Searching4MrRight.com by Rene D. Schultz

My name is Rene D. Schultz, author of "Searching4MrRight.com" It was published by Light Sword Publishing and came out July 28th. It's my hilarious read on Internet dating. Please join me on my sometimes crazy, sometimes scary, but ultimately funny and uplifting journey as I navigate the world of online dating with 23 of my personal experiences...!

Never in my life, did I ever expect to be divorced at the age of 47. As a baby boomer, I had grown up with my ideas about marriage that were shaped by TV shows, such as Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best. Marriage would be just as TV portrayed; fathers went to work to provide, wives kept house, and all duties were watched over by the benevolent father. I grew up in Southern California which made me even more susceptible to television’s ruses.

   When I married at nineteen, I was a child who played at being married. I knew that we were married ‘til death us do part, through sickness and in health. Back then no one even considered the mental health of a marriage. Conventional wisdom promoted the idea that nothing could be wrong with a good provider as a husband. He had given me two wonderful sons.

   In my marriage, I even lived in the perfect small town, far enough away from LA to be shielded from the hustle and bustle, but close enough to shop. I raised my sons, dined with my friends, and I was withering on the vine of a marriage that had been empty for a long time. I don’t even think I knew how to spell divorce, let alone actually get one.

   Then, the unthinkable thing happened. Just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, the tornado called ‘divorce’ swept me from my comfortable marriage bed and into the land of the Munchkins. Believe me when I tell you, it was not a gentle landing either! Where was the yellow brick road when I needed it? I was lost, emotionally stumbling, and trying to figure out just who I was after the divorce.

   The first few months, I hid. I admit it, hiding was leftover baggage from my childhood, but I didn’t fit very well under my bed now. My dear friends encouraged me to date, but how? I hadn’t had a date since I was 19, much less with someone who wasn’t my husband. And furthermore, I was getting my advice from friends who were securely married.

   I didn’t want to meet someone in a bar, too much like a meat market. Not to mention the fact that a prince seen in an alcoholic haze the night before usually turned out to look like a frog when the haze cleared its way into sobriety the next day!

   I had also heard the way to meet men was in the produce department in the grocery store; probably advice given by Helen Gurley Brown in the seventies! Blind dates? None of my friends knew any single men over thirty, much less how to set up a date in the first place. I immediately found fast and furiously that single women over forty do present awkward seating arrangements at dinner parties, don’t they?

   I wasn’t ready to spend the rest of my life without companionship, but finding someone didn’t look good. So, I went with my other passion; writing. I wrote two fiction books, but where were the publishers when you needed them? I knew where the publisher’s weren’t! They weren’t knocking at my door to get the manuscripts; I’m an unknown author after all. Nothing seemed to be moving in any direction so I decided to push things along by doing my research.

   I was a good companion. I didn’t pick my nose in public, made sure my gray hair was dyed regularly, and I surely didn’t look that bad for an almost fifty year old women. Where were the men and how would I find them?

   After years of hearing successful internet dating stories, I wondered if that could be the way I’d find Mr. Right? With the personal computer revolution beginning to explode, hundreds of dating websites were popping up all over my computer screen. Dating websites were becoming an online phenomenon. In the privacy of your own home, you could pick and choose from millions of eligible singles.

   True to my personality, I jumped head first into the world of cyber dating. I was still looking for the yellow brick road that would take me to the Emerald City. My girlfriends were horrified; on the other hand, I had on my rose-colored glasses!

   To say the least, I very quickly learned that the rules of dating had drastically changed since I was nineteen. I found the world out there in cyberspace isn’t always a fun place and not always a safe place. But, I took that challenge and learned so much.

   Did I find my soul mate? Not yet. But, my heart still holds a small flame of hope that he is just around the corner or in the next email. In the meantime, I’ve had a lot of laughs, especially at myself. Most importantly, I learned not to look at my failures, but drew great appreciation of my willingness to even take the risk!

Dorothy had a scarecrow, tin-man, and cowardly lion. I had an Elvis impersonator, a hard-core biker, a bullshit artist, a pill-popping Viagraman, Houdini, and many more. She had the Wicked Witch of the West, I had 'The Predator" !

 Check out my website - www.Searching4MrRight.com  My book is available in the bookstores or online ! Thank you for reading this!!  Come join in on my fun!