The First Two Pages: “High Hit Area” by Margot Douaihy
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 the celebration for Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons, co-edited by John Copenhaver and Salem West, publisher of Bywater Books. The anthology’s stories draw “inspiration from queer icons—James Baldwin, Oscar Wilde, Candy Darling, Radclyffe Hall, Babadook, Megan Rapinoe, Laverne Cox, Dolly Parton, Vita Sackville-West, and many more.” And the contributors list spans from emerging writers to some of the leading names in crime fiction today, including “New York Times Best Crime Novels of 2024 honorees Margot Douaihy, Robyn Gigl, John Copenhaver, and Katrina Carrasco; Lambda Literary winners Ann Aptaker, Greg Herren, Ann McMan, and J.M. Redmann; and other celebrated writers like Cheryl Head, Penny Mickelbury, Christa Faust, Jeffrey Marks, and Kelly J. Ford.”
Last week, we welcomed Anne Laughlin to discuss her story, “Swan Club” (essay here), and this week, Margot Douaihy joins us for some insights into her contribution, “High Hit Area.”
Douaihy is an assistant professor with the Popular Fiction MFA at Emerson College in Boston and is the is the author of the award-winning, bestselling Sister Holiday Mystery series, including Scorched Grace and Blessed Water—both named New York Times Best Crime Novels of the Year—and Divine Ruin, forthcoming in January 2026. Douaihy is also a poet, whose collections include Bandit/Queen: The Runaway Story of Belle Starr, Scranton Lace, and Girls Like You. Find out more at Douaihy’s author website.
For more information on Crime Ink: Iconic, visit Bywater Books.
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.
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