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***The CRC Blog welcomes submissions from published and unpublished fiction genre writers for INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION.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
****Damian McNicholl’s The Moment of
Truth is #99 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.
Name
of fiction work? And were there other names you considered that you would like
to share with us? THE
MOMENT OF TRUTH. For a time, I called it The Maverick Woman.
Has this been published? And it is
totally fine if the answer is no. If yes, what publisher and what publication
date? Yes. Pegasus. 2018 Trade paperback
What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I started at my mother’s house in Northern Ireland in May 2015 and completed it May 2016.
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 had a writer’s studio over the garage before the house
sold. It was pretty, overlooked the woods where deer and foxes went by daily.
My Mac sat on an old New York library desk from the fifties, which provided
inspiration. I don’t have a photo and am busy setting up a studio in the house
I live in now.
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 worked nine to five from Monday through Friday on my Mac on the novel. In the evenings, after a day of writing, I would enjoy some wine.
First, I write an
outline as I find that works best for me. But then, after I begin the novel, I
allow the characters to grow beyond their confines set forth in the outline. I
allow them to develop personalities, interests and biases because they must
have flaws and do things I didn’t think about when writing the outline. They
become real people to me during the writing of the story. But I’m always
careful to reign them in if they start moving too far away from the arc of the
story.
What is the summary of this specific fiction work? It’s explores emerging feminism in the 1950s (Above) and examines
the bigotry and discrimination a young Texas woman faces when she tries to do
the same work as a man. In this case, she tries to become a bullfighter in
Mexico. The story was inspired by the late Patricia McCormick (Below) who was America’s
first female matador and much feted in the 1950s.
Can you give the reader just enough
information for them to understand what is going on in the excerpt? The scene
unfurls at an enormous hacienda in Mexico belonging to the wealthy breeder of
bulls, Don Raul, and his family. Kathleen has been invited to a Tienta,
which is a testing of the young bulls to see which will become brave fighters
in the ring, and it is an honor to be invited to work with the animals. She has
been feeling a little overwhelmed and unsure of her abilities because there are
Hollywood stars, European royalty and enormously wealthy Mexicans in
attendance. On the morning of the testing, she is in the breakfast room when
her overbearing trainer Fermin enters. (Above Left: Salvador Dali, Tienta en Espana)
Why is this excerpt so emotional for you? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? It’s emotional because the scene with her trainer (who demands she call him ‘Maestro’) strikes at the heart of the book. It depicts perfectly how Kathleen must deal with obstacles and prejudices from allies as well as enemies in order to succeed as a woman in the profession she’s chosen. And it depicts how damaging it is to her confidence and psyche, just as in real life if it happened.
Why is this excerpt so emotional for you? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? It’s emotional because the scene with her trainer (who demands she call him ‘Maestro’) strikes at the heart of the book. It depicts perfectly how Kathleen must deal with obstacles and prejudices from allies as well as enemies in order to succeed as a woman in the profession she’s chosen. And it depicts how damaging it is to her confidence and psyche, just as in real life if it happened.
It made me very sad as
I wrote the scene because I thought about how women struggle to get equality
today and we’re in the 21st Century.
Please include the excerpt and include
page numbers as reference. The excerpt can be as short or as long as you
prefer. Pages
197-198/ The large breakfast room smelled of warm
tortillas and fresh coffee. A long table decked in fresh linen tablecloths ran
down the middle of the room. As I took a seat beside a friendly general in the
Mexican army and his wife, whom I’d met the night before, Maestro arrived.
Julio and Silvario sat across from me, their plates as loaded as mine with warm
tortas (mine stuffed with scrambled eggs and red salsa), spicy chorizos, and
slices of baked ham. Maestro glanced at my plate as he passed by on the way to
the row of silver chafing dishes on a wide sideboard at the head of the room.
“So
much food,” he said. “There will be a lunch.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Serious matadors don’t eat so much before a testing,”
“I’m hungry.”
“Serious matadors don’t eat so much before a testing,”
he said.
I
looked pointedly at Julio’s and Silvario’s overstuffed plates. The general and
his wife regarded their own laden plates, then mine, and exchanged baffled
glances.
“Eat
the torta and one slice of ham,” he said. “No chorizo. And as much coffee as
you wish.”
“Look
at ours, Fermin,” Julio said, and he glanced sidelong at Silvario. “We’re
serious matadors and we’re eating well.” He smiled at me briefly, then looked
back at Maestro. “Why do you tell her how much she can eat anyway?”
“You
know as well as I do she’s testing the heifers soon. Her body isn’t the
same as a man’s.” His lips upturned into a sneer. “Maybe you don’t know what a
woman’s body is like?”
Julio
sighed and rolled his eyes.
“That’s enough now, Fermin,” Silvario said.
“Silvario and I are testing before her,” Julio said then. “Let her eat.” “If you eat like that every day,” replied
“That’s enough now, Fermin,” Silvario said.
“Silvario and I are testing before her,” Julio said then. “Let her eat.” “If you eat like that every day,” replied
Maestro, his gaze sliding
to
Julio’s
plate, “you’ll soon look like a picador and need to ride a
horse into the ring.”
After
Maestro left, Julio told me to eat everything on my plate if I was hungry.
“He’s no doctor,” he said.
I
didn’t eat anymore, though. Maestro was probably right. A woman’s body was not
dense like a man’s. The food was heavy and would lie hard on my belly.
Other works you have published? A
SON CALLED GABRIEL. This was my debut novel. Pegasus decided to
republish it last year. Interestingly, they allowed me to rewrite parts of the
novel and give it an entirely different ending. That is very unusual. This was
the version the New York Times reviewed.
Anything you would like to add? Thanks for the great interview.
Anything you would like to add? Thanks for the great interview.
Damian McNicholl is a former attorney and
author. His critically acclaimed first novel, A Son Called Gabriel was an American Booksellers
Association Book Sense Pick and finalist in the Lambda Literary Awards and
ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards. His second novel is Twisted Agendas. The Moment
of Truth is published by Pegasus Books and was chosen as Houston
Chronicle’s 10 Books to Read. Damian has appeared on CBS, WYBE Public
Television, National Public Radio and other media outlets in the United States
and United Kingdom to discuss his work. He lives in Bucks County Pennsylvania
and is at work on a new novel.
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”