Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Crashing into Love

by Carol E. Ayer from the February 16, 2015 issue

Tagline
When friends asked Laura and Brad how they met, they both had to laugh...

In a Nutshell
When Laura forgets to set the parking brake on her car while getting the mail, the car rolls down and crashes into her garage door. As her landlords assure her their insurance will cover it, their son makes an impression. Three weeks later, the son repeats the crash.

Observations
Only in a Woman's World story would landlords not be upset about a smashed garage door. LOL

This story had a good hook.

All I can say in my defense is that it had been a rough week.

I immediately want to know what is she defending herself against and what made it such a rough week.

I found nothing in particular to remark upon in the middle of the story, but I really loved the last line of the story about the flat driveway.

Photo credit: Alisa Cooper via Flickr Creative Commons

9 comments:

Chris said...

I liked the opening hook, too, Kate, and thought the story was well paced with nice touches of humour, but the too good to be true landlady didn't wash for me either. Is no one in a WW story allowed to be remotely grumpy, ever? Even if the garage door was insured, that's still a lot of hassle just because someone was dumb enough to leave the handbrake off their car. What if someone had been on the slope? And then, lo and behold, the hero of the piece goes and does the same thing the minute the door's repaired and that's okay too. What's more, they decide this means they are made for each other! These people are going to have KIDS, for goodness sake.

As my other half often says, it's a worry.

Pat said...

Guilty! I rarely used my hand brake in my car. Neither does Hubby, so I thought this story was priceless. What an awesome way for a couple to meet! I will admit to using my hand brake on a hill or incline though.

I guess I'm a romantic at heart and think everyone is nice. I always remember the scene in While You Were Sleeping where her Christmas tree goes through the window and the landlord is so nice about it because his son is a clumsy idiot and it sounded like the father was always putting in insurance claims.

Great hook. Great story. Unusual premise. I loved it and wish I'd have thought of it. LOL

Mary Jo said...

It was a cute story, but wait until the landlord's insurance rates go through the roof. My niece didn't curb her car on the hill where she lived and it rolled away...twice! It does happen, but I always set the emergency brake. Just habit.

Sandy Smith said...

I guess we can assume this landlord is one-in-a-million and doesn't worry about such things! It was a cute premise for a story.

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry to bother everyone with this question, but since I know a lot of you have been writing for WW for a long time..... Sending out a huge SOS! Could really use your helpful advice. (Although I'm embarrassed to say what I did!)

So, I was happy to FINALLY get a submission out last week. Made sure everything was in order, and looked nice and neat, printed labels, etc. However, after dropping it off at the post office, realized that I forgot to put stamps on my included envelope. Completely panicking now. Absolutely can't believe I forgot to add stamps! So upset with myself. What should I do? Should I resend the manuscript package with a note explaining what happened? Perhaps send a letter to the editor letting her know what happened, including a stamped envelope? Just pray and hope for the best?

I very much appreciate any advice you can give me. Has anyone else made this mistake?

Losing sleep, Tressa

Chris said...

I did exactly the same with a submission here in the UK last year, Tressa. As soon as the envelope left my fingers and disappeared into the postbox I knew what I'd done. Could have kicked myself. In my case the magazine's fiction dept very kindly ran the envelope through their franking machine, so I still got a reply - a no, sadly, but at least I heard back. If you are in the States, I'd suggest giving them a ring and asking what you should do. I'm sure you won't be the first to have done this, so they must have a policy regarding unstamped envelopes. If they bin those subs, then you'll know you'll have to send it again. But don't lose any more sleep over it (or if you do, then get another story underway while you're sleepless!)

Tamara said...

Don't feel embarrassed, Tressa. I did worse. I recently submitted a romance story with the wrong word count -- almost a hundred too many -- don't know what I was thinking, after writing for WW all these years. Be interesting to see what they do with that. It was also a re-submission so already at a disadvantage. It has possibly cleared first editor by now.

Pat said...

Tessa, I wouldn't worry about it. I did this once. If they really love your story, they will buy it anyway. If they reject it, you'll probably get a note on the rejection slip telling you it is customary to include an SASE. In my case they wanted rewrites.

Anonymous said...

Chris, Tamara, and Pat,

Thank you for being so sweet! I have been so upset with myself. Still can't believe I did that. Your sweet comments made me feel a lot better.

Trying not to be superstitious, but thinking I might not mail a submission on a Friday, the 13th again! LOL

Good luck with all your submissions!

Tressa