Fighting Chance
Page 29
I’m focusing on writing now, but I’m still a teacher at heart, and chances are I’ll return to the classroom some day. I owe more than I can say to the teachers who helped me learn to love reading and writing, to the co-workers who shared frustrations and triumphs, and to the students whose energy and creativity challenged me to keep thinking and growing. The Talmud says it best: “I have learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, most of all from my students.”
Finally, there’s my family. My parents, of blessed memory, were both teachers, and they set me on a path I’ve loved. When I was in the second grade, my mother gave me a diary and told me to write something every day. It’s a good habit, and it’s made a difference. My father loved to write—stories, novels, humorous verse. I remember sitting on the floor of his study, waiting impatiently until a fresh page unrolled from his typewriter, talking with him endlessly about character, plot, and theme. I wish they could have seen Fighting Chance. I hope they would have liked it.
Ever since I decided they were old enough to start reading stories about murder and other nefarious acts, my daughters, Sarah and Rachel, have been two of my most enthusiastic, valuable supporters and advisers. With Fighting Chance, as with so many other projects, they’ve helped me with everything from fixing plot problems to keeping my slang reasonably up to date. This time, I have to give special thanks to Rachel, who read two complete (and very different) drafts of the novel from the first page to the last and helped me make significant improvements in both. She’s also a demon proofreader who has saved me from many embarrassing mistakes.
I met my husband, Dennis Stevens, when we were eighteen years old, on my first day of classes at Kenyon College (he was already a sophomore). Within a week, we knew we’d be spending the rest of our lives together. If anyone has been wondering why I think young love can be deep and real, there’s the answer. Dennis has guided and encouraged me in everything I’ve done since then, including my writing. A fifth-degree black belt in sogo ryu bujutsu, he choreographed all the martial arts scenes in Fighting Chance—but he’s done so much more than that. He reads everything I write and always finds ways to make it better. When I could have papered all the walls in our house with rejection letters, he told me to keep trying. When I was itching to make the transition from short stories to novels, he insisted on taking all the responsibility for supporting our family so I could write full time. And every day, with everything he does and everything he is, he reminds me that life is unspeakably precious, and that truth is always worth fighting for.
About the Author
For many years, B.K. Stevens (Bonnie K. Stevens) taught English, both in high school and at colleges and universities. She’s published almost fifty short stories, most of them in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. One of her stories was nominated for Agatha and Macavity awards and also made the list of “Other Distinguished Mystery Stories” in Best American Mystery Stories 2013. Another story won a Derringer from the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and another appeared in Family Circle after winning a suspense-writing contest judged by Mary Higgins Clark. B.K. has also published a mystery novel, Interpretation of Murder, and a mystery e-novella, One Shot. In addition, she’s the author of three nonfiction books (Holt, Harcourt, and Behrman House), as well as of articles that have appeared in The Writer and other publications. For more information, please visit her website at http://www.bkstevensmysteries.com.
More from this Author
For other books, upcoming author events, or more information please go to:
www.poisonedpenpress.com/B-K-Stevens
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