Bit of Sugar and Spice

by Diane Crawford from the November 12, 2018 issue

Tagline: After her divorce, Jane worried she faced a lifetime of lonely nights, until Steve's bright smile lit up her heart with new hope.

Observations: I am going to do a stream-of-consciousness analysis this week, which means, I read the story and type thoughts and observations as I go.

I find myself wondering why she wants pumpkins after Halloween and for what purpose, but I peeked to see who the author was, and it's Diane Crawford, an author who has sold quite a few stories to Woman's World. So, I assume my question will be answered eventually.

I adore this vivid description:

As she opened the door, taking a moment to watch the golden sunlight cresting over the cornfield just beyond her, a tall handsome man with gray-streaked hair emerged from the stalks like a vision.

What a beautiful image. As you know, Woman's World stories are only 800 words long, so sometimes you have to skimp on imagery, but Crawford gives us a wonderful image and a character's physical description in one succinct sentence.

And here she skillfully summarizes the heroine's backstory in one sentence:

Since she'd gotten divorced three years earlier, the mornings had become a respite from an endless stream of lonely nights.

She needs fifteen pumpkins? What on earth for? I'm even more intrigued.

Ah, she teaches at the community center, which is exactly the type of good-citizen profession one might expect from a character in a Woman's World romance.

"Budgeting Makes Cents" - clever name for the class!

Aha! Mystery solved. She's teaching her students to make pumpkin bread from real pumpkins.

Here's a bit I'd like to highlight...

On the way home, Jane's stomach fluttered nonstop. It had been years since a man had flirted with her...or since she'd been interested in a man at all. She resolved to return to the farm after class, to thank Steve and Eric with some fresh loaves of pumpkin bread...or, if she was being honest with herself, just to see Steve again.

This paragraph is pivotal in showing Jane's character arc. This is where she makes the realization that she's truly ready to move on past her divorce. Character arcs aren't mandatory in these romance stories, but I believe they add some emotional heft and make the stories feel more complete and satisfying.

In the last paragraph I noticed a little fire theme. The only word that didn't fit in was "bloom."

"I'd love to," Jane said, feeling a warmth bloom in her chest. Suddenly, he took her hand in his. And as his strong fingers closed around hers, Jane felt a new spark of hope blaze in her heart.

Photo Credit via Flickr CC License: Martin Brigden

Parking Spot Bandit

by Tamara Shaffer from the November 5, 2018 issue

Tagline: After her divorce, Sherry wasn't sure she'd ever find love again...until a parking spot poacher named Phillip stole his way into her heart!

Observations: As I read this story, I was a little surprised that Woman's World approved of Sherry's tantrum. That was pretty in-your-face behavior that, as an author, I may not have risked. However, the rest of the story shows her feeling remorseful and if you think about it, that's how we all grow as people, right? We make mistakes. We do our best to make up for them. It's a good life lesson and a romance story rolled into one! :)

Something else I wanted to point out...we've all had this happen. Someone snags the parking spot we had our eye on. This is actually a great way to come up with story ideas. Just look at what happened during your day. Really! If you can find the type of occurrence that happens to everyone and build a story around it, you can be certain the story will resonate with readers on that level (including the editors). They'll read it and think, "That happens to me all the time," and just like that, they've made a personal connection with your story.

Photo credit: Nicole Danielson via Flickr CC license.

A Sweet Fortune

by Amy Andrews from the October 29, 2018 issue

Tagline: When a fortune cookie foretold that Callie would meet the man of her dreams on Halloween, she spent years secretly hoping the prediction would come true. But just when she'd given up on ever finding love, she meets a handsome stranger...on All Hallow's Eve. Could he finally be the one?

Observations: Wow. LONGEST TAGLINE EVER. LOL It was like a full paragraph. They're really taking advantage of the double page spread. :)

I actually got a chill at the end of this story, something I wasn't expecting. It was a little eerie, but what to you expect from a Halloween story, right?

Again, for a Harlequin Woman's World story, I think this is indistinguishable from the norm we're used to seeing. Maybe the editorial staff and Harlequin had a meeting or are communicating more. Whatever they're doing, it's making the "5-minute romance" experience more consistent for the reader.

Regarding this story in particular, I liked the "coincidence" of the hero dressing as the thing that the heroine is afraid of. I also liked that he was Itsy Bitsy, instead of a scary spider. Again, talking about characterization, the fact that this man isn't afraid to channel his inner child or about being "manly," shows that he's real life romance material--at least the type of romance material Woman's World story readers are looking for. No tortured, alphas here. No sirree.

Photo credit: Andrew Malone via Flickr CC license

A Sweet Surprise

by Rosemary Hayes from the October 22, 2018 issue

Tagline: Haunted by a past relationship, Laura is afraid she'll never fall in love again...until Joel shows up on her doorstep Halloween night and makes a heartfelt confession.

Observations: Who can resist such a sweet story of a romance that was so long in the making? You can't help but admire the heroine for not wanting to come between her brother and his best friend. That's the type of characterization that works well in a Woman's World story. The editors like to be shown good, positive character traits. In my opinion, this is because we're not only telling romance stories, we're also showing people at their best, to counter all the negativity we see around us these days. Think of our stories as a weekly prescription of happy and keep that in mind as you're writing your own stories.

Photo credit: Scott McLeod via Flickr CC license

Hearts Lost and Found

by Jill Weatherholt from the October 15, 2018 issue

Tagline: Just when Charles fears he'll never be able to fall in love again, he meets Melanie in an unlikely place...and she changes everything.

Observations: Well, this was a Harlequin story and very well done. I may start regularly analyzing them. I didn't even realize it was an HQ story until I saw the book cover at the end. I like that it's not so "in your face."

Unfortunately, that means less stories for us freelancers, or perhaps more opportunity to sell to Harlequin, if they like the type of Woman's World stories we write...? Glass half full and so on.

So I really cannot find anything in this story that does not jibe with the regular Woman's World stories. It has the right tone, the right kind of plot, the touch of nostalgia/tradition that we have come to associate with the magazine. Even the ending was spot on.

I did laugh at this line:

"Thank you both for rescuing me," she said, her green eyes sparkling up at Charles. "I probably would have gotten lost in there and ended up looking like one of the scarecrows..."

LMAO.

Photo credit: Cynthia Collins via Flickr CC license.