Carol McClain – Real Life Romance – Part 1 of 3

Shannon here: Women’s fiction author, Carol McClain shares insight into her real life romance plus a chance to win a copy of her debut novel, DWF: Divorced White Female. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated Dec 8 – 12 to enter the drawing. Deadline: Dec 20th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Carol:


The Romance of the First Kiss
Don’t try this at home. I’m what you’d call a non-expert.
I’d been single for more than twenty years. My first marriage failed, and living in a rural hamlet and attending a tiny church, no practicable husband existed.
So I waited until the advent of the Internet. I went online, looked around, found someone viable, sent a message—and the rest of my life was out of my hands.
And it was totally out of Neil’s hands, as well. He’s computer illiterate, and spent hours composing his profile. When he hit submit, match.com told him his application didn’t go through, and he should try again.
He didn’t. It took an hour to fill out the profile forms, so he would skip this mating site. However, being the cyber-sleuth I am, I extracted that apparently lost file and nabbed him in spite of himself.
I had read all the cautions offered about meeting people online. I ignored them. Neil and I emailed. He told me he was a pastor. I checked the local paper and discovered he didn’t lie. We made plans to date.
Like a potential dummy, I told Neil where I lived, and he agreed to pick me up. Having not dated for close to twenty years, I had no idea what to expect. He had posted no picture—so I didn’t even know what he looked like.
In our town, lived a rather homely minister. I didn’t know anything about him—I only identified him by his clerical collar. I fretted. What if this man was he?
One date. I could survive one date, became my mantra. As I waited for him to pick me up, I rubbed stains out of the carpet and dusted my house again, all for a man I had no intentions of letting into my home.
He arrived. And my heart did somersaults. It wasn’t the homely minister. A handsome man with a full head of silver hair stood at my door. Apparently, he had the same reaction to me, because he grinned, revealing the straightest, whitest teeth no fifty-year-old should sport.
We arrived at the restaurant—smitten. Couldn’t look at the menus. Ordered only after the waitress had approached us about fifty times. Never got to the salad bar until our entrees arrived.
I knew, on that first date, I could marry Neil.
He had only one potential flaw. His teeth. Were they real? Could I ask? How would I find out?
He drove me home. And knowing all the advice about online dating, I asked him in. We talked for hours (and he didn’t turn out to be a serial killer).
At last the hour became late, and on the next day I had to travel four-hundred miles to Long Island. My siblings and I would go for testing to become kidney donors for my youngest brother, so it was time for Neil to leave.
I walked him to the door. His eyes shone, and I knew a goodnight kiss was coming. My stomach warmed. My heart pounded.
He shook my hand!
Shook my hand? I should have heeded the warnings about Internet perverts.
As I packed early the next morning, I received a phone call. Neil.
“Carol, can I stop by. I forgot something.”
I looked at the clock—he had time. Scanned the living room, saw nothing he forgot. “Sure.”
Within minutes he stood at my door. “I was stupid last night. It bothered me, and I knew I had to make it right.” He took me in his arms and kissed me. Soft and warm and romantic. He turned and left—but our parting was temporary. Nearly a year to the day we met, we married.
(After ten years of marriage, I can testify, all his teeth are real. Still.)
And just how autobiographical might this novel be? Tune in on Wednesday to find out.
Leave a comment, either about this article or your first kiss, or answer the question at the end of the post and you will be entered to win a copy of DWF: Divorced White Female.
About Carol: Diverse. If one word can describe Carol McClain, it’s diverse and had been long before diversity became such a pc buzz word. She’s a novelist, essayist, and erstwhile poet (Be glad it’s erstwhile and no longer current). She hales from northern New York—so far north, she’s almost Canadian. Eh?
She plays the bassoon, creates stained glass, cross-country skis, and is a former marathoner and high ropes instructor. For more than thirty years, she taught English, and she now teaches Bible studies, and edits for fun.
In addition to this, she has served on the North Country Habitat for Humanity board for over ten years. In that capacity, she’s held every position except those having to do with money. She may be able to tell you the definitions sesquipedalian, but simple addition baffles her.
She is course coordinator for ACFW. And of course, she writes. She’s completed four novels, with DWF being her debut. You can connect with McClain at: http://carol-mcclain.blogspot.com
About the book – DWF: Divorced White Female:
Sassy, unsaved and desperate, Cheryl Chandler realizes one thing will redeem her from her ex-husband’s betrayal. A man. Any man—so long as he’s hot.
If you meet him online, he’s got to be good? Right?
Ditched by her husband, Cheryl Chandler’s going to find love at any cost. But she has a lot to learn—and never expected to learn it from her kids.
DWF: Divorced White Female is a tale of love, laughter and redemption. You can find it wherever books are sold.
Question: Have you or anyone you know ever tried online dating?

Come back Dec 10th for Carol’s romantic excerpt!