Story: Recipe for Romance
What follows is an analysis of a Woman's World story with suggestions/observations for people who want to sell stories to WW, peppered with some personal opinion, too. :)Story: "Recipe for Romance" by Karen Stroud from the August 31, 2007 issue.
Tagline: Maybe it's true that nothin' says lovin' like something from the oven...
It can often be helpful to look to old adages when you need an idea for a Woman's World story. "Recipe for Romance" is a perfect example of this type of thing, and yet, it started out with nothing I haven't seen before-- the yard sale setting, the grandson and woman meeting, family recipes... But I stuck with it.
In a nutshell: Katie wants to buy an old cookbook at the sale. It's a copy of the one her grandma used to use that got lost. It turns out THIS granny doesn't want to sell, but lets Katie copy recipes from it. Grandson fetches her index cards. They get acquainted while she copies.
I was a little surprised to see him ask her out before the story ended, but a few paragraphs later, I saw why--at their date, he presents her with her own copy of the cookbook.
Best Part: The best part was the surprise gift.
In My Humble Opinion: "Katie, can you believe that you found your way to my heart in one afternoon?" A tad corny, and forward, too, considering it was their first date.
Grade: B
Labels: Woman's World Review
posted by Kate Willoughby at 8/13/2007
5 Comments:
Kate, I see the story you're working on is titled Bad to the Bone. That's the name of a novella I wrote for a Secrets anthology - it will be in Vol 25, Dec 08. Can't wait to read yours (no pressure to finish now...)
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I still have to finish it, but it's on hold right now while I try to finish something for EC's 2008 Caveman anthology. What's yours about?
Kate,
I guess this is why I have so much trouble writing for WW. I really liked this story. It didn't bother me at all that he asked her out so soon. I guess it's that fast-paced, east coast thing.
But thanks for having this up so soon (issue isn't even in the stores yet. I get my by mail also). I am working on my entries and these reviews really help.
Pat
This story wasn't that bad. It just wasn't primo. I DID give it a B! And thank YOU, Pat. It's nice to know I'm helping at least ONE person in the blogosphere!
Well, you're helping at least two, Kate. I always look forward to your reviews. I've had 2 R's from WW but have one with them right now that I'm very hopeful for.
Thanks for the time you take to do these.
Marcy
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