Shannon here: Charlene Amsden shares how she met her husband plus a chance to win an e-book copy of her Romantic Suspense, A Cedar Haven Christmas. Comment or answer the question in any post dated Jan 1 – 13 to enter the drawing for an e-book copy plus 3 other titles in my Jan Book Bundle #1 Giveaway. Deadline: Jan 24th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Charlene:
When I mention that my husband and I met online, most people assume a dating app was involved. It wasn’t. We met in the comment section of a friend’s blog.
Charley lived in Boothbay, Maine. I taught school in Las Vegas, Nevada. We were part of a small blogging community, our homemade precursor to Facebook. Charley wrote about science, I shared stories from the classroom, Sara tackled politics, and Mr. Dad covered military news. Ironically, Sara and Mr. Dad played key roles in our love story.
Sara asked me to write a commentary on No Child Left Behind. While public opinion leaned strongly against it, I agreed with several of its proposed reforms. I laid out which measures I supported and why, and gave equal attention to the parts I opposed.
Mr. Dad responded.
He declared that if the President of the United States supported something, it was my duty as a citizen, especially since I was “just a woman,” to support it wholeheartedly. He called me a traitor, said I shouldn’t be allowed near children, demanded my teaching credentials be stripped, and added that he would enjoy seeing me flogged and hanged.
I was shocked, a little frightened, and furious. I started typing a response and quickly realized I was ranting. I deleted it, shut down my computer, and cleaned my house within an inch of its life.
When I finally logged back on, Charley had already replied.
Calmly and clearly, he cited the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and women’s suffrage. He compared Mr. Dad’s behavior to that of a playground bully and dismantled his argument without raising his voice.
Instead of responding to Mr. Dad, I wrote Charley a thank-you note. Before I could send it, he emailed me, apologizing for stepping in. He explained that people who relied on threats and name-calling made him angry and he couldn’t stay silent.
I sent the thank-you anyway.
Charley wrote back. We talked all night, graduating from email to chat, and only stopped because I had to get ready for work. He was still in his science lab in Maine and hadn’t gone home.
From then on, we talked daily–sometimes for hours, sometimes just a quick check-in. After three months, we added Saturday night phone calls, which slowly became nightly. About ten months after that first conversation, Charley attended a conference in Hawaii and planned a layover in Vegas.
“Would you have dinner with me?” he asked.
He visited three more times that winter. On Easter Sunday, he surprised me by singing and playing trumpet at my church, an arrangement he’d quietly made with the choir director and practiced for while I was at work.
By then, most of the congregation knew we were engaged and planning to move to Hawaii after the wedding. One person missed the memo: the pastor’s mother, Glenda–a dear woman who was understandably alarmed at the thought of me marrying a stranger from the internet.
After the service, she pulled me aside. “I hear you’re marrying someone you met online,” she whispered. “He could be an ax murderer!” She pointed at Charley, standing beside me. “Why don’t you marry this nice man? He believes in God, attends church, and has a good job.”
“I am marrying Charley,” I said.
As Glenda laughed at her misunderstanding, Charley added, “And I’ll have you know, I’ve never murdered an ax in my life—though I may have maimed a hatchet or two in my youth.”
Technically, we went on two dates–his first two visits to Vegas– before he proposed. People say that’s crazy. I disagree. After nearly a year of daily conversations, I knew him better than if we’d dated once a week for two years. We met online in June of 2006 and married July 1st, 2007.
At the end of our very first conversation, Charley said, “This has to be a God thing. I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
That belief–that God can work through ordinary moments, unexpected connections, and even messy online spaces–found its way into my fiction as well. In A Cedar Haven Christmas, connection doesn’t arrive perfectly packaged. It grows quietly, patiently, and sometimes in the least expected ways.
Just like ours did.
Reader Question: Have you ever ended up being friends or more with someone you initially
disliked or had conflict with? Please share.
Jan Book Bundle #1
A Texas Bond by Shannon’s Taylor Vannatter, Contemporary Romance, print
Building Hearts by Julie Arduini, Contemporary Romance, print
A Cedar Haven Christmas by Charlene Amsden, Romantic Suspens e-book
Framed with Love by Rebecca Reed, Contemporary Romance, e-book
About Charlene: Charlene Amsden is a Christian fiction author who writes suspenseful stories of faith, hope, and second chances. A former teacher and children’s ministry leader, she now calls a small island in the Pacific Northwest home. Her neighbors there include orcas, bald eagles, and the occasional black fox. When she’s not writing, she’s serving her church, sipping coffee, or dreaming up her next page-turner. Learn more & connect: Charlene’s Website
About the book – A Cedar Haven Christmas – A True North Brotherhood Companion Novel:
When waitress Georgiana Ward finds a note on her shattered windshield that reads You’re next, she knows her violent ex-husband has returned to Cedar Haven. The police can’t locate him, and anonymous calls keep coming. All Georgie wants is to protect her ten-year-old son and survive Christmas in one piece.
She doesn’t expect Jackson Brenneman, the quiet man in booth seven, to become her safest place.
Jackson came to town to oversee construction on a movie star’s mansion—not to get involved with the locals. But when Georgie’s past turns deadly, he steps in with steady hands, fierce protectiveness, and a faith he thought he’d lost.
Just when their fragile connection deepens, a Hollywood charmer swoops in and Jackson’s old scars convince him Georgie deserves a more glamorous life than he has to offer.
But grace doesn’t replace broken things—
it rebuilds them.
This Christmas, love, danger, and second chances will test them both… and lead them toward the family neither expected to find.
This is a stand-alone novel featuring cameos by characters in the True North Brotherhood series.
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Get your copy/copies now!
A Cedar Haven Christmas Charlene’s Books
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You should write a book based on How you met!
Great story thank you for sharing!
I, actually, disliked my husband when we first met only because his name reminded me of the boy who used to make fun of me in kindergarten lol
Apparently, it wasn’t an obstacle for him – we’ll be celebrating 23 years together in February 🙂
I have considered writing the story. It would make a good rom-com and there’s plenty of romance, too. I still have all the email we exchanged.
Hey Charlene,
Welcome back! I disliked an instructor I had at first. I thought she was loud and uncouth. But as I got to know her better, I loved her. Just took some getting used to her humor.
Hi, Shannon. Was that instructor me? I always joked and teased with my students. I kept my classroom a fun place to learn. My students hated missing school because they knew they would miss something fun.
I try to sprinkle bits of humor and surprising delights through my writing as well. I might be writing suspense, but that doesn’t mean somebody’s toupee won’t end up in the coffee.
Aww. I loved your love story! Thanks for sharing.
Mary, I am glad you enjoyed my real life romance. My husband has written a version from his point of view. Maybe if I ever guest here again, I will share it.
Oh! Here’s a tidbit I should have added to my story. When Charley and I first met, we did actually dislike each other, but I thought he was a pompous scientist (he is, but he’s my pompous scientist); and he thought no one with decent morals could possibly live in Vegas. Because of that, we each ignored the other, until Major Dad threatened my life and improved it beyond measure. (What man means for evil, God can use for good.)