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 first of Bev Vincent’s stories featuring Benjamin Kane appeared in 2004: “Kane’s Mutiny” in Fedora III, edited by Michael Bracken. The story he discusses here today, “The Patience of Kane,” appears in the anthology The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods, also edited by Michael Bracken. It’s much fun to see author, editor, and character reunited in this way—and as you’ll see in Bev’s essay below, Michael had a strong reaction to the new story when read it. (But you’ll need to check out the essay to see what that reaction was—and the story itself too, of course, for the experience yourself.)
Bev Vincent is a prolific short story writer—with nearly a hundred stories that have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and two MWA anthologies, among other venues—and he’s also a noted writers of nonfiction, particularly on the subject of Stephen King. His books include The Road to the Dark Tower and The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, and he and King also co-edited the anthology Flight or Fright. Since 2001, he has been a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine, where his column News from the Dead Zone appears in every issue and online.
For more information on his work, visit his website at bevvincent.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. His book review blog is OnyxReviews.com and his online Stephen King news site is NewsFromTheDeadZone.com.
In the meantime, enjoy his essay below on “The Patience of Kane”—and check out essays by two previous contributors to the anthology as well: Mark Troy on “Shaft on Wheels,” and James A. Hearn on “Trip Among the Bluebonnets.” One more contributor still to come! Stay tuned next week.
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.
Vincent-The-Patience-of-Kane
Great essay, Bev!
True story, I heard Michael’s comment before reading your story, so I steeled myself ahead of time by watching fail videos, drinking vinegar, and unfriending people who post pictures of puppies. Okay, I didn’t really steel myself, but I should have. It’s a story that grips you. I didn’t cry, but damn those allergies.