. Wolfe’s
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Murder By Any Name

039 05 12 2019 Edward DeVito’s
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040 05 14 2019 Gytha Lodge’s
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041 05 16 2019 Kari Bovee’s
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042 05 20 2019 Annie Seaton’s
Time Travel Romance
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043 05 22 2019 Paula Rose Michelson’s
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Rosa & Miguel – Love’s Legacy: Prequel to The Naomi
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044 05 24 2019 Gracie C McKeever’s
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045 06 03 2019 Micheal Maxwell’s
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046 06 04 2019 Jeanne Mackin’s
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Coco Chanel

047 06 07 2019 Philip Shirley’s
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048 06 08 2019 Bonnie Kistler’s
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049 06 13 2019 Barbara Taylor Sissel’s
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050 06 18 2019 Charles Salzberg’s
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051 06 19 2019 Rita Dragonette’s
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052  06 20 2019 Nona Caspers’s
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053 06 26 2019 Jeri Westerson’s
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054 06 28 2019 Brian Moreland’s
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055 06 29 2019
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057 07 03 2019 Saralyn Ricahrd’s
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#058 07 04 2019 Hannah Mary McKinnon’s
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#059 07 05 2019 Sonia Saikaley’s
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#060 07 09 2019 Olivia Gaines’s
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Blind Luck

#061 07 11 2019 Anne Raeff’s
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Winter Kept Us Warm

#062 07 12 2918 Vic Sizemore’s
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#063 07 13 2019 Deborah Riley Magnus’s
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TRILOGY

#064 07 14 2019 Elizabeth Bell’s
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#065 07 15 2019 Lori Baker Martin’s
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#066 08 01 2019 Sabine Chennault’s
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#067 08 02 2019 Margaret Porter’s
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#068 08 04 2019 Hank Phillippi Ryan’s
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069 08 08 2019 Diana Y. Paul’s
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070 08 10 2019 Phyllis H. Moore’s
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BIRDIE & JUDE

071 08 11 2019 Sara Dahmen’s
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072  08 19 2019 Carolyn Breckinridge’s
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KALIEDESCOPE & OTHER STORIES

073 08 21 2019 Alison Ragsdale’s
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074  08 22 2019 Lee Matthew Goldberg’s
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075 08 23 2019 Jonathan Brown’s
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076 09 02 2019 Chera Hammons Miller’s
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077 09 09 019 Joe William Taylor’s
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078 09 15 2019 Linda Hughes’s
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079 09 19 2019 Max Elliot Anderson’s
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Snake Island

080 09 22 2019 Danny Adams’s
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Dayworld: A Hole In Wednesday

081 09 24 2019 Arianna Dagnino’s
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The Afrikaner


082 09 29 2019 Lawrence Verigin’s
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083  10 05 2019 Emma Khoury’s
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#084 10 07 2019 Steve McManus’s
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#085 10 08 2019 Sheila Lowe’s
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#086 10 10 2019 Jess Neal Woods’s
Historical Fiction
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#087 10 11 2019 Karen Odden’s
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A TRACE OF DECEIT

#88 10 14 2019 Kate Maruyama’s
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#89 10 17 2019 Sherry Harris’s
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#90 10 18 2019 Linda Mooney’s
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#91 10 19 2019 Jayne Martin’s
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#92 10 22 2019 Janice Cole Hopkins’s
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#93 10 29 2019 Kristi Petersen Schoonover’s
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#94 11 01 2019 David Henry Sterry’s
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#95 11 03 2019 Jay Requard’s
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#96 11 04 2019 Caroline Leavitt’s
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#97 11 06 2019 Kelsey Clifton’s
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#098 11 13 2019 John F Allen’s
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#99 11 16 2019 Damian McNicholl’s
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#100 11 19 2019 Stacia Levy’s
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#101 11 24 2019 Charlotte Morgan’s
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#102 11 26 2019 T. L. Moore’s
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#103 11 27 2019 Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg’s
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#104 11 29 2019 Charlotte Blackwell’s
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#105 12 07 2019 Mike Burrell’s
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#106 12 09 2019 Phil McCarron’s
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#107 12 11 2019 Wendy H. Jones’s
Crime Fiction/Police Procedural Novel
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#108 12 13 2019 Sandra Arnold’s
Historical Literary Fiction
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#109 12 16 2019 Amalia Carosella’s
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#110 12 19 2019 Laura Bickle’s
Weird Western/Contemporary Fantasy
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#111 12 27 2019 Brian Pinkerton’s
Science Fiction Thriller
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#112  12 28 2019 Sandra de Helen’s
Lesbian Thriller
“TILL DARKNESS COMES”

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