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.
We’re continuing a two-pronged celebration this week—both hosting contributors to the new anthologyWish Upon a Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Fairy Tales, edited by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson, and celebrating this year’s ShortCon, organized by Michael and Stacy. Debra H. Goldstein meets us at the intersection of each. At the Noir at the Bar the night before ShortCon, Debra read from “Musicians of Bremen,” her Wish Upon a Crime story, a powerful reworking set in Nazi Germany—definitely one of the highlights of the night.
Debra has a long and distinguished resume as a short story writer, with more than seventy short stories to her name—appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and anthologies including Crimeucopia: The Not So Frail Detective Agency and Sleuths Just Wanna Have Fun as well as her own single-author collection With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying. On a personal note, it was a joy to work with Debra and with Paula Benson and Deborah Lacy on the project “We Love Short Stories” for Sisters in Crime! For more information on her short fiction, novels, and awards, visit her website at www.debrahgoldstein.com.
Do also check out essays from the last two installments of the First Two Pages, each with contributors to Wish Upon a Crime: Tom Milani on “The Briar Patch” and Andrew Welsh-Huggins on “Jack and the Beanstalk.” In addition to the writers already mentions, contributors also include Donna Andrews, David Dean, John M. Floyd, Barb Goffman, James A. Hearn, Adam Meyer, Josh Pachter, Joseph S. Walker, and each of the editors.
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.
Sounds like a really interesting take on the story. I really want to read this whole anthology—it sounds like a lot of fun!
Thanks for hosting me today.