Heart to Hearth

 
by Jill Weatherholt from the December 7, 2020 issue

Tagline: When Jacquelyn calls in an expert to clean out her chimney, she never expects to start a fire in her own heart!

Observations: I really liked this story and it's funny because I need a chimney sweep's services too! We haven't had a fire in our fireplace for many years, and like Jacquelyn, I'm afraid to try until I have a professional make sure everything's okay.

I was a little surprised at how melancholy the story got. If it had been me, I'd have been worried I'd pushed the sympathy a little too far, but the editors didn't seem to mind.

I loved how he came dressed up. I also loved his chimney sweep joke. (It makes me want to watch Mary Poppins. LOL) 

Photo by Karl Baron via Flickr Creative Commons License

A Second Chance at Love

by Jill Weatherholt, from the November 18, 2019 issue

Tagline: When Nell arrives to serve dinner to local veterans on Thanksgiving Day, she never imagines her old flame will be waiting for her.

Observations: I don't seem to have any observations for this warm, fuzzy story. This has only happened a couple of times in all the years I've blogged, and I'm sorry. Next week, there will be something for sure.

Photo by browniesfordinner via Flickr Creative Commons 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

A Super Bowl Surprise

by Jill Weatherholt from the February 4, 2019 issue

Tagline: After her husband passed away, Janie couldn't even think about playing the field...until a chance meeting got her back in the game.

Observations: This was a cute Super Bowl-themed matchmaker story. I enjoyed it. I was surprised to see the actual words "Super Bowl" used in the story because the NFL is notorious about protecting their copyright. I was in Las Vegas during Super Bowl weekend and the Aria Resort and Casino didn't even use the words Super Bowl. Instead, they said "The Big Game." But then again, they were using the words to advertise an event, so maybe that's the difference. Does anyone still have the magazine? Because I'd expect they would not be able to use Super Bowl on the cover, since the cover sells the magazine.

Janie Edmiston tried not to smile. -- I find myself wondering why she didn't want to smile.

I liked the idea of them meeting at the sporting goods store while buying jerseys, however, they're going to buy full-on jerseys? Just for the party? Maybe this is just a case of the author and/or editors not really differentiating between shirts and jerseys, because why not just a T-shirt? Jerseys run about $75 to $150. Maybe I'm just cheap, but I attended a 60s themed party once and I wanted to spend as little as I could get away with because I wasn't going to wear any of it again. Also, of all the Super Bowl parties, I've attended, I've never seen anyone actually wear team colors, let alone actual gear. But maybe, because I live in LA, people are just "too cool" to do that kind of thing. LOL

Seasoned Woman's World readers will immediately realize Janie and Drew will end up at the same party. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Often, it gives readers that feeling of being in on a secret that the characters are unaware of, sort of like being invited to a surprise party, which is so much fun.

"...the door opened with a sweeping gesture." -- Is this grammatically correct? It's clear what the author meant. We can all picture it, but I think the sentence is suggesting the door gestured.

She stopped just shy of the fridge, her heart hammering in her chest. -- I notice this is the third time her heart did something. As a writer, you may not notice that you are repeating yourself or that you are using a "crutch" word or phrase. I find my characters constantly chuckling, smiling and shrugging. It's something I have to be on guard for and sometimes it's better to have someone else read over your story because we often don't notice our crutch words in our own work.

"I can't wait to see what happens next." -- This struck me as a kind of odd thing to say, especially as the ending sentence of the story. If it had been my story, I might try to throw something football related in and I would have had to reach out to friends who are football fans because I'm a hockey girl, through and through.

I think it might have been good to include one more mention of Janie's getting over the death of her husband two years prior. We get that info at the beginning of the story and then never hear anything more. To show Janie's growth more clearly, I would like to have seen her think about her late husband just once more -- perhaps a memory of how much he loved her salsa or maybe he insisted on buying jerseys for the team he was rooting for, so that's why she spent so much money, to keep the tradition alive.

As always, these are just my opinions. Your mileage may vary. :)

Photo by: Ted Kerwin 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.

A Pair of Lovebirds

by Jill Weatherholt from the August 27, 2018 issue

Tagline: Myrna wasn't thinking about romance...until she met Jim!

Observations: Very cute story. I happen to adore hummingbirds. I have three feeding stations and have been battling ants this summer. They love the nectar as much as the birds to. I also lost a feeder to my gardener, who knocked it over while mowing the lawn, causing it to break. As a hummingbird aficionado, I also know that you should never buy the red dyed nectar. The dye damages the eggs. It's better (and much cheaper to make the nectar yourself. It's just one part sugar to four parts water.)

I admit I did not see Jim's third appearance as the one-man nursery crew coming. I was expecting her to go back to the store or something.

I think the ending was very well done.

She was thrilled that her new hummingbird sanctuary had not only attracted the birds but also a very special man.

Photo by C. Watts via Flicker CC license

Test-drive For Love by Jill Weatherholt

from the December 4, 2017 issue

Tagline: Nell was anxious about replacing her old car...until she met the car salesman!

Observations: This story was a good example of showing a heroine with a mindset that changes over the course of the story. She starts out thinking used car salesmen are shady and ends up realizing that's not true at all. The trick with writing these types of stories, is that you can't just abracadabra have the attitude change. You have to show it happening, while pushing the romance at the same time, and Weatherhold did this very well.

This would be a good starting point if you're stuck finding a story idea. Just think of different beliefs and then brainstorm ways a character could change his/her mind about that belief. Like "the best Christmases have snow," or "health food tastes bad," or "cats are snooty," or what have you. It can also be a belief about the character himself/herself. "I have a brown thumb." "I'm too tall." "I can't tell a joke." This is actually very much in line with the vibe of the magazine--to be positive and optimistic.