The First Two Pages: “Tonite” by R.D. Sullivan

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 featuring contributors to the new anthology Murder-A-Go-Go’s: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go’s, edited by Holly West and published by Down & Out Books. After last week’s essay by Bryon Quertermous on his story “Mercenary,” R.D. Sullivan steps in today to discuss her story “Tonite” and larger questions of geography and community and more.

Sullivan lives in Northern California. In addition to her story here, her work has also appeared in Fireside Fiction Magazine, Shotgun Honey, and Killing Malmon, and her most recent novella is Hotties and Bazingas and the Murder Cult Murders. You can find more about her work at her website here and follow her on Twitter at @RDSullyWrites.

And stay tuned next week for Jessica Laine on her story “Lust to Love”!

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.