Love Burns Brightly

by Colleen LaQuay Urbaniuk from the January 13, 2025 issue

Tagline: Peter knows a thing or two about putting out fires, but a surprise visit from Angela reveals the one fire he never quite extinguished.

Observations: First of all, I loved the tagline. It was extra clever this week.

There was a lot I liked about this story. I loved all the banter amongst the firefighters. If you love that type of thing too, I highly recommend the book Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center. It really goes deep into the world of firefighting. Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors.

I noticed this story had an omniscient POV, which isn't seen as much but was worth noting, if you like writing that POV.

I also really liked how much time was spent with the main characters interacting and exploring their past feelings and setting the record straight. Everything that happened back then sounded very plausible. When the story ended, I felt confident these two had a real chance at love.

Time for True Love To Shine

by Colleen LaQuay Urbaniuk from the September 9, 2024 issue

Tagline: Linda was rusty at flirting, but a chance meeting with a handsome car-show member gave her the confidence to get behind the wheel again.

Observations: This story is a good example of showing character arc. As I talk about in my book, Story Sparking, How to Generate Ideas for Woman's World 5-Minute Romances, one jumping off point is to choose a fear and show the character getting over it. 

Let's look at the progression in this story where Linda's fear is getting back into the dating world. By the end of the story, though, she literally says, "I'm ready." 

1. She starts out so closed to the idea dating that she doesn't even hear Larry call her pretty. 

2. Her friend points this out and suggests she take the man up on his offer. 

3. Linda reflects on what happened and admits/realizes her friend was right.

4. Linda gives one last feeble attempt to avoid taking action but her friend nixes that in the bud.

5. Linda does some more introspection and gives us readers a chance to connect with her. No one likes to feel lost and invisible. We want her to succeed with Larry.

6. She accepts Larry's invitation to go for a ride in his truck.

7. Her confidence blooms when she insists he let her drive. 

So, you can easily see how she starts out closed off but ends up self-assured. We all like to see hard work rewarded and showing character growth makes you feel like the heroine earned the happily ever after. 

If you'd like some more ways to generate story ideas, again, check out my Story Sparking book.

Photo by Rebecca Siegel 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