I’ve mentioned that in the past couple of years, submission calls have proven to be great story prompts for me. This one was ‘Christmas in July’ and the story practically wrote itself once I decided on my setting: a beloved neighborhood bookstore in its last few weeks of life. Released July 27 by JMS Books. Find other retailer links (to be updated as they go live) and more at the book page at Queeromance Ink.
THREE KEY THINGS about EMPTY SHELVES, FULL HEARTS:
It’s a M/M love story featuring older (50+) main characters, Evan and Simon.
The soon-to-close bookstore is the site of the lovers’ meet-cute and the catalyst for Simon’s own personal decluttering project.
As with many of my stories, this one features nonwhite characters. Simon is an African American novelist. His mother was a computer (remember ‘Hidden Figures’?) for NASA during the space race. I loved putting her on the page, too.
This was supposed to be the last new short for 2024 (well, the last until December) but yet another story prompt landed, so there may be one more sometime this fall. Eventually I will need to buckle down and quit looking at submission calls so I can concentrate on a full-length novel project that’s in the research phase.
Or, more accurately, so I can concentrate on one of the many full-length novel projects waiting in the wings.
As with many of my stories, loss & recovery play a part in EMPTY SHELVES, FULL HEARTS. Evan is temporarily managing the bookstore while on leave from his job as an HR director for a law firm. Those of us on the downward slope of middle age have all begun to lose people, and Evan is no exception. He meets Simon at exactly the right moment in his recovery.
I adore these two - and I really enjoyed revisiting my own years working in bookstores. A low-angst holiday-themed bedtime story. Happy reading!