Watermelon Days and Firefly Nights: Heartwarming Scenes from Small Town Life

Annette Smith has been blessed with the ability to observe and find beauty, meaning, and humor in seemingly ordinary situations. Within a sentence or two, readers are captivated by her delightful, descriptive writing style, connected with the characters, and eager to hear more.
Watermelon Days and Firefly Nights is Smith’s fifth book of original short stories. In this charming collection, adults of all ages enjoy a behind-the-scenes peek at the lives and loves of a few of the 3,482 folks who proudly call Ella Louise, Texas, their home sweet home. These quirky and loveable characters include twelve-year-old twins whose “creative” pet care is appreciated by neither their mother nor their geriatric poodle, George; Faye Beth and Harvey Newman, a married couple who has lived for seven years with a gaping hole in the roof of their house and have no plans to fix it; and the industrious deacons of Grace Baptist Church, whose decision to paint the sanctuary uncovers a shocking, twenty-year-old secret.
Watermelon Days and Firefly Nights celebrates the simple, small-town goodness of neighbors helping neighbors and friends caring for friends. Through glimpses of ordinary people exhibiting extraordinary love, forgiveness, and humor, readers gain a renewed sense of kinship and love and are reminded of life’s sweetest hours.

From the Back Cover

"Mayberry meets Mitford in Annette Smith’s latest wonderful book. I LOVED Watermelon Days and Firefly Nights! Alternately hilarious and heartwarming-with ample doses of poignancy-I laughed and cried at the antics of the delightful and eccentric characters in the small town of Ella Louise, Texas. Smith is a masterful storyteller. You won’t want to leave Ella Louise."
Laura Jensen Walker, author, Mentalpause and Other Midlife Laughs

Grab a glass of iced tea, sit out on the porch, and indulge in this charming collection of short stories. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes peek at the lives and loves of a few of the 3,482 folks who proudly call Ella Louise, Texas, their home sweet home.

These quirky and loveable characters include twelve-year-old twins whose creative pet care is appreciated by neither their neighbors nor their geriatric dog Georgia, and Faye Beth and Harvey Newman, a married couple who have no plans to fix the hole in the roof of their house because it serves as a special reminder.

Watermelon Days and Firefly Nights celebrates the simple, small-town goodness of neighbors helping neighbors and friends caring for friends. Its stories inspire a renewed sense of kinship and provide a heartwarming reminder of life’s sweetest hours.

Annette Smith is the author of Homemade Humble Pie and Other Slices of Life. She and her family live in a small Texas town, where she is inspired by her neighbors and friends.