Dark Night of the Soul
After my novel, The Eighth Circle, was published the most popular question I was asked was how someone so nice could write so dark a novel.
The most obvious answer is that I get my darkest feelings out on the page, but I think the second and more depressing answer is that I take much of my material from real life. Yes, it’s twisted and exaggerated, but a lot closer to reality than readers might expect.
As the results from the election poured in on Tuesday night, I sat horrified. Surely it was a bad joke. Maybe there was a glitch in the system. But no, America had elected an ignorant, misogynist, pathological liar, who had no qualifications for the most important job in the world.
It took me a day to fully comprehend what this means, especially for women.
For the 94 percent of black women who voted for Clinton, you once again proved that you understood better than anyone the stakes involved in this election. It’s not just a black/white issue, it’s about fairness, and nobody has been more unfairly treated than black women. They know all about carrying the load. They’ve been doing it for centuries. In 2020, I beg Michelle Obama to run.
To the 54 percent of white women who voted for Trump, explain to me how you could tell your daughters, sisters, women who have been raped and shamed how you could vote for this disgrace of a groper who proudly called his own daughter “a great piece of ass”.
To those who threw away your vote on the third party candidates in this most important election of all elections, thanks guys. You helped elect a monster.
To the republicans, you have all the power now. You have no one to blame but yourselves. And guess what, over the past 40 years the economy has always performed more poorly under republicans than democrats. Not opinion. Fact.
The world is watching us in horror. Don’t believe it? Stop listening to Fox News, get off Facebook and try reading an International Paper for a change. Read The Guardian, Le Monde, The Irish Times.
I couldn’t have imagined a darker scenario than this.
Sarah Cain 
Sage advice, Sarah, to read the foreign papers. It should be required for all Americans. Though what an American actually is these days is a strange and scary question. Thanks for this! xo Susan >
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