Monday, December 8, 2014

GIFTS FOR YOU--FREE READS


By Celia Yeary

SEASON GREETINGS TO ONE AND ALL--

This year has been a good one in many ways, but not so good in others. Health issues in our household have kept us on edge at times, but through the miracle of modern medicine, and the miracle of Christ Jesus, we kept the faith and kept our appointments.
2014 has been bittersweet, but I look back now and consider all the good times with which we've been blessed and choose to remember those.

I could not find an appropriate  topic for my day on the blog, so I decided to post links to a couple of very short stories about couples in the Nineteenth Century. These are 1500 words long, which I wrote under the tutelage of an excellent editor I worked with early on in my adventure of creating stories.

In writing these, I learned how many useless words we authors add to our writing. Each story began with approximately 3000 words, and the editor said, "Nope, only 1500."

I argued with her, but she stood her ground. I would return to the manuscript and try to eliminate words and still have my precious story.
To her, I would say, "Okay. I've cut out 1000 words. That's it. I cannot delete anymore."

This time, I asked her..no, I begged her.. to cut the extra 500 words for me, but she was a hard one.

So, I worked on it again.
When I succeeded in telling each of my stories in 1500 words, I felt as though I'd won a contest!

The first one is titled WISHES DO COME TRUE:
~Western Romance ~
 
Ross doesn't want to make a fool of himself,
but decides to take the risk one more time for the woman he wants.
Anna is practical and independent, and believes she can never marry a man like Ross.
Will Anna send him away once again?
Will Ross take no for an answer?

Click here on the pdf on my publisher's Freebie page:
~~*~~*~~*~~
The second one is titled: MERRY CHRISTMAS, VICTORIA:
~ Christmas Western Romance ~
Victoria yearns for the love of one special man.
However, Cade Hollister treats her as a friend.
As she works in her cold dress shop on Christmas Eve,
he stops by and walks her home.
At the door, he gives her an unexpected kiss.
Cade has loved Victoria for a long time, but he's never found a way to tell her.
This Christmas, though, he takes a chance.
Will his surprise gift make her understand how much he loves her?
A note about "Merry Christmas, Victoria"--
While playing around, trying to write this story, I had the stereo playing a Ray Charles album. The next track in the CD was the old Eddy Arnold song made famous by Ray Charles, "You Don't Know Me."
I happened to be toward the end of the story. I listened the deep emotional words, sang in a way only he can do, and without consciously doing so, I used some of the phrases.

You give your hand to me
And then you say, "Hello"
And I can hardly speak
My heart is beating so
And anyone can tell
You think you know me well...
But, you don't know me..
No you don't know the one
Who dreams of you each night
And longs to kiss your lips
And longs to hold you tight
To you I'm just a friend
That's all I've ever been
No you don't know me.

 Click on the pdf link on the publishers Freebie page:
 

Thanks to you who have bought and read my books, and written reviews,
and sent lovely notes to me about them.
I appreciate every kind word.
I hope you enjoy these stories.
Celia Yeary

12 comments:

  1. Celia, I'm on my way to download these right now. Having read many of your short stories, I'm such a fan of your shorter works. (I'm also a huge fan of your novels.)

    It's difficult to cut words, isn't it? I struggled to get my first short story down to 10K. I don't know how you can get such satisfying plots and fleshed-out characters into 1,500! You have a rare talent, dear friend. :-)

    Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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  2. What a beautiful, heartfelt post, Celia. I don't know what I would do without faith, and believe me, it does get shaky at times. We had some downers this past year, too.

    One of my first assignments at The Wild Rose Press was writing a Christmas story at 2,000 max. I mean, I got it to the WORD. I loved the discipline as I tend to be way wordy. And I hate to hack at my stuff.

    Your post really brightened my day today. xoxo

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  3. Thank you Celia. A lovely story - well done!

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  4. Celia, I can't wait to read these! I already started the first then thought I better get back here and comment before I get lost in the stories. :)

    Wishing you a blessed Christmas and New Year!

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  5. Long or short, your stories are always excellent. Of course, I'm going to run over and pick these up. My problem has been so little time to read.
    I hope 2015 will be a wonderful year in your household. Our faith is tested in so many ways, but there is always the light of God that keeps us steady and blesses us even in the most difficult of times.
    Sometimes I feel like there's not one more blog inside me, so I can relate. I think I enjoy stories about your family and your youth best of all.
    Now, off I go to get your stories!

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  6. What a delightful Christmas gift! Thank you so much for sharing your Christmas stories with us. I look forward to reading more of your written works.

    Have the merriest of Christmases!

    Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  7. Kathleen--paring these stories down to 1500 words was like opening a vein. Tough..and I had no idea it could be done. When I finished, I could recall the words and sentences I deleted. Mostly, I delete descriptive phrases, I think. But I LOVE descriptive phrases--celled "Hoop-de-Doodle" by Leonard Elmore--and he reads every word. Thank you for making me feel soooooo good.

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  8. Wow, Tanya, you got 2000 words! How did you manage that? I got the editor with a sharp pen.
    Yes, I'm sure none of us are escaping bad times in our lives, but we choose to call the "bumps in the road," and try to move along. I'm glad I brightened your day a little.

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  9. THANK YOU, Connie! Glad you stopped by.

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  10. Kirsten--thanks for downloading them. Neither of them take very long to read--maybe 10 minutes?
    It's fun.

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  11. Sarah--you are a very generous person.
    I love to write about my family and my childhood...one day I will put those in a book and hope my sisters don't kill me..they may disown me, though.
    Sarah--Faith is what brings us through bad times. I know that you're more familiar with that than I am. Blessings, my sweet friend.

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  12. Robyn--thank you so much! I'll be looking for you on FB! Our favorite hangout.
    Happy Holidays.

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