What Happened in the Toy Room

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: My grandchildren are visiting, and they are perfect. They are 13 and 19, and, what can I say. They are perfect.

I, on the other hand, am a basket case. DON’T LIGHT THAT MATCH! I think but don’t say. DON’T RUN AROUND THE POOL! DO YOU HAVE SUNSCREEN? (Also : Don’t put your bare feet on the white canvas couch but really, my bad for having that couch.) And you can imagine the rest. EVERY moment is fraught. To me, not to them. Or anyone else. And I never say any of those things out loud.

The idea of protecting children, I guess, especially your relatives, is so profound. Once I jumped into our swimming pool fully clothed to save one of our grands—who’d ever do anything else?

But I have to say, in all the experiences I’ve had with my grands, I have NEVER encountered one like Elyssa Dickey’s. More I cannot say, but…read on.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TOY ROOM
        By Elissa Dickey

When the idea of IRIS IN THE DARK first came to me, it was in the form of a character—one who is anxious and a bit bossy, who over-steps and sticks her nose where it doesn’t belong.

No, I was not thinking of a villain—I was creating my main character.

Because aren’t we all Iris sometimes? Flawed but well-intentioned, clouded by our pasts and our protectiveness of those we love most—and desperately wanting to be believed.

As women, and especially as moms, too often we are not believed; too often, our fears and concerns are dismissed. We’re worrying too much. Being too overprotective, too loud, too much.

In Iris, I wanted to write a main character who, sometimes, was a little bit too much. She’s far from perfect and not always likeable, but in her quest to do her best for her son, my hope is that she is ultimately relatable.

These are the types of characters I relate to—the women, especially mothers, of movies and TV who fail sometimes, but are doing their best for those they love.

Most recently, a great example of this is Joyce Byers from one of my favorite TV shows, Stranger Things. Particularly in season one, when she’s desperate to find her son and realizes something is very wrong (he’s stuck in the Upside Down), even when people don’t believe her, she persists. She doesn’t give up, and that’s what ultimately saves him.

Characters like Joyce are the ones that resonate with me, and, in a way, formed the foundation of Iris.

Once I developed Iris as a character, it was time to focus on her journey, both past and present. I wanted to incorporate the chilling beauty of the stark prairie landscape that I’ve come to love. And I wanted to use it to bring Iris’s dark, troubled past into the present in a frightening way.

I wasn’t quite sure how to do that, until one day when my son and I were cleaning his toy room. Suddenly, a random voice came through the walkie talkie he was playing with. It was a creepy experience at the time, but I also quickly realized it would be perfect for Iris’s story!

In the end, I hope Iris’s story is one that readers can relate to. I hope it can raise awareness about intimate partner violence. I also hope that it can highlight that, like Iris, we are all are stronger than we know, and worthy of love, family, and the safety of home.

And I hope it makes readers question who they consider credible and why. Who do we deem believable, who do we dismiss as imperfect—and can we allow someone to be both?

HANK: So interesting! What experiences have you all had with kids? Anything…like the talking walkie talkie?

And Elissa—did you ever find an explanation?

IRIS IN THE DARK

A single mother faces her worst fear—the past—in a provocative novel of suspense by the author of The Speed of Light.

Iris Jenkins knows that bad things happen. She’s tried to escape these things for years. So when Iris is entrusted to house-sit at a lodge on the South Dakota prairie, she thinks she’s prepared for anything.

But one surprise is Sawyer Jones, the property’s neighbor and caretaker. He’s a caring, reassuring presence who’s making her feel safe and alive again. Then late one night, Iris hears a chilling cry for help coming from a walkie-talkie buried in a box of toys. As the calls get more desperate, personal, and menacing, Iris realizes the person on the other end isn’t reaching out for help. They’re reaching out to terrorize her.

Now the only way for Iris to move forward in life is to confront the past she’s been running from…a threat that has now followed her into the dark.

Elissa Grossell Dickey
Elissa Dickey is a former journalist who now works in higher education communications. Stories have always been a big part of Elissa’s life—from getting lost in a book as a child to now reading bedtime stories to her own kids. She has shared her journey of living with multiple sclerosis through blog posts for the National MS Society. Elissa grew up in northern Minnesota and now lives in South Dakota with her husband and children. She is the author of the novel The Speed of Light and Iris in the Dark. Learn more at elissaadickey.com.