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****Steven McManus’s SEVEN DEVILS is #84 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.
Name of fiction work? And were there other
names you considered that you would like to share with us? My latest book is called SEVEN DEVILS. I had the title before the story—it comes
from a song by Florence & The Machine (Below).
I imagined Seven Devils as a place first, and crafted a plot to fit
it. It ended up being the name of a rock
formation surrounding the fictional town of Emmett, California. 
Has
this been published? And it is totally fine if the answer is no. If yes, what publisher and what publication
date? SEVEN
DEVILS was published in November 2018.
What is the date you began writing this
piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of
fiction? I started in early 2015 and finished the final
draft in summer 2018.
Where did you do most of your writing for
this fiction work? And please describe in detail. I mostly write in
my office at home. I inherited a big
desk (Left) from the previous owner who didn’t want to carry it out (it’s really
heavy). From there I have a view of the
pool which I often stare at while mulling over mysterious, suspenseful and
thrilling issues. Considering my last
workspace was a semi-converted unventilated closet in the back of a one-bedroom
apartment, this is a major creative upgrade.
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? Given my schedule I have to
write in the cracks of the day, whenever I get time. Writing is done on the desktop, but I come up
with plots and work through sticky situations with pen and paper in a very
free-associative way (lots of arrows and cryptic symbolism). (Above Right and Below Left)
What is the summary of this specific
fiction work? Two LA crime reporters follow separate
stories which seem to point to a reclusive self-help guru and his remote
compound.
Can you give the reader just enough information for them to understand
what is going on in the excerpt? This is a brief look at Ursula, under-dressed
out in the snow and in shock following a major calamity. Each step is heavier than the last as she
staggers toward salvation or permanent sleep, whichever comes first.
Please include one excerpt and include page numbers as reference. When
the crowd clotted the narrow road back to the bridge Ursula nosed the golf cart
into a snowbank. She and the Good
Samaritan and the people they’d picked up along the way started walking. Her exposed skin was so raw she felt like
she’d shatter at the slightest touch.
She was in a place beyond cold, beyond freezing. She was a wraith in a sleeveless mango dress
drifting over the frost to her death.
Both
gates were open and Ursula tried to aim for the one closest to her, forcing one
foot in front of the other until she just couldn’t anymore. Her skull vibrated from her chattering teeth
and it took every atom of willpower not to give in. Simply loosen the tension in her knees, drop
to the ground, close her eyes and embrace the sleep coming with its knives out
for her. At this point it wouldn’t even
hurt.
A
mountain rose out of the ground in front of her, a huge shaggy thing
materializing between the exploding red and blue police lights like fireworks
on her chemically-irritated eyes. Then
her feet left the ground and a terrific heat embraced her and she knew then
what they said about death was really true after all, that after the fear came
freedom, came lightness, came flight, and the warmth spoke to her and it said I
gotcha, I gotcha, I gotcha, and she gave into it at last. (Pages 334-335)
Why is this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write? And can you describe your own emotional
experience of writing this specific excerpt? I wanted to convey how close
to quitting Ursula comes, when it hurts too much to be called pain anymore,
when there seems to be no chance of improvement or survival and the temptation
to give up is right in front of her, but she finds it in herself to keep moving
one step in front of the other. She does
a lot preceding this, so this particular passage needed to be short but
poignant. It was worked over and refined
repeatedly until I got it down to three paragraphs. I wanted an almost Impressionistic feel,
nothing too detailed as Ursula struggles to keep from freezing to death.
Were there any deletions from this excerpt that you can share with us? I
don’t save drafts, but below is a photo I took as I was organizing the structure
of the story. Each chapter of SEVEN
DEVILS alternates between Danny and Ursula’s POV, and it took writing a
one-sentence summary of each chapter on index cards, then arranging and
rearranging them (and rewriting and rewriting) to get the chapters balanced
equally throughout the story.
Other works you have published? RED FLAG was published in 2015. It’s the first story with Danny, in which he
chases an arsonist during California’s ever-expanding fire season.
Anything you would like to add? My next book CALENDULA COOL will be
out later this year. It’s for younger
readers and features 10 year-old Danny Kasho and his friends getting into
summer mischief. I’m also working on the
third installment of the very grown-up CODA series.
I grew
up in Calgary and started writing at a young age, around 10 or 11. After I moved to Los Angeles I became the
drummer for Darling Violetta, who performed the theme song to the Buffy the
Vampire Slayer hit spinoff series Angel. I kept writing throughout. My first book RED FLAG was published in
2015, followed by SEVEN DEVILS in 2018.
facebook.com/stevemcmanuslit
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
Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
SEVEN DEVILS
