Rattlesnake!

I had my pictures taken for my book cover. As my photographer, Shauna, and I traipsed around the backcountry ten minutes from my home, Shauna suddenly freezes in the middle of the trail. A moment passes while I try to understand her sudden halt. Out of nowhere, she shrieks and runs toward me.
"What? What?" I ask.
She points down the steep terrain to a neatly coiled rattlesnake sunning itself on the warm path. "I almost stepped on it."
Forced from the origional path, we stumbled down lose shale toward the river. Carefully placing our every step, we make it through the shoot unbitten.
When we returned to the trailhead, we took the picture to the right to prove to any doubters that we hadn't been scared by a little watersnake.
How many people can say they risked their lives in the process of getting their book published? (Okay, so it was my photographer's life. Close enough! Sheesh!) :)