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.
Sybil Johnson writes the Aurora Anderson mystery series for Henery Press, and I’ve been so pleased that sharing a publisher brought us together, giving me the opportunity to get to know both a fine writer and a generous and thoughtful person.
Sybil’s latest novel, Designed for Haunting, releases today—just in time for Halloween shenanigans ahead, as she explains in her First Two Pages essay below. The previous books in the series include Fatal Brushstroke, Paint the Town Dead, and A Palette for Murder. And beyond her fiction, you can also catch Sybil blogging every other Wednesday at Type M For Murder.
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.
Johnson Designed