In April 2015, B.K. Stevens debuted the blog series “The First Two Pages,” hosting craft essays by short story writers and novelists analyzing the openings of their own work. The series continued until just after her death in August 2017, and the full archive of those essays can be found at Bonnie’s website. In November 2017, the blog series relocated to my website, and the archive of this second stage of the series can be found here.
Today marks Eve Fisher’s third appearance at the First Two Pages since I’ve been custodian of the blog, and as always, it’s a pleasure to welcome her. Eve’s previous essays reflected on her stories “Darkness Visible” and “No Fences” for Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. This time, she’s writing about “Pentecost,” her contribution to the new anthology Me Too Short Stories, edited by Elizabeth Zelvin, who appeared here last week talking about her own story for the book, “Never Again.” And next week, I’ll be hosting a third contributor Me Too, Julia Buckley.
Eve’s stories appear frequently at AHMM, and you can also find her contributing regularly to the group blog SleuthSayers, a group I was a part of for many years. A retired history professor, Eve has also written on history and economics, and she’s an advocate for non-violence workshops in prison. Find out more about Eve and her work at www.evefishermysteries.com/.
Please use the arrows and controls at the bottom of the embedded PDF to navigate through the essay. You can also download the essay to read off-line.
Fisher-Pentecost
I stand in awe of the subtle way these simple descriptions and character introductions create a sense of menace. I’m almost afraid to read the story.
I’m really proud of you Eve. “Pentecost” is a wonderful story. As usual you have done a great job pulling the reader in and through the story in a very magical way. Perhaps, the answer is because of your thorough knowledge of the characters, your tremendous passion for books, your desire for perfection, and your determination to corect & correct until it works. Then again, it might Eve herself. She was born in Athens, Greece, lived in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Bristol TN, La Follette, TN, with a population of 500, Chapel Hill, NC, Madison , SD, & Sioux Falls, SD.
Thank you, Art, for letting me have the First Two Pages three times, and welcoming the Me Too anthology. Liz, I’m glad you enjoy my Laskin voice. Small towns are very special places. Hard to get into, easy to leave, but often missed because of the network of relationships and a sense of place – for good or ill.
Now linked to our SMFS Blog.
Thanks, Kevin!
Eve, while we know that Me Too experiences—let’s not minimize them by calling them “moments”—can happen anywhere, I particularly love the leisurely, unmistakable small-town voice that holds the story together even though it’s a third-person narrative that winds its way through several points of view. Laskin is definitely a character in the story, and like any character, it’s a complex mix of good and bad. As a Jewish New Yorker, I’d never fit into such a town—they’d look at me as if I had two heads no matter how hard I tried—but through the magic of your storytelling voice, I feel as if I do from the very first sentence.