Elizabeth Maddrey – Real Life Romance – Part 2 of 3

Shannon here: Contemporary romance author, Elizabeth Maddrey shares her proposal story plus a chance to win her debut novel, Wisdom to Know. Comment on any post dated Jan 14 – 18 to get your name in the drawing. Deadline: Jan 26, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Elizabeth:

The Proposal 
Tim and I started dating shortly after we got back to school at the start of our sophomore year. Technically it was the start of my junior year, as I was on the 3-year plan for college having taken entirely too many AP classes in high school. By the end of that year, we were both relatively certain that we would marry and I hoped–expected, really–that he’d propose when I went out to visit him that summer. He’d said he had a special surprise planned. Turned out not to be a ring but a trip to Catalina Island for the day. I enjoyed it, but it was still a little bit of a letdown since I’d been hoping for a ring.
I spent the rest of that summer as an intern at a software company. They had very little work for me, so I spent a great deal of my time writing fantasy stories around the oh-so-exciting days. I was the enchanted princess–obviously, Tim was the Knight off on a quest, and my boss was the evil dragon-lady. I wasn’t the only person who called her that, and it was that nickname that started the whole thing. They were predictable, trite, and delightfully fun to write. These were emailed to Tim at the end of the week as a little summary of what was going on.
We got back to school in the fall and Tim started his junior year while I started my senior year. We were still very much in love and planning to get married – my only question was when he was going to actually propose. As the fall term drew to a close, I began to wonder if he wasn’t on the same page after all. 
The Friday night before exam week, we headed out for our usual walk around the campus that was, most often, followed by dinner and then either a game or a movie or just hanging out with friends. Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary, except that he started heading to our usual spot on the lawn in front of Blanchard Hall, even though there was a good six inches of snow on the ground.
When we got there, he spread a blanket out and we sat down, still just chatting about the day and the exams coming up and so forth. Then he tugged some folded paper out of his pocket and said he wrote me a story. He read the story of the questing Knight returning to rescue the enchanted princess, incorporating all of the characters from my summer stories, as well as a few of his own drawn on friends from school.
In the end, the Knight had to choose a rose from a bespelled cavern in order to save the princess from peril. At this, he produced a single rose from his coat and handed it to me, telling me to look and see if he got the right one. Playing along, I looked more carefully at the flower, and dangling on one of the thorns was a sparkling engagement ring. While I looked, he’d shifted to his knee and taken my hand.
You never really think about what it means to be rendered speechless, but I was not only devoid of words, I could scarcely breathe. He asked if I’d marry him. I think I let him finish asking before I said yes and threw my arms around his neck.
About Elizabeth: Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time.
When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity. Her debut novel, Wisdom to Know, Book 1 of the Grant Us Grace Series, was released in January, 2013. Courage to Change, the second in that series, continues the story of characters from the first book will be released in April 2013. She is also the co-author of A is for Airstrip: A Missionary’s Jungle Adventure, a children’s book based on the work of a Wycliffe missionary.
Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey
About the book – Wisdom to Know: Grant Us Grace Book 1: Is there sin that love can’t cover?
Lydia Brown has taken just about every wrong turn she could find. When an abortion leaves her overwhelmed by guilt, she turns to drugs to escape her pain. After a single car accident lands her in the hospital facing DUI charges, Lydia is forced to reevaluate her choices.
Kevin McGregor has been biding his time since high school when he heard God tell him that Lydia Brown was the woman he would marry. In the aftermath of Lydia’s accident, Kevin must come to grips with the truth about her secret life.
While Kevin works to convince himself and God that loving Lydia is a mistake, Lydia struggles to accept the feelings she has for Kevin, though she fears her sin may be too much for anyone to forgive.
Book Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Know-Elizabeth-Maddrey/dp/1938708008/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1356036960&sr=8-2&keywords=wisdom+to+know
Come back Jan 18th for Elizabeth’s romantic interview!