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My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction, awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction, and awarded the 2016 Frank Yerby Award for Fiction. Available at: NewSouth Books: www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I must have been a big disappointment to my mother.\u00a0\u00a0She was always pretty, and so was my sister.\u00a0\u00a0I took after my father\u2014overly tall and big boned with an average face and size 11 feet.\u00a0\u00a0Worst of all, I never learned the flirty coquettish ways that southern girls are supposed to have as a birthright.\u00a0\u00a0Mama simply couldn\u2019t understand.\u00a0\u00a0She had married at fourteen and had me at fifteen.\u00a0\u00a0Lord knows, she tried to help.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cA girl don\u2019t have to be good looking to get a boyfriend,\u201d she told me soon after my younger sister began to date.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNow I don\u2019t mean you have to be trashy or anything like that,\u201d she quickly added, as though she hadn\u2019t made all that clear before I ever heard the Facts Of Life.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cA girl just reaches that age where she has a certain something about her that makes the boys pay attention.\u00a0\u00a0Now if you started wearing a little make-up and let me give you a home permanent\u2026.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou gave me a Toni,\u201d I reminded her, \u201c and I looked like Little Orphan Annie. Besides, I don\u2019t want to date.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve never seen a marriage I\u2019d want.\u201d And that was true.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019d already made up my mind about that before Dwight McFalls wrote me a love note back in fifth grade.\u00a0\u00a0I had walked to the trash can, which unfortunately was right next to Dwight\u2019s desk and tore his note into tiny bits while giving him a witheringing stare.\u00a0\u00a0The poor boy turned red and sank down in his desk.\u00a0\u00a0I never got another note from Dwight. Or any other boy in that class.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There were a few boys Who made my heart flutter, but those boys didn\u2019t know I was alive. And, I told myself, if I really got to know them, they\u2019d be as undesirable as all the rest.\u00a0\u00a0So I went on through twelve grades of school without a real date.\u00a0\u00a0I won\u2019t count the two unfortunate blind dates I got roped into.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So I went off to college in \u201957 with no flirting skills.\u00a0\u00a0That was back when Berry College had uniforms that did my figure no favors.\u00a0\u00a0If I had started developing that \u201ccertain something\u201d probably no one would have noticed in those uniforms.\u00a0\u00a0The skirts were full-gathered, because can-can petticoats were still the style.\u00a0\u00a0I had enough sense to know I didn\u2019t need a pile of ruffled crinoline underneath that full skirt.\u00a0\u00a0Besides, I knew I\u2019d never look as ravishing as Lorna, Mary Ann, and Barbara floating around in their ruffles.\u00a0\u00a0Making\u00a0\u00a0\u201cA\u201d in every class was my goal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The closest I came to flirting was totally unintentional.\u00a0\u00a0One of my bachelor\u00a0\u00a0professors was about a foot shorter than me and seemingly ancient.\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Sweeney had traveled in Europe extensively and frequently told amusing stories\u00a0\u00a0from his time abroad.\u00a0\u00a0Traveling in Europe was a treasured dream of mine and so I frequently stayed a few minutes after class to ask questions.\u00a0\u00a0Apparently too frequently.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One day when I approached his desk, he started hastily gathering up his lecture materials and heading for the door.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m too old for you,\u201d he said, \u201cand I don\u2019t socialize with students.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d I said, suddenly aware that the man thought I was trying to get something going romantically!\u00a0\u00a0Me and Dr. Sweeney?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It would have been funny if I hadn\u2019t been so humiliated. For days I examined everything I\u2019d said and done and remained\u00a0\u00a0totally mystified at this misreading of my actions.\u00a0\u00a0Needless to say, I never stayed after class again.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When I graduated college and finally decided I wanted to date, the Jackie Kennedy look was in, and the style was flattering.\u00a0\u00a0Then I discovered the miracle that a good haircut could perform.\u00a0\u00a0Make-up wasn\u2019t far behind.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But what a time to start my dating life\u2014the Swinging Sixties!\u00a0\u00a0I still hadn\u2019t learned to flirt and I sure hadn\u2019t learned to be diplomatic in dealing with dates who assumed that I was a woman of experience.\u00a0\u00a0Fortunately, I never dated many that I was worried about insulting with bluntness.\u00a0\u00a0I didn\u2019t have a huge number of second dates, but there were enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My mother was relieved.\u00a0\u00a0There was hope for me after all! Every time she heard I was dating someone, she\u2019d ask about his job, his age, and possible bad habits.\u00a0\u00a0Then it was, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you marry him?\u00a0\u00a0You\u2019re going to end up an old maid.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Just when I was learning to flutter my mascaraed eyelashes, I met my husband-to-be, and fell in love.\u00a0\u00a0Fortunately it was mutual and few feminine wiles were required to win him.\u00a0\u00a0When Mama met him, she could hardly believe my luck.\u00a0\u00a0Once when she was angry, she said, \u201cHow you ever managed to catch and hang on to a good man like Ben, I\u2019ll never know!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, Mama, I guess I just finally got \u201cthat certain something.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My latest book, HALLEY, awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction, awarded the Moonbeam Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction, and awarded the 2016 Frank Yerby Award for Fiction. Available at: NewSouth Books: www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon. I must have … Continue reading