By: Celia Yeary
Winter Wishes—Three short romance stories.
The three short stories in Winter Wishes came
about in an odd way. I was with my first publisher back then, and on the main
website was a list of Free Reads. I asked my editor if I could write one, and
if so, what were the criteria?
Fifteen hundred words, basically. “Is that all? I
can’t write a story that short." My editor replied,” You can if you omit useless words.
So, I wrote Merry
Christmas, Victoria. Good little story, she said, but you have 2200 words.
Cut it down to 1500 words.
“What? No way, I need those words.”
Her reply. “No you don’t. Now work on it.” I did,
over and over when I finally got it down to 1500 words.
At one point I begged her to do it for me..I can
still hear her laughing.
Anyway, I did cut it down.
Now, about the story—how do you get ideas for
stories? I was listening to a CD by Ray Charles, and he sang, “You give your
hand to me, and then I say Hello, and I can hardly speak, my heart is beating
so..but you don’t know me…You don’t know the one who dreams of you at
night..etc.”
Aha.
So, Merry
Christmas, Victoria was easy to write.
Another one—Wishes
Do Come True—This one just popped in my head. I had been reading stories
that involved Orphan Train children, and yes…this story came to me. I hope you
like it.
The third one is The Cattleman’s Ball—I was writing a novel titled TEXAS DREAMER,
and the hero of the story got his start when as a fifteen year old runaway, he
stumbled upon a rundown ranch owned by one elderly rancher. The rancher took
him in…and together they built it up. The hero here was old enough to travel to
Chicago to sell his cattle by himself and was instructed to attend the
Cattleman’s Ball to “make contacts.” But this young man found a lovely woman
instead, and even with his unpolished demeanor..well, you’ll just have to read
this story.
WINTER WISHES IS 99cents, and I thank PRP for
putting these three stories in one volume: WINTER WISHES.
Amazon Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Wishes-Celia-Yeary-ebook/dp/B076Z6JS7D/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510087914&sr=1-1&keywords=celia+yeary
Songs have given me ideas as well. Your stories should be a great success. Best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteCelia, I remember reading a book many years ago that was based on the song "Brandy" by a group called "Looking Glass"--it was a monster, smash hit, but the only one they ever had. Even now, 40 years later, I still remember that song--words, tune, etc. And evidently, it made the same kind of impact on the writer of the romance story, because she based the entire story on that song. I wish I'd kept that book--I've thought of it many times. The gist of the story was that a young woman working in a bar was in love with a ship captain who came in: "Brandy, you're a fine girl, what a good wife you would be, but my life, my lover, my lady...is the sea."
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I've ever had an idea from a song...I'd have to think about it. But I love that idea of your story being taken from "You Don't Know Me"...that could be true of so many people, couldn't it?
I loved each and every one of these stories. I'm so glad to have them at PRP, and also A CHRISTMAS WEDDING at FSP! You did a great job of "writing short"!
I do love when you learn how story come about. What great reads this sound to be. Congratulations. Doris
ReplyDeleteShort stories are my thing. I love to read them and I love to write them. My first published work was 5 short stories under 1500 words each. It's hard to get the emotions in a story that length.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think it was a wonderful thing for you to have met this particular challenge.
I have received inspiration from several songs and I often play certain songs before I write to prepare emotionally for a scene it relates to. "Loving You" by Elvis Pressley is what I'm using for my present work. I even used the title of a song I used for inspiration in my previous submission, "It's Only Make Believe."
I know this collection is going to do very well (I've read "The Cattleman's Ball"), but I think I missed the other two. I want to wish you great success with WINTER WISHES and with your new story, A CHRISTMAS WEDDING.
All the very best to you, Celia.
Oh, definitely songs inspire my imagination for stories. It was interesting to read inspiration for your Winter Wishes, Celia. Holidays are busy, however, I know I will enjoy reading your collection - gonna hop on over to Amazon and pick up a copy today!
ReplyDeleteDoris,So sorry I'm late, but gosh I enjoyed your blog. I too never thought I could write a short story. First, after I left my other publisher and joined PRP, I studied a few of the books with novellas by PRP authors and found I loved the shorter stories and the idea that the reader gets so many in one book, but I never never thought I'd venture into doing a short one. I just NO way could even fathom deleting so many words I knew I'd have on the computer. Then Cheryl encouraged me to try, other authors like you encouraged some of us newbies to try them. And I did have to cut, then cut, then cut. And now I've written several, evenmore than several. And lovin it. Thanks for another inspirational and valuable blog.
ReplyDelete