by Lisa Weaver from the July 6, 2015 issue
Tagline: When Amy's van broke down on the way to the parade, help arrived in the handsome form of Fireman Dave...
Observations: I'm so short on time. I have a deadline looming and I'm a little scared I won't make it. So I'm going to do a stream of consciousness critique.
The first thing I notice is that this is first person, present tense. Not my favorite, but only because I have to get my brain into that groove.
The first few paragraphs are chock-full of information and action. Every single word is necessary and this is something you're forced to learn how to do in a Woman's World story. Eight hundred words isn't much.
The car breaks down. This is a common enough trope in Woman's World stories.
Ah, one of her charges, Lila, knows Fireman Dave. I wonder why.
Oh, he takes his shirt off? Woot! That usually doesn't happen. I love Amy's reaction of trying not to stare, but failing.
Okay, Lila's kitten must have been up a tree and Dave rescued her.
Fast forward to the parade...the moment you see Amy jump to the conclusion that Dave is married, you know that she's wrong. However, it's always fun to see the explanations and in this story it was a little out of the box. I've never seen a dog be mistaken for the wife. Weaver also explains why he's driving a total soccer mom car.
The ending fell a little bit flat for me.
2 comments:
Loved this story. It was just so cute and so real.
Thanks. Hope you make your deadline.
I read this story quickly standing at the grocery store, as the way I usually read them so don't remember it quite so much. Guess I don't remember the dog being mistaken for a wife! Cute story, though.
Good luck on your deadline!
Post a Comment