Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Guest Blog with Shannon Taylor Vannatter Day One


Still Romancing After Twenty-Six Years

Several months ago, I had my book launch party for White Roses at the Romance Waterfalls. It was too hot to actually have it at the falls, so Buck & Brenda Weatherly graciously opened their home. My husband went with me, kept the coffee flowing, corralled our eight year old, and visited with our church members who came. It was an awesome day. I sold out within ten minutes and our church members ended up giving me their books back, so I could sell them to other people, and replace their copies later.

The only draw bigger than me was a baby deer. The Weatherly’s had rescued the deer and had it secured in their laundry room by a child gate. Only in Arkansas.

As the day came to a close and only a handful of friends and family milled about, I thought about how important the Romance Waterfalls is to my books. In the series a wedding and a proposal takes place there, and a couple draws closer together at the falls. All of my characters have had romantic or important moments there. I decided that my husband and I should have a romantic moment at the falls too. I grabbed my friend, Linda and her camera, and then my hubby.

“Let’s go down to the falls and let Linda take our picture while we kiss.”

Hubby jumped up. “Sure.”

Wow he’s excited, I thought.

We took the long, humid walk to the falls. Me, in my white skirt and satin shoes, him in shorts and tennis shoes. We stopped on the balcony where couples get married. I snuggled up.

He wouldn’t even put his arms around me.

“Come on.” I snuggled closer.

He finally gave in and moved in for a kiss.

Linda cleared her throat. “Okay, guys. Let’s not get carried away.”


We moved down to another balcony overlooking the falls, kissed again and got a few more shots. We trekked back to the Weatherly’s house, visited a bit longer, loaded the car and left.

Later, when I got the pictures from Linda, I asked, “What was with the no hands thing?”

“I was so uncomfortable.”

“Why?”

“I’m not used to getting my picture taken while I kiss my wife. It wasn’t very spontaneous.”

“But you didn’t hesitate when I asked.”

“I didn’t want to make you feel bad.”

So, my PDA shy husband/pastor posed for the camera, even though it made him uncomfortable. Now, that’s true love.

What’s the most romantic thing someone has done for you or you for him/her? If it hasn't happened yet, what might that moment look like?
Or on a different slant, how many pets do you have and what types? Shannon listed a whole zoo in her bio yesterday. Can you beat her out?

5 comments:

  1. My husband is not a romantic guy. His love language is acts of service, so in his mind, he is loving me well when my tires have the correct air pressure. But one thing he does do, every single year, is bring home a dozen red roses for Valentine's Day. He has since our first one 37 years ago. And even though I know they are coming, it's a wonderfully romantic gesture.

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  2. Hi Jeri,

    The tire thing is very common with men. They're definitely caretakers. The roses is too sweet.

    Thsnks Julie,

    It was fun. For me, anyway.

    On the pet note:
    I thought I'd have to change my bio. I spoke at a writers' conference this weekend. When we got home, one of my cats was missing. They're office cats. They have a cat door into my office. Smokey barely goes outside and is afraid of her own shadow, but she was gone. We looked for her and called for hours. I finally went to bed at 11:00 and slept sporadically. The next morning, she was home. She was probably mad at me for leaving and hiding somewhere watching me look for her and worry over her.

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  3. Rosemary TravisOctober 14, 2010

    Awww. Sweet photo. I think the romantic part of it was that he did it for you to show how much he loved you. You can't ask for better.
    You got me beat on animals. I love animals but i'm only aloud one pet where i live. I have a little female pug dog and a 10gal. fish tank with 5 fish in it.

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  4. Hi Rosemary,

    He's a pretty sweet guy. I plan on keeping him.

    You definitely have me beat on fish.

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