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.
I’ve long followed Cathi Stoler‘s work as a short story writer—and was thrilled when she won the Derringer Award a couple of years ago for her great story “The Kaluki Kings of Queens.” She’s a fine storyteller and careful about her craft always.
…which makes me especially pleased as well to host her today at the First Two Pages with her new book Bar None, the first installment in her new Murder on the Rocks mystery series.
In the essay below, you can hear more about the novel’s protagonist, Jude Dillane, and about the Corner Lounge, a place I’d sure like to hang out in myself. And check out Cathi’s website for information on her other novels, novellas, and stories as well.
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.
Stoler Bar None