Dial S for Second Chances by Linda Shenton Matchett

Dial S for Second Chances: The Story Behind the Story

By Linda Shenton Matchett

I was honored to be invited to contribute two stories to the You Are On the Air series, but after accepting, I began to have second thoughts. I primarily write historical romance and wasn’t convinced I could successfully pen a contemporary “rom-com.” When I talked to the series coordinator, she suggested I tie historical “roots” into the stories. That I could do!

Second-chance stories are among my favorite type to read and write, so I snapped up the letter S. (The series will be twenty-six books, one for each letter of the alphabet). Now, to come up with my plot. I started noodling through scenarios between couples that could involve reconnecting after some period of years. My eye caught sight of the tiny photo album that contains pictures from my wedding. I was reminded that my husband and I were high school sweethearts. High school sweethearts that broke up several times.

The kernel of an idea but where to have my characters reconnect? I started doing math to decide when the couple graduated from high school. I started with my own 1979 graduation and came up with 44 years. (Don’t get me started on how hard to believe that is!) I realized if I rounded up a year, I could have them attend their 45^th reunion. Perfect!

I’ve only attended one reunion – my ten-year college event – and it was awful (and in the 90s). Let the research commence! I found quite a bit about reunions…how to plan, what to bring, what not to do, as well as personal remembrances – those were interesting! Then I dug into the years 1973 through 1978 and was surprised at how much I remembered, and alternatively, how much I had forgotten. Especially poignant was the music. Every song seemed to dredge up a memory and strong feelings. (I’ve since discovered that many studies have shown music’s ability (more so than any other sense) to conjure up vivid memories and trigger intense emotions.

I wanted to use “our song,” the one that belongs to my husband and me, but it didn’t release until 1979. Instead, I spent an emotional session listening to love songs from 1978 before I settled on I Feel Like Dreamin’ by Kenny Nolan. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCl9fCq23dg). The rest of the research about movies and events was used to “inform” the story. An interesting walk down Memory Lane.

Have you attended a high school or college reunion?

Dial S for Second Chances:

Can years of hurt and misunderstanding be transformed into a second chance at love?

Jade Williams agrees to be on the high school reunion committee because the-one-that-got-away is out of the country and won’t be home in time to attend the festivities. Now, he’s not only home, but joined the committee. Is it too late to back out or can she set aside forty-five years of regret and pretend she isn’t to blame for her broken heart?

One of the downsides of being rich means fielding requests for money and favors. But when an old high school buddy contacts Derek Milligan to be on the reunion committee as just one of the gang, no strings attached, he can’t resist. At the first meeting, he’s dismayed to find himself sitting next to his former high school sweetheart. He should be angry. Instead, he’s attracted. Can he risk his heart a second time?

Reunion festivities include calling into to WDES’s program No Errin’ for Love with fake relationship problems. When both use their real situation, the stakes are raised higher than either imagined.

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3rh2ZdB

Bio:

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historical places all her life. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII and a former trustee for her local public library. She now lives in central New Hampshire where she explores the history of this great state and immerses herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

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