I wrote 50 of them at a rate of one a week while writing 50 States. I've written many more since then, although most haven't been published aside from secret sneak peaks for newsletter subscribers. All of those ideas fall from the sky, very much as David Lynch describes creativity.
So, when it comes to Born on Monday, the simple answer is that it started with “Time Capsule,” a short story first published in my collection 50 States. Time Capsule is the first chapter of Born on Monday, though there are a few tweaks when compared side by side. The second chapter, by the way, first appeared in Ten Threads, which was a short 10-story digital companion to 50 States.
Some people find this interesting, but there is even more to it than that. All of the stories in 50 States intersect with each other. Sometimes those connections are loose, like the mention of the South Dakota story in my debut novel Third Wheel. It appears as a newspaper headline for the few readers who noticed. Of course, the Born on Monday connection to the 50 States universe is stronger.
Where Born on Monday intersects with 5o States
In "Born on Monday," Dustin Fields and his dad visit bar named Crabby's in New Hampshire. Crabby's is the same fictional bar in Nashua that appears in the 50 States short story "Bad Things," which takes place within a year of Born on Monday. It's significant because Crabby's launders money for the Boston Mob.
"Bad Things" also introduces a brooding alcoholic named Rauly, a vet who served as a military advisor in Uganda. Rauly appears in another short story, "North Forty," which takes place in Vermont, a little more than a year after "Bad Things." In “North Forty,” he meets a teen who is in the same witness protection program he was placed in after whatever happened between 2018 and 2019.
The teen, Rachel, was introduced in the Vermont story of 50 States, "Siren's Call." In the story, she goes by Carol because her family is already in a protection program. By the time we meet her in "North Forty," she is trying on new names at the safe house.
The three stories do more than illustrate the strong and subtle connections I'm making across the 50 States universe. Sometimes they serve as a foreshadowing of things to come. There is every indication that some future novel will further connect these three New England states, perhaps bringing someone like Andrea Kearny, a fan-favorite character in Born on Monday, face-to-face with Rauly or Rachel or both.
When can that be expected, and what's on the horizon after Born on Monday?
As I recently mentioned in another interview, my next novel takes us back to Utah, where I'm continuing the fallout that happens in the short story “Dead Ends” from 50 States. This unnamed WIP is best described as a speculative thriller, blending and bending science, metaphysics, and something akin to the supernatural.
Think of "Dead Ends" as a sneak peek at the next novel. And much like Born on Monday, you can find a second chapter in Ten Threads. Without giving any spoilers, this novel will shore up the links between 50 States stories like Utah, South Dakota, Kansas, and New Mexico, to name a few. But trust me when I say, it will connect the dots to much more than that.
After this WIP, there may be another novel (set in the South) before we see Kearny and some others again, but you never know. Born on Monday has a lot of momentum. Maybe readers will convince me to change the order. Helping it hit number one on Amazon during it's release week was a great start. Happy reading!
