by Sandra Smith from the May 11, 2026 issue
Tagline
When Evelyn stepped in to help at her daughter's flower shop, she never thought a last-minute bouquet could lead to a second chance at love.
Off the Cuff Observations
Sandra packs a lot of info into the introductory paragraph, letting us know that Evelyn is of a certain age, the time of year, and that she helps her daughter out at the floral shop. This is important when writing very short stories. Make every word count.
"...The other places I checked were too busy." -- LOL. If Evelyn were touchy, that could be a dig suggesting the floral shop was floundering.
We get a lot of the business interaction with some personal stuff thrown in. If I had been working on this story with Sandra, I would have encouraged her to beef up the personal stuff. Perhaps have Jack elaborate on what a great mom his late wife was or had them share memories of special Mother's Days in the past. Maybe things he did for his late wife were very similar to what her late husband did for her. Or maybe they share silly Mother's Day traditions like pancakes a la mode that sprang up with their kids were small. A little less of the business and a little more connection.
The convo with Megan is, appropriately, short and sweet. All we needed was for Megan to notice and point out that Jack affected Evelyn.
Even though getting her tulips was an excellent and thoughtful move, he must have gotten them from a competitor... LOL
I like the callback to his cluelessness about flowers at the beginning of the story. This type of thing makes the story feel tighter and well plotted.
Also, I found a dialog punctuation error. Tell me in the comments if you see it.
Photo by Ruth Hartnup via Flickr CC License
11 comments:
I am always glad to read your review of my stories, Kate. You make some interesting points. I didn't really think about the way it came across to say the other places were too busy. I probably could have thought of a different way to say it. As for where he got the tulips, I should have written that differently. I was thinking he had arranged with Megan to get them, but I guess that isn't clear. As for that dialog punctuation mistake, I had to read the story again to find it. And I can truthfully say that was done in editing. I didn't have a tag on that sentence.
Editors make changes, often creating errors, then don't go back and read what they've done.
I really enjoyed the story. Evelyn and Jack seemed very relatable. I did want to ask, is Woman's World allowing slightly longer stories now? ---Nicole
Nicole, this is my story. Thank you for your kind words. Also, the stories are now allowed to be 900-940 words.
Congrats on your story Sandy! That's wonderful news about the increased word count. Thanks for letting me know! It's been awhile since I submitted, do we still send submissions to editor Maggie Dillard? Do they have a preferred email? Sorry for so many questions :-) Can't wait to read your next story!!!
(Sorry forgot to type my name)----Nicole
Thank you, Nicole. Hopefully I will have another story soon! The editor for romance stories is now Melissa D'Agnese Walsh. The email address to submit is fiction@mcclatchy.com if you haven't previously published in Woman's World or fictionpro@mcclatchy.com if you have been published.
I just read your story Sandy and I love it! I'm actually in the middle of writing a flower shop story myself. I love the interaction between Jack and Evelyn and so happy they are finding another chance at love!
Thank you so much, Colleen. I appreciate your kind words. Good luck on your story.
Thank you Sandy for the Senior editor information. So much has changed over the years. I feel so old. I remember when Johnene was still editor. She was very kind to me. She wrote a sweet little message on my rejection slip. I was only about 19 years old at the time, and even though it was ultimately a rejection, it meant the world to me that she took the time to do that. Fingers crossed on your new story! ----Nicole :-)
I remember Johnene! She was the one who bought most of my stories. She was kind. I miss those old fashioned rejection letters.
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