Independence Day
October 17, 2024
Welcome to Day 16 of promoting my latest 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 Independence Day, a short story taking place on the Fourth of July 2020.
Carrie has asked her boyfriend to move out of her house, bringing their relationship to an abrupt end. Taylor is at her neighbor’s house, dropping off some information for his coworker. He has always liked the house next door and notices someone is moving out. Does that mean the house is available? Carrie flirts with her neighbor’s visitor who witnessed the end of her last relationship, as he inquires about the house. Is Taylor interested in her or her house? You’ll have to read the 16th story in the collection to find out.
How does this story relate to other stories in the gagengirl universe?
Carrie and Taylor are brand new for this story. Carrie’s neighbors previously existed, created for an old pilot episode. Her neighbor Mary’s sister-in-law Jenna Kelly McBride lives next door to Be My Valentine’s Katie Wilken.
What can you share about Carrie?
I named her after Carrie Underwood. Since she lives in Williamsburg, Virginia, which is a city that was founded before we were a country, I decided that she should have a presidential last name. So she’s Carrie Kennedy, a civil rights rights lawyer.
And what can you share about Taylor?
I named him after Taylor Swift. (Did you know she was named after James Taylor?) Since I wanted him to also have a presidential last name, he became Taylor Washington. He works with Carrie’s neighbor Mary at Busch Gardens.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about this story?
It’s a romance, the story of how Carrie and Taylor met. Since the story takes place during the pandemic, it is referenced several times.
Do you know which story you’ll tell us about tomorrow?
Yes. Tomorrow I will tell you about the last two stories in the collection - A Winter Story and Luck of the Irish.
Are you curious about the music that helped inspire me while writing Independence Day? Click here to read about it.
