Online
Dating Inspired Click: An Online Love
Story
By Lisa
Becker
I first met
my husband while wearing my pajamas. Really! No, we weren't at some
kinky singles party. I was sitting comfortably in my apartment and he was
hanging out in his. But, I will never forget his email introduction via
an online dating service, which invited me to check out his profile. It
was sweet, endearing and intriguing enough for me to log on to learn more about
him. After a week of emails, followed by a week of phone calls, we met
for our first date - a traditional dinner and movie outing. Even before I
opened the door to greet him, I knew he was "the one."
Considering he lived 30 miles away, I'm not certain our paths would have
typically crossed. But after 11 years together - including 9 years of marriage (which in Los Angeles is apparently no
small feat!) and two beautiful daughters, I have no doubt he is my soul
mate.
After my
now-husband and I met online, I was recalling some of the hilarious experiences
that I had during the whole online dating experience. How could I forget
the guy who started every story (no joke!) with “My buddies and I were
out drinking one night.” I decided to capture some of them in
writing and, from there and based loosely on my own experiences, my novel Click: An Online Love Story emerged.
The entire story is told in emails between our heroine, Renee Greene, her three
best friends and the gentlemen suitors she meets online. The format felt
like a modern way to tell the story that fit the topic, and allowed readers to
develop an intimate relationship with the characters.
Clearly, I’m a big fan of
online dating and find it to be a useful tool for young professionals who are
busy working and finding it difficult to make the right connection at the gym,
bar, coffee shop or grocery aisle. I say, people today are “married” to
their cell phones and laptops, so why not use that technology to really get married, right?
While Click doesn’t end with a wedding (sorry
for the spoiler!), during Renee’s road to happiness, we find many advantages to
online dating. My five favorite are:
·
On Your Own Terms – Online dating provides a relaxed, anytime and on
your own terms experience. Share as
little or as much information as you want.
Avoid people you are not interested in.
Communicate at your convenience. But, don’t send a message at 2:30 am. Nothing smacks more of desperation than an
email from someone trolling the Internet for a date in the wee hours of the
morning.
·
Multi-Tasking Enabled – Flirt while filing your taxes. Chat and trim your nails. Meet a mate while making breakfast. It’s a well-known fact that women are great
multi-taskers. Take full advantage of
that skill. As Shelley, the over-sexed
character in Click says to the
about-to-try-online-dating Renee, “A whole host of hot and horny single men
that I can review, chat with, judge and mock – all while sitting in my office
looking very busy. Maybe I should give
it a try myself.”
·
Trade the “Meat Market” for the “Meet Market” – Now you can avoid the
“meat market” scene of bars and clubs and instead enjoy a “meet market” – an
international bazaar (but let’s hope not too bizarre) of prospective
mates. The Internet allows you to make
an online introduction to thousands if not millions of people around the
world. So, if you want to meet someone
in Katmandu, well then, can do!
·
Save Time, Money and Energy – Let’s face it. Dating isn’t cheap. It takes time, money and, likely your most
valuable and scarce resource, energy.
With the “try before you buy” environment of online dating, you don’t
have to meet for a drink, grab a coffee or sit through a long dinner only to
discover there’s no physical attraction, you have nothing in common,
conversation is lacking, etc.
·
Rejection Made Easy – In Click,
Renee gets an email from someone halfway across the world looking to meet
someone willing to move for him. After
sending a polite and diplomatic “thanks but no thanks” email message, she
proclaims to her friend, “It’s so much easier to reject someone over that
Internet than in real life. Score one
for online dating!” While rejection is
easier for both parties when done online, it’s important to remember that
people still have feelings.
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