(re-run) Nancy met online at Our Time. Alan liked her profile and her pictures and contacted Nancy. He offered up his phone number. She called him and got to know him a little bit. They made a date for a Monday night. They met at the Lafayette Park Hotel for dinner and drinks. He was… Continue reading Red Flags Popping Up All Over
Category: worst
Judging from the Trends
(re-run) I was asked to judge a picture book contest. I’m a picture book author of 29 books and also a mom of past picture-book fans. Picture books are books with both words and art, usually 28 to 64 pages, and usually for young children. The gift book people have figured out how to put… Continue reading Judging from the Trends
Worst Boss Ever
(re-run) Aside from the old-guy boss I had for ten days at the Iowa State Fair the summer after ninth grade, who took one look at my giraffe legs in my short culottes jumper I’d made in sewing class and demanded that I bend over to see if my butt would show (it didn’t), George… Continue reading Worst Boss Ever
Date with a Cad
(re-run) Against her better judgment Svetlana met up with a man from Match.com and….drum roll….he met her expectations of the Cad. A cad is a man who is aware of the codes of conduct, which separate a gentleman from a ruffian, but finds himself unable to live up to them. Cads are capable of disguising themselves as… Continue reading Date with a Cad
Wasabi on a First Date
(re-run) Garth and Gladys went to the same hair dresser. She was coming in as he was going out. He asked for her phone number. She gave it to her hairdresser to give to him. There aren’t too many eligible men in their seventies, especially one that still had his hair! Garth took Gladys to… Continue reading Wasabi on a First Date
My Past Life as a Cat Burglar
(re-run) I was fifteen hundred miles away from home. It was the summer of 1975. I had my sample case with me from Southwestern Books. I’d worn my hot pants to stay cool. I had already rung three dozen doorbells. Selling books door to door wasn’t always a cake walk. It was lunchtime. I had… Continue reading My Past Life as a Cat Burglar
First Dog, Lost Dog
After moving to farm country to teach high school Spanish, I watched my roommate Kristy come home one day with a German Shephard puppy. “Meet Shane!” she said. She hadn’t asked me. She hadn’t asked the landlord. When she did ask him, his response was, “Not in the house.” Kristy made Shane a bed of… Continue reading First Dog, Lost Dog
Marathon Man
(re-run) She had tried them all — Match, eharmony, Our Time, Chemistry, Zoosk, OkCupid, and CoffeeMeetsBagel. She’d had her share of weirdos and had learned to use a fake name, fake town, and a fake place of work. She had been stalked in the past. Now she knew how to do it and be safe.… Continue reading Marathon Man
Desperado
(re-run) Another first date during my time in Omaha, Nebraska, was with a tall, thin but attractive man who was a few years older and reminded me of James Taylor. Kevin took me to the standard dinner and a movie and then wanted to show me his house. It was a summer night, and after… Continue reading Desperado
At Face Value
(re-run) Mark was a good-looking bartender, full of confidence, at an upscale restaurant. He’d say his face was his moneymaker and that you need to use what your mama gave you. Mark went onto Bumble to find a date. He waited until a woman messaged him (that’s how Bumble works). Her photo showed a good-looking… Continue reading At Face Value
