Sunday, August 28, 2011

No Hot Water

by Lynn Cahoon from the August 29, 2011 issue

Tagline: Sheila was happy--in more ways than one as it turned out--that this particular plumber was available...

In a Nutshell: Sheila's water heater was supposed to have been fixed, but it breaks in the middle of her shower. She calls the plumber to complain. The owner of the company himself comes out to remedy the situation and it turns out he had once dated her in high school. They have coffee together.

Observations: This is a good example of taking an "everyday" situation/problem and building a romance out of it. In my workshop on how to write for Woman's World, I share a lot of ways to get ideas for stories, and this is one of them. Think of a problem and have another character solve it.

But this story had a great twist...it turned out to be a shared past/old flame story halfway through. I loved that little surprise. I also liked how they handled that..."Does he/she remember me?" awkwardness. Very smooth and cute.

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