Romance: Not Just for Valentine's Day!

          

          I sold my first book to Astraea Press in the spring of 2011. The Legacy was published in July of that year. Since then, writing has consumed more and more of my life. I’d always thought I had one big novel in me, but since The Samurai’s Garden came out in 2012 there has been a constant stream of stories running through my head. Several of them came unexpectedly, such as my short story for the anthology, Love and Diamonds. The process for Operation Rhombus, my offering, went something like this:

          On the facebook page for Astraea Press authors, a tiny announcement went up. It was a call-out for short stories up to 5K in length, around the theme Love and Diamonds. Of course the 100-plus authors went wild. It’s quite an honor to be included in an publisher’s anthology. It means that the publisher acknowledges your writing as representative of their company. So we started speculating about how we could go about accepting this challenge. I knew I wanted my story to be different so it would stand out, so I started looking at the theme from different angles. A baseball diamond? Maybe, but there are other authors who actually coach sports teams and could undoubtedly write a better baseball story. Where else would you find diamonds besides a jewelry store or a diamond mine (which I also don’t know anything about)?

          And then it hit me. 

          I’d spent twenty-eight years teaching elementary school. For thirteen of those years I taught in a regular classroom, and math, especially at the lower grades where I spent my time, included shapes. A quadrilateral with four equal sides is called a rhombus, and I remember one of my students moaning one day, “Why can’t we just call it a diamond like everybody else?”

          And so the story of math teacher Paul Cramer and his lady love, English teacher Ellie Hartwell, was born. And fortunately for me, Astraea Press accepted it! Paul is an absent-minded hero. Ellie loves him, but for some reason he’s hard to find in the days before the big Valentine Dance. He’s busy with a new project called Operation Rhombus. 

          Here’s a short snippet:

          Hey, Miss Hartwell, How are you tonight? It's odd, seeing you here without Mr. Cramer."

          "Yeah, where is Mr. Cramer, anyway?"

          "He said he had to get some supplies for some school project," she told them.

          "School project?" I wonder what project that would be," a girl to her right wondered.

          The boy next to her nudged her. "Don't you remember? He was talking about it yesterday in trig class. Operation Rhombus."

          "Operation Rhom— Oh yeah! I remember now." The girl turned to Ellie. "Yeah, it's really important. But I thought he was going to go get the r- the supplies earlier in the week."

          "He probably forgot until today," another girl said. “You know how Mr. Cramer forgets to do things until the last minute.

          Everyone at the table laughed. Yes, they all knew.

****

Operation Rhombus and fourteen other stories in the Love and Diamonds anthology are available at Smashwords for half off this week, using code REW50. Here’s the LINK for the book!

Snippet Sunday, February 23, 2014

          Welcome back! I have one more snippet from Operation Rhombus, my short story contribution to the Valentine anthology from Astraea Press called Love and Diamonds. Absent-minded math teacher Paul Cramer picks up English teacher Ellie Hartwell for a special Valentine’s Day dinner:

          She grimaced when she stepped down from the car into a snowbank. Hopefully her dress shoes would survive. Too bad she hadn't worn her boots, but she hadn't wanted to carry them around.

          "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I should have dropped you off at the front door before I parked the car. Here, I'll make sure you don’t step into any more snow." Before she knew it he'd picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder, fireman style. Her head hung down and her hair flopped forward. What a perfect way to enter a fancy restaurant.

Here’s the blurb for Operation Rhombus:

          Valentine's Day is coming up and all Ellie Hartwell wants is to spend time with fellow teacher Paul Cramer, but he's too busy with his new project. It seems like everyone at Willow Run High School knows about Operation Rhombus and is rooting for his success. Ellie would be happy to offer her support, too—if she only knew what it was.

Operation Rhombus and fourteen other short romances are included in one volume called Love and Diamonds, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other ebook outlets. 

Snippet Sunday

          Here’s another snippet from my Valentine short story, “Operation Rhombus,” which is included in Love and Diamonds, an Astraea Press Anthology just out last week.

          Selecting her items took only a few minutes, and she turned toward the check out lane when her cart nearly collided with that of Lilah Bedford, the Home Ec teacher. 

          "Hello there, Ellie. Where's Paul?" 

          "He's out of town, picking up supplies for something called Operation Rhombus." 

          "Operation — oh yes, I heard about that. Great idea. I hope he's successful with it. Well, I've got to go. See you on Monday!" 

          Why has everyone else heard about Operation Rhombus except me? she wondered. 

Thanks for visiting! Love and Diamonds is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and most ebook outlets. 

Searching for Diamonds, Finding Love

I suppose the word diamond has always evoked the memory of Marilyn Monroe's famous song from her movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. I've also had the privilege of viewing the Crown Jewels in London a few times, as well as some stunning pieces in Paris museums. So generally, my personal connection with diamonds has been as an outsider. Diamonds, in my world, are for the extremely wealthy and privileged.

Therein lies the glamour of diamonds. Other than my engagement ring and another beautiful ring my husband gave me for our fifteenth anniversary, I don't wear diamonds. Frankly, I don't wear a lot of jewelry. But diamonds are the traditional symbol of love. And this is the symbol of love that ties all all of the fifteen stories together in Love and Diamonds, the Valentine Anthology published by Astraea Press.

Each of us was challenged to write a short story for Valentine's Day. The only requirements: it had to be a romance, and it had to include diamonds. We could interpret that any way we wished. Of course, I wanted my story to stand out, so that it would be included. I didn't want the typical wealthy gentleman showering a woman with bling. So I started thinking about other types of diamonds. Like baseball diamonds. I love to watch baseball, but there are authors who are more into sports than me. And then there's the phrase "diamond in the rough." I could write a story about a tough character who suddenly transforms himself into a polished gentleman!

But time was short, and when that happens, you write what you know. I taught elementary school for many years, and in that setting, the word diamond is simply a shape. Could I write a story set in a school setting, using the diamond shape as a vehicle for my two characters to get together? Suddenly, my high school geometry kicked in, and I remembered that a rhombus can also be described as a diamond shape. And so my imagination conjured up Paul Cramer, a high school math teacher, who needs help to ask his girlfriend to marry him. His plan for executing this momentous endeavor is called Operation Rhombus. Here's what it's about:

Valentine's Day is coming up and all Ellie Hartwell wants is to spend time with fellow teacher Paul Cramer, but he's too busy with his new project. It seems like everyone at Willow Run High School knows about Operation Rhombus and is rooting for his success. Ellie would be happy to offer her support, too—if she only knew what it was.

Operation Rhombus and fourteen other Valentine stories are available now from Astraea Press! You can get it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and other ebook outlets!

Now it's prize time.

Six book bundles (each contains five ebooks from various AP authors) are offered. To get a chance at one of them, look back through this post for a certain word that might pop out at you (hint: it's on the roses and diamonds banner at the top of the page). When you know what my keyword is, click HERE to enter it in the secure form. Fourteen more keywords (and fourteen more chances to win) can be found by visiting the blogs of the rest of the authors below. Click on the picture below to find the links of the other participating authors.

The Valentine keyword scavenger hunt ends on Friday night, February 14, at midnight. Winners will be posted on the Astraea Press Facebook page on February 15.

Good luck!

Snippet Sunday - February 9

I've just joined a group called Snippet Sunday. Members of this group post six sentences from something we've written. So here are six-ish sentences (one is really short, so I think the rules allow me to add another) from my latest release, "Operation Rhombus". It's a short story included in Love and Diamonds, available this week from Astraea Press:

"Yeah, where is Mr. Cramer, anyway?"

"He said he had to get some supplies for some school project," she told them.

"School project?" I wonder what project that would be," a girl to her right wondered.

The boy next to her nudged her. "Don't you remember? He was talking about it yesterday in trig class. Operation Rhombus."

"Operation Rhom— Oh yeah! I remember now."

Love and Diamonds is available at Astraea Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other ebook outlets.

Please come back on Wednesday for our Valentine Scavenger Hunt! All fifteen authors represented in the anthology are participating.