Shannon here: Susan Barnett Braun shares an unexpected romantic gesture from her engineer husband, plus a chance to win an e-copy of her Middle Grade/Tween Non-Fiction title, Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge: A Biography for Children (although most readers/reviewers have been adults). Comment or answer the question in any post dated Sept 16th – 30th to enter the drawing, which includes 3 other titles. Deadline: Oct 11th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Susan:
I have always been a highly sensitive, sentimental person. Watching a movie? I won’t do it without at least one tissue in my pocket. When riding in the car, I can get stressed out over the close calls of little creatures who have to scurry off the road to avoid being hit by vehicles. Dramatic music playing? You’ll probably find me wiping my eyes, overcome with emotion.
So it was like a cosmic practical joke when I ended up marrying … an engineer. My husband of 29 years can fix almost anything, and I have a ready resource for researching any big upcoming purchases. But things of an emotional nature just don’t resonate with him.
Last year, with the three children all grown and on their own, we decided to take an overseas trip ourselves: a week in London. I was very excited about this, because I’d been fascinated with British royalty since Princess Diana came onto the scene in 1981, and I’d written a children’s biography on Kate Middleton. Hey … I had an idea! Why not take a copy of my book over to London and photograph it in front of various royal sites? What a great publicity idea, right?
I’ve learned that for things like this, I need to be the photographer. My husband could give you the angles and pixels and anything else technical about a photo, but the way he frames things just doesn’t work for what I was looking for. And this presented a problem: how was I going to get my book into the shot if I was the one taking it? My husband was already not a fan of me bringing the book over, and I didn’t think he’d appreciate me wasting some precious minutes with publicity shots.
So I was very pleasantly surprised when he—on his own—offered to hold the book for the shot. He even
made adjustments as I’d call them out and I’m sure passersby wondered exactly what we were doing.
It wasn’t roses and truffles, but helping with a bit of London book publicity was just the romantic gesture I needed that day.
Reader Question: Do you enjoy following the royals (British or otherwise)? If so, which is your favorite?
Sept Book Bundle Giveaway #2:
Ed’s Hopeful Journey by Pearl Ada Pridham, Women’s Fiction, PDF document
The Descendant’s Daughter by Patricia Lee US only, Dual-Time, print,
The Sister’s Plight by Patricia Lee US only, Dual-Time print
Gone to Texas by Caryl McAdoo, Historical Romance, eBook
About Susan: Susan Barnett Braun has been fascinated by the British royal family since Diana, Princess of Wales, came onto the scene. Susan wrote her high school senior research paper on “Charles and Diana: The Royal Romance.” Her teacher did not approve of the topic at first, but he changed his mind after reading the paper.
Susan taught elementary school for eight years. She has traveled to England to study on a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship, and has researched the wives of King Henry VIIII through a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. She enjoys staying current on royal news. Learn more & connect:
Susan’s Facebook Susan’s X Girls in White Dresses Blog
Susan’s Instagram Susan’s Pinterest
About the book – Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge: A Biography for Children:
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is known to most of the world as Kate Middleton. Bullied in elementary school, she was an ordinary girl on her way to an ordinary life — until she met her Prince Charming. After almost a decade of waiting, she and her prince wed in a ceremony viewed by millions worldwide. Now, she travels the world, meeting with leaders, working with charities, and setting fashion standards along the way. Here you’ll find an inside look into the life of the woman who will one day be Queen of England.
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Susan’s other titles?
Get your copy/copies now!
Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge Susan Barnett Braun’s Books
Come back Sept 27th for Shannon’s Book Bargains Roundup!
I don’t really follow any of them.
No worries, I know I’ve always been a bit different in my interest 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
I used to follow Diana…a long long time ago 🙂
Crazy to think how long it’s been now!
I have a winner for my Sept Book Bundle 2. Sandie Schrager won the drawing! I appreciate Susan for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.