Tagline: Who'd have imagined that meteor showers and a trip to the emergency room would lead to romance? Not Michael. Nor Lucy, for that matter...
In a Nutshell: Michael is an astronomy geek who has never been too smooth with the ladies. When trying to view meteor showers on the roof, he falls off the ladder. At the emergency room, the intake nurse is as geeky about the human body as he is about astronomy.
Observations: I can see why Johnene published this story. It follows the Woman's World recipe: boy meets girl, boy and girl click, boy and girl have something in common. But what made this version so charming was the flashback to Michael's childhood.
Another thing I liked was that Michael didn't really change who he was for the sake of love. His apology was about his rambling, not about his interest in astronomy. That's a great message for women, I think. Stay true to who you are.
Also, it's in the man's point of view, first person. A few weeks ago we were talking about the frequency of the man's POV, and here it is. :)
My two favorite parts:
"A meteor's only classified as a meteorite if it crash-lands on the Earth's surface," I explained to Danielle and her friends.
Silence. "You know," I continued, "instead of burning up in the atmosphere."
LMAO. Here, Michael has just arrived at the E.R.
Once there, my brother helped me into a wheelchair, then wheeled me to the intake receptionist. My foot was killing me, but there was nothing wrong with my eyes. She was beautiful!
"Name?"
"Lucy," I answered, completely distracted.
She laughed and pointed to her name tag. "What a coincidence!"
And speaking of coincidences, of course, her name had to be Lucy because of the title and the comet diamonds, but it worked for me. I plan on writing a story very soon called "When Gary Met Sally," but I have no idea what the plot will be.
14 comments:
Enjoying and appreciating these posts. Thank you Kate.
Diane, I'm so glad! I appreciate the recognition. Sometimes we bloggers wonder if we're addressing an infinitely large room that is empty. :)
Kate, never doubt, your blog is a blessing to those of us with ambitions to be Woman's World Romance writers.
Am I just incredibly dim? I don't get the title, why Michael said his name was Lucy,or why you said you would write a story using the "When Gary Met Sally" title.Can you enlighten me?
When I read your analysis of this story, I honestly didn't think I had ever read it. I went back and checked to be sure I hadn't missed an issue of WW. This was a perfectly nice little WW story, but obviously I didn't find it memorable. Sorry about that, Ms Dowd.
The title is also the name of a Beatles song. He said his name was Lucy because he was bedazzled by her and didn't seem to remember his own name. I want to write a story with that title because it's a play off of the movie, "When Harry Met Sally," and it will grab people's attention. :)
Thanks for the info', Kate. I guess I am really out of the loop. The Beatles had about a million songs, didn't they, and I think that was nearly fifty years ago. Anyway, I recognize maybe half a dozen and Lucy isn't one of them. Billy Crystal is not my favorite, so I hope Gary is more interesting than Harry.
Kate, I have a story subbed right now with the title "Wherefore Art Thou, Roger?" Sometimes I have a title before the actual story idea, and I usually like those the best.
And wherefore was Roger, Betsi? Down in the rosebushes? I guess we will have to wait until it appears on the printed page to find out. Does anyone have any idea what it would take to get that very distracting (ugly) crossword solution off the Romance page in WW?
Oh, and Kate, I did look up the lyrics for the Beatles song. That Lennon was an incredible writer, wasn't he?
Kate, I am smiling at your play on the movie "When Harry Met Sally," because I am waiting word on a mystery entitled, "Harold and Claude."
Mary Jo, yeah, I'll have to make sure Gary is hero material! I'm actually not a big fan of John Lennon. I'd rather get rid of the affirmation on the left side of the page.
Betsi, my story "Old Dogs Can" sold, and that was a story that originated with the title. Except Johnene changed the title to "A New Attitude." LOL
Tamara, wow, that is an OLD movie! Strange and funny.
Mary Jo, yeah, I'll have to make sure Gary is hero material! I'm actually not a big fan of John Lennon. I'd rather get rid of the affirmation on the left side of the page.
Betsi, my story "Old Dogs Can" sold, and that was a story that originated with the title. Except Johnene changed the title to "A New Attitude." LOL
Tamara, wow, that is an OLD movie! Strange and funny.
I do worry that Johnene will think it's TOO old for people to get the connection. I think it's passed Patty by now.
I guess we'll have to just wait and see, Tamara! :)
Everyone, just had to add my two cents: Kate, your title is the best! (now make the story work! lol)I love "When Harry Met Sally" and Mary Jo if you've never seen it, it's one of my all-time favorites, a real classic. (Billy Crystal does an admirable job in it, I promise.) It's also written by Nora Ephron, who also wrote: Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, and more recently, Julie and Julia. She's a hero of mine. Also, you all come up with such great, catchy titles! This is an area I do not excel in, and I must say, I envy your wonderful ideas for titles! Great job to all of you! Okay, now, I will leave you with some lines from "When Harry Met Sally":
Sally Albright: The first date back is always the toughest, Harry.
Harry Burns: You only had one date. How do you know it's not going to get worse?
Sally Albright: How much worse can it get than finishing dinner, having him reach over, pull a hair out of my head and start flossing with it at the table?
Harry Burns: We're talking dream date compared to my horror.
Now that's funny.
I loved that movie. Loved it.
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