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.
Released at the end of September, the new anthology Daydream Believer: Crime Stories Inspired by the Songs of The Monkees! features a fine list of contributors, including Eric Beetner, Lina Chern, Libby Cudmore, Michael Downing, Jeff Esterholm, Michel Lee Garrett, Paul J. Garth, James D.F. Hannah, Sean Patrick Little, Alan Orloff, Raquel V. Reyes, Keith Roysdon, Holly West, and Lawrence Allan—who co-edited the collection with Michelle Kubitz. Here’s a quick introduction from the publisher, Shotgun Honey Books:
In 1966, The Monkees was Hollywood’s attempt to cash in on Beatlemania. But they got more than they bargained for in a show that was madcap, counterculture, and poked a finger in the eye of staid, boring, square America. Daydream Believer pays homage to a show and the music that has lasted for generations.
Like a Monkees record, there’s something for everyone. Stories of revenge, stories of unrequited love, stories that involve unusual gardening tips and family shenanigans, and trains going everywhere and nowhere. All inspired by the music of The Monkees.
Net proceeds from this anthology will benefit the American Library Association (ALA) and its ongoing fight against book banning.
We’ll be welcoming several contributors to Daydream Believer over the next few weeks—beginning here with Lina Chern, writing about her story “Our Own World.”
Lina kicked off her crime fiction career with a bang—when her debut novel, Play the Fool, won the 2024 Mary Higgins Clark Award and was also nominated for the Anthony and Lefty Awards. The follow-up, Tricks of Fortune, has also been nominated for an Anthony Award, and her short fiction has appeared in Mystery Weekly, The Marlboro Review, The Bellingham Review, Rhino, and Black Fox Literary Magazine, and is forthcoming in TriQuarterly. You can find more about her work at her website—www.linachern.com—and be sure to follow her on Instagram too!
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.
