On the Trail of New Love

by Sandra Smith from the July 14, 2025 issue

Tagline: When Abby finds herself struggling during a hike, her handsome coworker Tanner shows up to help--and before long, sparks fly.

Off the Cuff Observations: Well, a hearty congratulations to Ms. Sandy Smith, my most loyal blog subscriber, bar none. Sandy comments on every blog post and I appreciate it so much. Blogging often feels like shouting into the void. It feels like no one is reading what you're writing and you think, "What's the point?" But Sandy is always there with a comment, bless her heart.

And now she's published! I'm so excited to read her story, so let's dive in.

Ooh, we're starting with a woman in distress! 

Wiping her face with a towel, she glared at the path leading to the mountain ahead. Okay, maybe it was only a hill, but it was a very steep one. -- LOL I like Abby.

Okay, she's not on a "regular" hike with people. It's a team-building thing. This is subtle, but it's definitely a pro-move that Sandy chose to slip this info into the story here rather than put it in paragraph two as exposition. This way you jump right into the action and get the reader hooked rather than "bore" them right away with backstory. In storytelling, this is known as in media res. 

Abby took a deep breath. Mara was right. Time to stop being a wet blanket. She couldn't let the team down. -- As I've said before on the blog, it's important to make your main characters Good People and here we see Abby moving past her personal dislike of the situation and thinking of someone other than herself. Personally, I feel five miles is kind of excessive for office people to bond over, especially including steep hills, and especially for a woman with asthma, but Abby seems to be a bigger person than me. LOL

 ...a blue T-shirt stretched taut over muscled arms. -- Tanner is certainly a breath of fresh air!

Aha! Tanner, who apparently is in charge, didn't know she was asthmatic. He's forgiven.

I think I am the search party. -- LOL

Where would you be if your job hadn't made you climb a hill? -- Again, LOL! As I point out in my Deep Dive class, humor is optional for Woman's World stories, but always welcome, especially in the form of witty banter.

Okay, they're talking as they're hiking, and as a fellow out-of-shape person, I can tell you Abby would probably have had some trouble, especially with her condition, but I can easily suspend my disbelief briefly here.

A cool mist sprayed across Abby's face as the rush of the waterfall met her ears. -- Nice description! It's only one sentence but it definitely sets the scene well for us. Note the sound detail. Don't forget to include more senses than just sight when you're describing a setting.

All right, I can see why the editors chose this story. It's a good one! I hope it's the first of many we'll see published by Sandy. She is the personification of persistence paying off.

Photo by Narcah via Flickr CC License

Sweet, Just Like Honey

by Stacey Weeks from the June 30, 2025 issue

Tagline: When a writer travels to interview a handsome beekeeper on his farm, she never expects to stumble upon romance.

Stream of Consciousness Observations: Wow. This issue must have been buried underneath some other ones. Sorry for the delay on this one. This will be a quick and dirty analysis.

I love bees! I even visited an apiary on the big island of Hawaii earlier this year. It was amazing. We got to put on the gear and hold one of the racks of honeycomb, with the bees still crawling on it! But I digress. 

"Her experience with the insect was more panic-at-the-picnic rather than admire-in-a-meadow." -- Love that!

Oh, she's a reporter and she reads romance. I like her already.

We get a very nice description of the hero--something I tell my students that they needn't necessarily do. If the choice is between establishing a connection between the hero and heroine or physically describing a character, go for the latter every time.

LOL. Ms.Weeks is really rolling with the romance novel theme. Love it.

Okay even more physical description of him. A quick glance...about 80 words dedicated to describing Adam. Ms. Weeks clearly thought it was important to really paint a thorough picture of Adam.

So, I figured this was just going to be a couple of hours of interviewing, but it looks like it's a few days, which is good for the romance!

"tiny wiggle dance." -- Yes! I love seeing the bees do that.

"When she took the assignment, Erin hadn't expected depth or humor..." -- Well, to be frank, I haven't seen him be humorous yet, but that's a very small complaint.

Okay, there's the humor in in the fourth and fifth to last paragraphs. :) 

Oh, I love the ending!

Great story. Gave me lazy summer, golden light, yummy handsome guy with eye crinkles. 

Photo by Brian Jeffery Beggerly via Flickr CC License

A Sweet Blast from the Past

by Karen Kinser from the July 7, 2025 issue

Tagline: At a Fourth of July parade, Jenny is stunned to see Nick again--but she's even more surprised by the fireworks that spark between them. 

Observations: OMG! Funniest thing. I started reading the story and I knew I'd read it before. I was like, "Did Woman's World reprint a story??? What a huge gaff!" Then I looked at the author's name and remembered I edited this story! A month and a half ago, Karen notified me that the story we'd worked on together got sold and my aging brain didn't remember until now. <sigh> 

Anyway, so excited to read the finished version!

Right away I can see an adjustment where Karen clarified the setting for us. I love the whinnying horses. That small detail really puts me there in the moment. In fact, she really did such a good job of setting the scene for the Fourth of July with so many details.

This story is also unusual because get three breaks in the action: when the parade starts, after the parade when they go to get burgers, and finally when Jenny goes home before meeting Nick for fireworks. And the Kiss! Those are few and far between for Woman's World as well, but notice how sweet and fleeting it is.

I still love the idea of them finding one of the dimes they'd hidden. And at the end of the story, we get another fantastic description...

They slowly swayed to the soothing drone of the crickets and the occasional bursts of far-off fireworks. The air smelled like summer and the sweet aroma of freshly cut hay from the nearby fields.

I mean, come on. You're there, right?

Awesome story. So proud of Karen!!

If you are interested in having me work on a story with you, here's a link to everything you need to know.

Photo by Steren Giannini via Flickr CC license

A Home Run to the Heart

by Marcie McEachern from the June 23, 2025 issue

Tagline: Sharon meets a silver fox while teaching a senior social media class, but sparks fly when they bump into each other at a game.

Observations: I loved the premise for this story...the social media for seniors class. What an fantastic idea. I wish I'd thought of it. 

Woman's World magazine is unique in that it publishes romances about people in their golden years. I mean, it makes sense, since the demographic of their readership skews older. Readers want to connect with characters they can relate to. So don't be afraid to submit stories about elderly people.  On the flip side, don't hesitate to write stories revolving around younger people. Romance is for people of all ages.

Photo by OPAA Little League via Flickr CC License

Grillin' Up Romance

by Debra McNally from the June 16, 2025 issue

Tagline: Jessie was shopping for a Father's Day grill when she meets the charming shop owner, Matt. As they talk, sparks fly!

Stream of Consciousness Observations: Right off the bat we get the main character's goal and motivation: getting a grill for her dad for Father's Day.

The next paragraph really sets the scene and makes me want a grilled hot dog. As an aside, I haven't heard a hot dog referred to as a frank in ages! LOL

"I told you our grill skills were on fire!" -- Love a good dad joke.

"It's my week to have my son..." -- Clever way to tell the reader he's divorced.

"Inside the store, Matt wrote up the sale bill." -- This paragraph shows that you don't have to insert a character's backstory at the front of the story. This is where Ms. McNally decided to tell us about Jessie's living, job and relationship situations.

"...we discovered we had a passion for outdoor cooking--and other things." -- Ha! I bet one of those "other things" is Jessie!

I love how this ended up to be a matchmaker story. Very cute!

Please To Meet-Cute You

by Melanie Dusseau from the June 9, 2025 issue

Tagline: Jake's hoping for a quiet day after a long week of work, but a noisy bookstore owner--and their unexpected chemistry--derail his plans.

Stream of Consciousness Observations: I love how that first paragraph tells us Jake is in construction work and he lives above a storefront.

"Scowling, he banged on the door..." - Ah, this is a "hate-to-love" story.

"...self-consciously patting the messy knot of curly auburn hair piled atop her head." -- Nice physical description.

"Lily beamed a smile into Jake's frowning, handsome face..." -- Okay, there's also the grumpy sunshine trope.

"Then one of her too-large leather work gloves slid off her hand and hit the floor with a soft thud." -- Not sure what the purpose of this was. To show he's gallant, despite is mood?

Love the cat regarding him with "studious boredom."

"He's always a grump till he warms up to you." -- Sounds like Jake! LOL

OMG, a romance bookshop??? YES PLEASE. I am now kicking myself for not thinking of this as a setting for a Woman's World story.

I love the heroine's bubbly sunny energy. 

The selfie prep is darling. You can see Jake's stony wall crumbling.

"Don't smile because we're the grumpy-sunshine trope!" -- Aha! Told ya!

"You got it, sunshine." -- Perfect ending to a perfect story. Well done, Ms. Dusseau!

Cooking up Romance

by Alice Benson from the June 2, 2025 issue

Tagline: Not feeling very lucky in love, Lisa skips a party to stay in, but a late-night grocery run turns her quiet Saturday into a surprising moment of connection and chemistry.

Observations: I love a good grocery store story, especially if it involves cooking! I have very very fond memories of a little cafe on Third Street in West LA that I would walk to for lunch because they had the most amazing potato leek soup. 

Christopher Vogler wrote a famous book on the "formula" for fictional antagonists called The Writer's Journey.  At one point in time Disney was using it as a template for their movies. Vogler lists 12 stages characters should go through in order to craft a satisfying story, but with Woman's World romances, we don't have the luxury of showing the heroines moving through all the stages.

The first step is to show the heroine in her Ordinary World. In this case, we see Lisa at the grocery store and talking to her friend Kim. In a longer work, this is so we can see where the hero started and compare it to where they end up, changed by their adventure.

The second phase is when the character receives a Call to Adventure--the friend Kim inviting her to the party.

The third step is Refusing the Call, which Lisa does. She opts to stay at home to read and do chores.

But like I said, we don't see the other nine stages because the word count doesn't allow that, but if you're interested in writing longer fiction, I highly recommend Vogler's book.

You know what? On second thought, I might be wrong. Maybe it's actually possible to include all 12 stages. I guess you never know unless you try!

Photo by Janet Hudson via Flickr CC License