Trisha Faye

Pieces of the Past

A Vintage Daze Short Story of the Month Club

Coming January 2021

You can’t take it with you. Lives are lived and then a last breath is taken. What’s left behind are the memories and the love – and often rooms and households full of belongings.

Some pieces are cherished heirlooms, passed down through the generations. Other items? They fill the thousands of antique stores across the nation – are auctioned off on eBay – or end up in yard sales and sometimes dumpsters.

You can’t take it with you. Yet, often, the families still living don’t want all the earthly possessions that filled their loved one’s life. Often, they don’t have room to keep and store the massive amounts of items left behind.

Millions of pieces of the past fill tables, shelves, and totes in our world

·         A prized depression glass plate that a great-grandmother so adored.

·         A photograph that captured a piece of time on celluloid.

·         A cookbook filled with favorite recipes.

·         A quilt lovingly stitched over many hours; the stitches painstakingly made one at a time.

The short stories in the Pieces of the Past: Vintage Daze Short Story of the Month Club are inspired by these items left behind. The monthly stories are fictional tales of a person behind various collectibles. When possible, the tales are based on a few true real-life facts: a name, a date, a few known tidbits.

When a real-life name isn’t known, the story is a fictional creation of what might have happened, if only created in the author’s mind.

In Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Stories, Carol LaChapelle writes, “…people die twice: when they physically die, and when we stop telling stories about them.”

The intent of these stories is to honor the people that have passed, along with a few of their treasured pieces of the past that they couldn’t take with them and keep a few memories alive a little longer.

Join Pieces of the Past and get a new Vintage Daze Short Story delivered to your inbox the first of every month. These historical short stories, based on real people or items, transport you to days past. Sit back, relax, and time travel as you peek in on the lives of women from long ago.

These are all brand new stories -delivered straight to your inbox – before they become available on Amazon!

Join now for only $20 for a year’s subscription!

Twelve brand new short stories for your enjoyment!

But wait…

Join now and you’ll also get Fargo Women Plot and Plan.

That’s 13 stories – a baker’s dozen – for only $20

And there’s more…

When you join Pieces of the Past, you’ll also get a PDF copy of BACK STORY – a collection with fascinating tidbits about the history and past of many of the items that the stories revolve around. If you like items from the past and enjoy reading about the history of time long gone, you’ll enjoy Back Story.

Option #2 – One-year membership plus print book in December – for $30

Option 2 is available for those in the continental US. In addition to the 12 monthly stories, Fargo Women Plot and Plan, and your copy of Back Story – you’ll also receive a print copy of Pieces of the Past: Volume 1 the first week in December, which contains all twelve stories from 2021.

Stories coming in 2021

January: Baking Up a Storm – Clara Ayers had one goal in 1935 – to win blue ribbons at the county fair and beat her contender Martha, who had long taken home the most prize money.

February: The Grotto – Sophie is a busy mother of a soon to be six-year old. Despite the tasks that keep her busy, she still manages time to visit Grandma. Even though Grandma’s mind is often foggy, she still entertains Sophie with lively tales about growing up in Iowa.

March: Lovely in Purple – Pauline spends the afternoon in her ‘Pile-It’ room, sifting through memories of the many people met through the years at Bender’s Fudge Shop in southern California, many of them celebrities that she’d met in her younger days in Los Angeles.

April:  The Rosary – Alice Blodget is always busy. She works from sunup and stays in motion throughout the day. But she has one not-so-secret pleasure. She loves to read and delights in stealing a few minutes from the day to indulge in her passion.

May: Minnie Wants it All – Jams and jellies to the rescue. Minnie wants it all, including a new range. She may settle for just the cookbook that is sold with it – for the time being. Just because it’s 1914 and her husband thinks he’s the boss, she intends to have her way.

June: Don’t Call My Handiwork Frivolous – Elizabeth is determined. Times may be tough, but she can still have the pleasure of pretty things in the house. Even if she has to make them herself – and come up with a way to get the embroidery floss her husbands says they don’t have the money for.

July: William’s Blunder – William made a blunder with his wife. He thinks he’s found a way to get himself out of the doghouse. But his misjudgment lands him in jail for 30-days in 1904.

August: To Miss Gail Reynolds: Gail Reynolds suitor, George Tweed, is stationed overseas during World War II. With so much happening in the world, will George’s letter writing campaign be successful in keeping him in her favor?

September: Idolizing Madge Morton – Lydia Mae Ellis dreams of living a life filled with adventure. She is overjoyed when she receives a book for her fourteenth birthday featuring her idol, Madge Morton. Will any of the escapades happen in her own life, or must she settle for merely reading about them in a book?

October:  The Diamond Field Quilt – Edith Bowman, of Mayfield, Arkansas has one huge problem in her life. She is horrible at finishing things. When she spies a new quilt pattern in the newspaper in April 1932, she’s determined to make a full-size quilt. Will she finally finish a project, or will it go the way of most of her ambitions?

November: By the Light of the Moon – Judith Bowen learned her craft from her mother, who learned from her mother. She grows many of the herbs she needs and forages for the rest. When the druggist in town offers her the Ayer’s American Almanac for 1876, she needs to decide whether to remain an herbal healer or go the route of the new pharmaceuticals.

December: Sisters Forever – A photographer is coming to Randall’s Mill. The township clamors over the chance to try out this new medium. Two sisters, Jessica and Margot Wheeler pool their pennies for a chance to be immortalized forever.

Use the link below to pay via Paypal, or send a check (and include a note with your email address) to:
Trisha Faye, 348 Sheri Ln, Roanoke, TX, 76262

Here’s what some readers have to say:

I love this. You transported me right to the times. I swear I could see the girls, the town, everything. And all the old references, so perfect, and so correct. Beautiful job! Jean J.

Fantastic peek at the past again, Trisha. That scene was so well described I could see it. Susanne M.

Wonderful excerpt! The family dynamics are so interesting, and I love the portrait you create of vintage days. Flossie R.