Intersecting Stories: Where Born On Monday Meets 50 States

I don't always put it out there front and center, except when it comes up in interviews. Where do ideas for my novels come from? Inevitably, the inspiration comes from my short stories. 

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!

Writing Author Notes: Born On Monday

In Augusta, Maine, a historic nor’easter and something more sinister unearth secrets buried deep in the town’s past. With time running out, three lives collide in a desperate fight for survival, where truth becomes a casualty and redemption comes at a cost.

Billy Stevens, a quarry worker haunted by loss, is drawn into a web of betrayal when a brutal crime pins him as a suspect. Jessica Michaud returns to care for her ailing mother, only to find herself hunted by a vengeful ex whose chilling threats awaken old wounds. And journalist Andrea Kearney digs into a local dynasty’s corruption as the storm’s fury mirrors the rising tide of violence.

“Born On Monday” is a gripping tale of resilience, moral ambiguity, and small-town sins — a literary thriller that will keep readers breathless until its haunting conclusion. Award-winning author Richard R. Becker delivers a gritty thriller that digs into identity, perception, and the human condition.

***

Perhaps I will one day, but I have never included author notes or acknowledgements in my books. The closest I’ve come to doing so was including one in “Born On Monday.” Ultimately, I decided not to add any more pages and let the story stand on its own.

It wasn’t until I was midway through the first few book interviews ahead of my release that some people might appreciate some insights into how this book came together. And, along with that, a brief explanation of my brand of fiction that sometimes bends and blends history and reality to create as authentic an atmosphere as possible, even if the Augusta, Maine, in my book is merely an imperfect reflection of the real one.

The Bear Paw, for example, doesn’t exist in downtown Augusta just off the Kennebec River, even if it feels like such a bar should exist there. Neither does Windsor High School, attended by many principal characters. Their rival school, Cony High, does exist, but it’s only mentioned in passing. Conversely, there has never been a Pine Bluff Village trailer park, even if it is a commingling of trailer parks in the area. Yet, the storm, the 2017 October nor’easter, really was the worst windstorm in Maine’s history. 

Interestingly enough, the storm becomes yet another antagonist in the book, but it wasn’t the reason I chose Maine for “Born on Monday.” The storm, like so many things that happen for authors, was a happy accident. I was looking up weather to help ground the story’s sense of realism and stumbled into what can only be called a happy accident. It went on to inform so much of the book’s climactic ending. 

So why Augusta in the first place? The most straightforward answer is that it is the setting of the initial spark — a short story called Time Capsule, first published in my short story collection, “50 States,” in 2021. It was the thirty-seventh short story in the collection, and I needed a location in Maine. Augusta fit the nature of the story, which initially began as an exploration of how people who stay in a town after high school tend to feel the same as compared to those who change after they leave for parts unknown. 

In the story, Billy Stevens is the one who stayed. Jessica Michaud is the one who left. We never learn the reasons behind the why in the short story, but it’s well established that, much like his physical presence, Billy’s feelings for Jessica are as fresh as the day she left. Her feelings for him, however, aren’t much more than a distant memory and maybe an annoyance.

The details of why they broke up didn’t even occur to me until I wrote a follow-up short story called Fallen Idols, which was first published in a digital companion to “50 States.” It featured ten stories that carried a few of those in “50 States” forward, including Time Capsule. 

By that time, I already knew “Born on Monday” would be my second novel (but not its name), even while I was tied up with my debut novel, “Third Wheel.” I had even told a friend of mine, mentioning that I would find it interesting if someone followed Jessica back from New York City, giving Billy a shot at redemption, if not reconciliation. This friend surprised me by openly sharing her stalker experience and it eventually became interwoven into several months of my own research into stalker psychology. 

As it turns out, stalkers are exceptionally frightening not only because of the threat they pose, but also because of the general indifference of law enforcement despite their pervasiveness. Stalking happens to an estimated four percent of women and two percent of men every year, but only 30 to 50 percent of those cases are ever reported. Of those reported, fewer still ever result in outcomes favorable to the victims. Weak evidence, credibility issues, policy gaps, bias, resource strain, and legal barriers all contribute to the startlingly low rates of intervention, let alone protective action or arrests. As many survivors point out, few people take it seriously until it’s too late.

It was from this plot line correction that I began to build something that touched on several literary themes: identity and the impact of trauma, the cost of silence and complicity, isolation despite interconnectedness, and redemption through truth and action, to name a few. And it was in interweaving these themes over the top of small-town dynamics, that I was able to develop something so special.

Unlike my first novel, which was a labor of love in exploring my own experiences as much as the fictional tale I created, “Born On Monday” was a labor of love born out of the craft. This novel, more than any other work, surprised me so often, from journalist Andrea Kearney becoming a principal player to the twist at the end. (I didn’t see that one coming either.) 

But isn’t that what makes writing so incredibly breathtaking? We begin with a spark and fan the flames until they warm us, our spouses, our editors, and beta readers (of whom I am all forever grateful). 

I hope you have the chance to let “Born on Monday” warm you, too. It is available on October 21, wherever books are sold. Good night and good luck.

Walking Tall: Chance, Fate, or Intervention

It felt surreal yesterday, as I was supposed to be picking up a car rental. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a mid-sized SUV that could take my daughter and me cross-country, from Nevada to Illinois. 

The route would have been spectacular, a little more rural and remote than some of our previous trips. This would have taken us from Vegas to Flagstaff, Durango, Pueblo, Dodge City, Wichita, Columbia, and Galesburg before landing in Rock Island, where she goes to school. Five of the stops included book signings.

We both love traveling, and we would have loved this trip all the more because we knew it might be the last. Traveling cross-country like this was becoming cost-prohibitive, so we decided we might try flying her back and forth in the future. This would also free me up to plan smaller book tours in other parts of the country, like New England or the South.

All our plans changed a few weeks ago. I was exiting our primary bedroom bath and clipped my foot on the door frame. To prevent a fall, I immediately shifted all my weight to my right leg. Under normal circumstances, this would have saved me. But my circumstances were anything but normal.

My right leg had been bothering me since April. I initially suspected the Vastus Lateralis, until I injured my foot on the last cross-country book tour. Given the exercises I could and couldn’t do, it became clear the issue was more likely the IT band and Gluteus Medius. Turns out, it was and it wasn’t.

When all my weight landed on my right leg, there was no leg to catch me. It folded up and inward in an odd pretzel-like shape that was accompanied by the most pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. It was an 11 on the scale from 1-10. So I rolled to reduce the pain to more of a seven, and somewhere between that roll and the collapse, I broke my femur just below the ball in my hip. 

It would take six medics to carry me downstairs and out on a large tarp they frequently refer to as a mega mover. They did a fantastic job, considering I had to give up my position for something significantly less comfortable. At the time, all of us guessed I had dislocated my hip. 

One of the ironies about this accident was that it happened two hours after I had just received a battery of X-rays and an MRI in an effort to discover why I could no longer perform a simple leg scissors exercise on my right side (but had no problem squatting with an extra 100 pounds). Of course, breaking my femur made all speculation moot. With the next twenty-four hours, I was destined for surgery, until I almost wasn’t.

MRIs generally take about three days to receive results, but mine came in about an hour before surgery. It turned out I had some lesions on my femur, which explained the pain radiating from my IT band and Gluteus Medius. These muscles and connectors were stressed out from compensating for a more sinister issue, which is likely why my femur snapped when I asked too much of it.

After careful consideration, my surgeon decided to press forward with the surgery despite the lesions. It was the right call, given breaks like mine require surgery within forty-eight hours. From his perspective, the only thing that changed was that he intended to grab a couple of bone biopsies while fixing the more immediate problem.

Knowing all this now, compounded with one of my major clients putting their account on hold just two days ago, made me grateful for the break. The alternative could have been a disaster.

Without the break, I would have likely delayed getting bone biopsies until after driving my daughter to Illinois. And combined with the disappointing client news, the trip would have had a shadow looming over it. At least, that was the best case. The worst case was my leg snapping somewhere between Vegas and Rock Island.

Despite everything, there was a moment we considered continuing on with the trip as planned, but without me as a driver. My wife would join us. A few optimistic physical therapists even suggested I give it a few days before making a decision. Ultimately, car transfers and rides up to four hours seemed more painful than the trip was worth, let alone trying to navigate the flight back.

All of the bookshops on this tour were remarkably gracious when they received the news, and three of them went a little further. Since Barnes & Noble in Pueblo, Colorado, ordered books for the event, we decided to try a virtual signing event of sorts. I signed some bookplates and sent them along with bookmarks.

I’ll also go live on Facebook at 2 p.m. MT (1 p.m. PT) and on TikTok at 4 p.m. MT (3 p.m. PT) on the day of the originally scheduled event, Aug. 27. While I’m hoping to answer questions that any book buyers from the Pueblo area may have, anyone can join. These will be my first live appearances.

Wordsmith Bookshoppe in Galesburg, Illinois, came up with another solution. Instead of a virtual event, we’ll be hosting a preorder promotion for my upcoming novel, “Born on Monday.” They’ll be one of a few stores that will receive signed copies (personalized copies on request) direct from me, arriving shortly after the release date, October 21. “Born on Monday” is a literary thriller and will make for a great holiday gift!

Barnes & Noble Flagstaff opted to accommodate a new signing date that corresponds with another Flagstaff visit on the weekend of Nov. 7. I’ll sign books as part of First Friday with Bright Side Bookshop from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 7; and then from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Flagstaff on Sat., Nov. 8. I’ll be bringing copies of all three books: “50 States,” “Third Wheel,” and “Born on Monday.”

In the interim, my focus is mainly on recovery. I work out four times a day in an effort to reduce the swelling and regain my range of motion. It isn’t always easy, but I want to walk unassisted again, as soon as possible. My leg is designed for it. The surgeon placed a titanium nail down the entire length of the femur, and then screwed it in at the hip and above the knee. 

As the recovery continues, there will be more announcements to follow. If you want to keep up with them all, consider subscribing to my newsletter, Scraps by Rich Becker. Along with book news, I always include short story sneak peeks, sometimes in parts and sometimes as a standalone. Good day and good luck.