~by Nancy Robards Thompson
After college, my husband and I moved back to the small town where I grew up to raise our own family. Even though the surrounding area has grown tremendously over the decades, so much remains steadfast and unchanged in my community: the high school, the football stadium, the farmers market, the quaint downtown with its old cobblestones and gigantic laurel oaks stretching protective branches over those who come to shop and eat and meet.
While some people need to distance themselves from the old, I’ve always taken comfort in being a thread woven into the well-worn fabric of an established Southern community. That’s where I got the idea for TEXAS WEDDING (September 2012), the first of three books in the Celebrations, Inc. series. When Sergeant Shane Harrison finds himself on temporary assignment in Celebration, Texas, heroine A.J. Sherwood-Antonelli helps him remember the joy of family, friends and community. Along the way, they both learn a lesson in love and acceptance.
Like my heroine, A.J., I’m a small town girl at heart. How about you? Do you prefer an intimate community or the hustle and bustle of big city living?
One person who posts today will win a copy of TEXAS WEDDING!
Nancy, your book sounds GREAT! I like both small towns and big cities. I prefer to visit big cities. I live way out in “the burbs”, but I have access to a medium-sized city with an airport. I have no interest in living full-time in a big city! Too much traffic and hassle for me!
Thanks, Leanne! I’m the same way. The town where I grew up is a little enclave within a big city with decent shopping and a nice airport. I’m reminded every day how much I like being part of a community.
I’ve always lived in a rural area or a small town. I’ve visited big cities, but I prefer small town life.
Me, too, Wilma. Thanks for posting today!
I think you’re going to hear a lot of this–I live in a smallish town, and I love it, but I do love to visit big cities now and then, especially San Francisco, Chicago and New York. There’s so much energy there! Then I’m always happy to come home. I’ve used San Francisco as a setting many, many times, because I know it well, but I like the small-town settings, too, where everyone knows your business
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Your new book sounds terrific!
Susan
Thanks, Susan! And you’re right…small town does seem to be the popular answer.
We live in the country, but within three miles of a city with a population of 250,000+ It’s the best of both worlds. Being close enough to get most everything you want, but the serenity of country living.
It sounds beautiful, Cindy! I need to visit you.
Nancy, Texas Wedding sounds fabulous. Love the cover!
I come from smalltown roots, spent all my summers in the tiny Sierra town of Downieville where many in my family still live. But the big city works for me on a lot of levels. A big city in the woods.
Thanks, Chris! A big city in the woods sounds like the best of both worlds.
I prefer small town,cause i can’t stand the traffic…
Rosalina, where I am, with the proximity to the big city, it seems like the traffic is getting worse every day. Makes me glad I work at home.
I live in Phoenix which is a big town, but growing up, it didn’t really feel that way as much as it does now. I still remember going only a few miles and finding open fields and dirt roads. Not so much anymore…
For vacations, I’ve been to big cities, but I really like smaller, quieter, RELAXING vacations. For reading pleasure, I always gravitate toward small town settings. I love the sense of family and community in those books.
I’m looking forward to reading yours, Nancy!
Thanks so much, Stacy! There’s a state university a few miles from where I live. When I was in high school, it was in the middle of nowhere. Now, all the land around it has been built up and the school has more than tripled in size. I guess that’s progress.
Your book sounds terrific Nancy!! Add me to the “small town” list!
As an Air Force brat I grew up around the world and at every station my mother always insisted we live in town vs. on base so we could be part of the community. Sometimes those places were exotic cities or small towns and while I love to visit the big city for a ballgame or shopping or a night at the theatre I perfer to living in a small town for all the reasons you listed!
Thank you, Christyne! I’m an Air Force brat, too! Although, my father wasn’t career military.
oh for sure a small town!
Thanks for posting, Amy!
I’m a small town girl all the way…but not too small.
I like to have my yard and trees, but the Target 15 minutes away is important too. I grew up in a small town in Upstate NY, then went to college and grad school in Boston and Albany. Afterwards, I came back home to my small town and haven’t regretted it for a second. There’s a line in a Jon McLaughlin song “Indiana” that says “I love the miles between me and the city” – that’s exactly how I feel too. Thanks for the giveaway – the book looks great!
Actually I prefer a medium size town rather than a small town or a big city. I have live in all three and presently live in a medium sized town of a little over 300,000 and love it.
Those conveniences are nice, aren’t they Laura? And guess what?? I drew your name as the winner of TEXAS WEDDING! Please email me your full name and snail-mail address through my website http://www.nancyrobardsthompson.com and I’ll send you your book.
Thanks so much to everyone for posting today!