A Labor of Love

by Lisa Weaver from the September 16, 2019 issue

Tagline: When Molly, a small-town bookstore owner, strikes up a romance with a handsome author visiting for the summer, her heart breaks knowing he'll soon be leaving. But he has a beautiful surprise up his sleeve that has Molly believing in happy endings.

Observations: This was a very unusual story in that the couple are together from word one. Sure, it's supposed to only be a summer fling, but it's much different from the usual first-meet stories we see. I loved that she owned a bookstore. I loved the warm, sort of shadowy tone of the story.

Maybe this is a new type of story template to consider: a couple starting at one point and moving to the next level of the relationship. Something to think about.

Photo by Iain Farrell via Flickr CC license

Sunset Dreams

by Tracy Crump from the September 9, 2019 issue

Tagline: After her father's passing, Hillary Dunn heads down to the water to clear her mind and her heart. But as she sits watching the tranquil scene, local fisherman Brad Jenkins floats into view, bringing with him the promise of a new love and hope for the future that paints Hillary's future a new hue.

Observations: This story was particularly poignant for me as my dad passed a couple of years ago. He didn't have cancer but had suffered a major stroke that left him without the power of speech or the use of the right side of his body.

I liked the humor in this story regarding cooking the log.

I didn't find any teaching moments here, except to suggest that you read your stories aloud before submitting them. It's a weird phenomenon, but your ears can catch things your eyes don't. For instance, in this story the author used the word prickled and then in the next paragraph used prickling. Oddly enough, you can sometimes find minute things like this if you read the story aloud.

Photo by Heath Alseike via Flickr CC license

A Labor Day Reunion

by Jill Weatherholt from the September 2, 2019 issue

Tagline: While wandering through her town festival, Phyllis Leslie comes across her old flame, Skip, setting off fireworks of hope in her heart.

Observations: This was such a sweet story. And romantic too! Who hasn't imagined their significant other winning a toy for them at a carnival game? I liked the ending and how it tied in wonderfully with that question Phyllis posed to herself at the beginning. And the black moment--when we wonder if Skip will make that third basket--was so unique.

This is a classic and well-written old flame story. In my "advanced" classes, I actually shine some light on the tropes that show up repeatedly in Woman's World stories, and for the old flame trope, I even have a flow chart for the plot points you need to cover. Here's a link for more information about those classes.

https://womansworldstyle.blogspot.com/p/workshop-info.html

Photo by Bradley Gordon via Flickr CC license

Changing Her Heart

by Rosemary Hayes from the August 26, 2019 issue

Tagline: While investigating her daughter's crush at the local grocery store, Kelly Mathis encounters an old flame...and a second chance at love.

Observations: I freakin loved this story! First of all, I was surprised that the boy at the grocery store, Aaron, was the son of Kelly's girlhood crush, Tim. I'm not sure why I hadn't seen that coming, but I hadn't. Then, I was surprised again that Tim was there. No time was going to pass before we threw these two together again, Kelly wasn't going to go home and dither about contacting him herself, as she had advised her daughter to, nor was she going to just wait for Aaron to pass on the message (or not.) (All three of those options are viable for the story, by the way.)

I didn't really see a black moment, unless it was super subtle when Kelly states that he went to prom with Allison Wise. But the story was still amazing without a moment of worry.

Also Kelly had an observable character arc. She actually learned the lesson that her daughter taught her, which was to just respond to a compliment by saying thank you, instead of deflecting. (How many of us deflect compliments? I, myself, have tried to incorporate this lesson.) It's always a bonus to show your character learning something or growing as a person, and that goes for novels as well as short stories. Showing your character change over time is one of the things that makes them three-dimensional rather than flat.

Photo by Alan Light via Flickr CC license