Strawberry Festival Love

by Jennifer Anne F. Messing from the June 3, 2024 issue

Tagline: While at her vendor booth at the annual fair, Isabelle finally opens her heart to the possibility of romance--and before she knows it, love walks by.

Observations: "Strawberry Festival Love" gave me another idea for thinking up story plots. This story is set at a strawberry festival--a quintessential summer event. When you want to write a seasonal story, look at your town's event calendar, or even some other town's event calendar, for settings. 

For instance, in Los Angeles, I found:

• Summer Sports Brewfest
• Beachside Summer Brunch
• Summer Cocktail Mixology Class
• Summer Wine Fest
• Summer Love Speed Dating Event
• Summer Culinary Creations
• Summertime Dessert and Tea Pairing Experience
• The Culinary Dude's Summer Cooking Camp: Harry Potter Inspired Recipes - Um, I want to go to this, but it's for kids! 
• Summer of love Charcuterie Class
• Vegan BBQ Party

Getting any ideas from this list of events? I am! So, what are you waiting for? Get writing!

Photo by kahvikisu via Flickr CC License

Flags of Love

by Colleen LaQuay Urbaniuk from the May 27, 2024 issue

Tagline: After losing her beloved husband in combat, Memorial Day was tough for Annie each year. But just when she thought she would never love again, a chance encounter shows her that love can have a second life.

Observations: I apologize for not blogging in so very long. I swear, if I don't write things down in my calendar (and even sometimes when I do), it doesn't get done. Then, I went on vacation and swore I could get some blog posts out of the way. Did I? Nope. But I don't feel too guilty about that. I was on vacation.

This story is the perfect example of how to end a Woman's World first meet story a little differently. We have two people meeting and making a tentative connection. Normally, you would see them arrange a date or go out on one immediately. Here, there is no mention of a date, which is perfectly fine. If the author does a good enough job, you don't need that because you know in your heart that these two will eventually go out together.

Photo by Joey Zanotti via Flickr CC license

The Two Perfect Gifts

by Barbara Catlin Craven from the May 20, 2024 issue

Tagline: Upon listening to her horoscope for the day, Janna made a bold move that was quite out of character, but it led to unexpected love.

Observations: This story brought back great memories for me because the first story I sold to Woman's World was based on a horoscope! 

I think the best part of this story was the ending. We got a lovely two-part epilogue that was so perfect for the story.

However, I think they meant locket, not cameo. Cameos typically don't open up...

"And two-and-a-half years later, Brent gave Janna the traditional second anniversary gifts of cotton: two pink cotton baby blankets as well as a beautiful pink cameo that held pictures of their precious twin girls..."

It all makes sense now because when I read cameo, I was like, I'm 62. Not even my mom would choose a cameo for someone of childbearing age. A locket is still pretty old-fashioned, but might be okay. This is something I would caution writers of a certain age to watch out for. Make sure everything about your story is age appropriate to your characters, not to you.

Anyway, as I said, the first story I sold to Woman's World was based on a horoscope. After two rejections, I decided to look more closely at the contents of the magazine for story ideas and it worked like a charm! 

If you'd like other ways to come up with story ideas, check out the book I wrote on the subject: Story Sparking: How to Generate Ideas for Woman's World 5-Minute Romances. The first chapter goes into greater detail about how to look at the magazine for ideas.