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.
This week continues a series of essays written by contributors to In the Key of 13, the latest anthology by the Canadian crime writers collective The Mesdames of Mayhem. The previous three anthologies included Thirteen, 13 O’Clock , and 13 Claws, and that latter produced several stories which earned attention from the Arthur Ellis Awards—a great showing and a testament to this talented group!
Today I’m welcoming Lynne Murphy to talk about her story “Let the Sunshine In.” In her essay, Lynne draws a bit on her former work as a journalist and on some of the differences between journalism and fiction writing in terms of opening a story. (And in answer to her question: I think she made the right choice.)
In addition to her journalism career and her fiction writing, Lynne also co-founded the Toronto Chapter of Sisters in Crime. You can find out more about her and her work here.
And do check out last week’s essay by Rosemary McCracken and stay tuned for next week’s essay from Sylvia Maultash Warsh.
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.
Murphy-Sunshine
Pingback: The First Two Pages: “None Shall Sleep” by Sylvia Maultash Warsh – Art Taylor
Aside from feeling moved by the poignant description of senior residential settings, I was grateful to read about the thoughts of the author. I think that the group at Canada Writes would appreciate this series. Thanks.
Wonderful piece Ms Murphy! I felt chills for the victims of these Nursing homes both then and now. Great work!
This story has become even more eerie now in the era of COVID-19, where vulnerable elderly people are at particular risk of a silent and invisible killer, and nursing homes are places for great concern. This story is not for the faint of heart! A great opening, and the whole story continues apace, with both tension and humor. I felt like I was in the nursing home with them (and I’m not that old – yet!). Thank you for sharing this intriguing excerpt.