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.
The previous two weeks at The First Two Pages have featured essays by Bryon Quertermous and R.D. Sullivan on their stories for Holly West’s anthology Murder-A-Go-Go’s: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go’s, published last month by Down & Out Books. This week, I’m pleased to round out the series by welcoming a third contributor, Jessica Laine, to talk about her story, “Lust to Love.”
Jessica and I first met in the bar at the Toronto Bouchercon—which is where all the best chat on writing takes place, right? (I’ll let you determine if I mean Bouchercon or the bar—or maybe Toronto?) That same year, Jessica had won the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award from Sisters in Crime—which we toasted, as I remember—and the previous year, she’d won the Hugh Holton Award from the Midwest chapter of Mystery Writers of America. It’s a thrill to see her career continuing on the rise—evidence this story in the new anthology, which BOLO Books called “wickedly delightful”—and I’m looking forward to more successes ahead, including her novel-in-progress.
You can read more about Jessica’s work at her website here or follow her on Twitter at @msjessicalaine.
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.
Laine-Lust-to-Love
I’m struggling with my first line, too. So inspiring to read this! Can’t wait to read more of your story, Jessica.
Abby
This great beginning sets up all sorts of conflicts. I suspect these two deserve each other and want to read on to find out who wins.
Fun piece to read, Jessica. Lupita’s name alone is worth the price of admission. Great work!
Thank you, Barb! Your work is a great inspiration to me!
I’m so pleased that my story served as a source for inspiration. Your writing has such a nice style, Jessica. I’m looking forward to reading the rest.