Count Your Blessings
October 7, 2024
Welcome to Day 6 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 Count Your Blessings, a short story taking place on Thanksgiving 1998.
Claire stops by a coffee shop on her way into work at the same time Keston stops in on his way home. Their brief connection will change both of their lives forever. What happens next? You’ll have to read the 3rd story in the collection to find out.
How does this story relate to other stories in the gagengirl universe?
Claire and Keston are brand new for this story. Their friends previously existed. Claire’s boss is from New York, created as a friend of the lead character of a pilot episode I wrote about 25 years ago. Keston’s friends are also from New York, created as friends of the main character of another old story written about 25 years ago. I decided I wanted this story to be set in Connecticut and saw that I had characters in Hartford.
What can you share about Claire?
Claire has dreams of running her own boutique hotel some day. She doesn’t mind missing holidays with her family when she’s getting good job experience she’ll need to fulfill that dream. Her parents moved to Boston from England, before eventually settling in Hartford.
And what can you share about Keston?
Keston left Trinidad for America to study to be a doctor. He eventually found himself in Hartford for his family medicine residency. His family left Trinidad a few years after he left, settling in Hartford.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about this story?
It’s a romance, the story of how Claire and Keston met. This is one of my favorites. My dad has always said that he knew the moment he met my mom that she was the one. That kind of inspired this story.
Do you know which story you’ll tell us about tomorrow?
Yes. Tomorrow’s story is A Time for Love.
Are you curious about the music that helped inspire me while writing Count Your Blessings? Click here to read about it.
