An Easter Story
October 5, 2024
Welcome to Day 4 of promoting my next release - Time for Love. I’ve been working on this collection for about four years. The romantic collection has twenty short stories - ten about how a couple got engaged and ten about how a couple met. The story I’m going to talk about today is An Easter Story, a short story taking place on Easter 2021.
Sophie has tried to take care of her brother since they lost their parents. Rich wants to take care of her, if she’ll let him. She’s leaned on her faith for years, but now she’s ready to also lean on him. How does he propose? You’ll have to read the 17th story in the collection to find out.
How does this story relate to other stories in the gagengirl universe?
Back in 2002, I wrote what I now refer to as my 9/11 stories. It was about how four friends coped with what happened that day. About half of the characters created for that collection of short stories appear in this story. Do you need to know happened in that collection? One character, Cecily, lost her brother and her father that day. Another character was married to Cecily’s brother. That character is Carly, the owner of two bed and breakfasts in Portland, Oregon.
This story is about love after loss. It is one of the more somber stories in the collection, but also the most spiritual.
What can you share about Sophie?
Sophie lost her parents when she was 17. And she was briefly separated from her brother. Thanks to Carly (mentioned above), she was reunited with her brother. She has every right to have lost her faith. But she leaned on it, using it to help her through her darkest days. And her faith inspired those around her.
And what can you share about Rich?
Rich is from Boise, Idaho. He moved to Portland after finishing his neurology residency. But how did he get his name? A few years ago, I was telling one of my doctors about the headaches I was getting and she asked if I was seeing anyone for it. I told her I was seeing Dr. Pepper. She asked if the doctor was a neurologist, and I told her the doctor was 20oz. She laughed and I knew I needed to create a neurologist named Dr. Pepper. But my character needed a first name. I lost my cousin at the beginning of the pandemic. I was devastated. To honor his memory, I gave my neurologist his first name - Richard.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about this story?
It’s a romance, the story of how Sophie and Rich got engaged. Their backstory is told in flashbacks. It is the most spiritual story that I’ve written. I managed to trick my “I don’t read chick-lit” brother into reading this and he loved it.
Do you know which story you’ll tell us about tomorrow?
Yes. Tomorrow’s story is Seasons Greetings.
Are you curious about the music that helped inspire me while writing An Easter Story? Click here to read about it.
