The Bottom Drawer by Priscilla Brown

 

 Cassandra doesn't throw anything away. She operates on the premise that one day there may be a world shortage of safety pins. So she doesn't discard the shoes ruined when  she  tripped on a drain to avoid being run over by Alistair.

https://books2read.com/SilverLinings

During a recent major kitchen renovation, the three drawers fixed under the bench became surplus to requirements. Their contents needed to be re-housed or recycled or headed for the garbage bin. Drawers one and two contained cutlery and teatowels, all neatly packed and transferred to their updated location. But the bottom drawer had always been opened only to drop in items with nowhere else to go, or simply for the ease of a quick storage. Sunglasses mislaid last summer, a packet of nails but no hammer, a screwdriver but no screws, garden scissors with blunt blades, and more 'stuff'', most of which went into the garbage.

 

Having dealt with this bottom drawer, I was on a 'drawer roll' and examined the contents of the bottom drawer of my writing desk. Would I  find the hard copy of a best seller hiding here? No, no attempts at creative writing, but in a folder I found undated magazine clippings of advertisements featuring possible characters. As a writer of contemporary romance, I had to smile at these people wearing clothing and hairstyles from at least twenty years ago. More recycling bin fodder. 

 

In our mid- or late teens,  a girl friend and I started what we called our bottom drawer We stashed items we believed 

would be useful when we married, which we confidently expected to do before long. As far as I recall, we bought cheap items from discount stores and markets. Each of us had a  boyfriend whom we considered as 'steady'. My girlfriend made the mistake of telling hers about her bottom drawer. He took off, never to be heard from again. I didn't tell mine, but I did enrol in a Saturday machine sewing course using provided machines. With fabric supplied by the tutor,we made a cushion cover.  Unfortunately for me, my boyfriend's mother was also a participant. Big mouth me, I mentioned to her that I thought he'd like the colour. Obviously she told her son. End of boyfriend. So much for my teenage bottom drawer.

 

I now have pristine bottom drawers in the kitchen and on the writing desk. How long before they become receptacles for assorted 'stuff''?

Happy reading, best wishes, Priscilla

 

 

https://bwlpublishing.ca 

 

 

https://priscillabrownauthor.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Valentine Worth Waiting For...by Sheila Claydon

Sheila's books at Books We Love

So it's my turn to post on Valentine's Day again! Not surprising really as I always post on the 14th of every month. Last year I wrote in detail about the history behind Valentine's Day. How it started off as a pagan fertility ritual which segued into a feast day in the Catholic Calendar of Saints when a  third century Pope  named 14 February Saint Valentine's Day. However it wasn't until the Middle Ages that the poet Chaucer linked St Valentine with romantic love. Now, centuries later, it's hearts and roses all the way...or is it?

I thought so, but then I write romantic novels so I would, wouldn't I. And remembering back to my own long ago youth, I thought all young girls longed for a valentine card to land on their doormat. I thought they spent a lot of time yearning for romance and Mr Right, but a recent conversation with some modern teenagers has shown me otherwise. While they are happy to be part of a mixed sex friendship group, like it in fact, they are not looking for a boyfriend. I was fascinated so I kept listening.

One of the best comments was, 'why would I want to tie myself down with a boyfriend when I'm this young? There is a great big world out there full of things I haven't seen or don't know yet. I want a career too, so I've a lot of studying and learning to do. Being exclusive to a boy would get in the way of all that, and it might mean I wouldn't see so much of my friends either. I'd rather just be part of a fun group until I'm much older.'

These are all beautiful, bright, confident girls. They don't know it of course, because their teenage hormones often tell them otherwise, so sometimes they beat themselves up about their looks, their figures, their exam results...but on good days, when they look in the mirror they know, and they also know when the boys in their group ask them for a date. 

Sometimes one of them succumbs for one date, or several, but never more. Then it's back to the friendship group, boys and all, where they variously do things like skating, sailing, horse riding, hiking, playing sport, eating pizza, having sleepovers (the girls), playing musical instruments, singing, experimenting with hair and make-up, watching films, baking, reading, discussing life...

So off you go St Valentine. The young girls of the twenty-first century might want romance eventually...but not yet! They have too much to see and to do before they take it seriously, and they are quite right. It is a big and interesting world out there and they have a lot of living to do.

In my book Remembering Rose, the heroine is also looking for more. What is different about her is that she already has exactly what she needs, she just can't see it even though it's right under her nose. There isn't a valentine in the book, but there is love...real love...the sort of love worth waiting for. The sort of love I hope all those beautiful girls find one day...when they are ready.

Golden Girl is a Books We Love March release where another of Sheila Claydon's heroines finds love - but not until she's ready.