So I'm from the internet generation here ... had been on my own for far too long and was in the middle of writing a novel. Wanted to put some raunchy scenes in it but wasn't sure I could (a) remember and (b) write about it all convincingly, so I went on line actually looking for all that sex they say is out there on the web but which had passed me by up until then. Found a site with various chatrooms, some more upfront and blatant than others. Made up a profile for myself and discovered I could indeed write about it .. and then started to notice some regulars, some of whom had quite a spark of originality. Started to frequent one particular chatroom and made some good friends - some were in the UK, some in the US, some in Canada. But there were real meetings and I met up with some of the regulars in the UK and, indeed, in the US as well. Started meeting some of the online "dates" for real, always being sure to be safe and let a good friend know where I was going and who I was meeting. Called the dates "auditions" and it felt a bit like that - met a lot of people, some of whom were totally unsuitable, some of whom were OK but none of whom grabbed my emotions or my heart. It was fascinating, though. Told my good friend I was obviously not going to find my soul-mate by doing this but that it was fun. And a week after saying that, into the chatroom came someone who had more than the usual spark of originality. Noticed from his profile that he came from my home town and was interested in many of the same things as me, so sent him a little personal message. We chatted on the phone the next night for hours and almost immediately he asked what I was doing the following Monday. He drove 150 miles to meet me in London that day ... armed with a stack of videos to prove he was who he'd said he was, and with no undue expectations of what would come next ... and he drove home again that night. But I still remember the moment when I saw him standing waiting to meet me by the pub and the way something inside me said a huge, echoing, "YES" when I saw him, and how once we'd met I had absolutely no interest in any of my other "auditions". We spent 18 months rattling up and down the motorway to see each other, spending as much time as possible together, and then I moved from London back to Wales to be closer to him. Our meeting was nine years ago, our wedding was six years ago and he is, simply, the best thing that's ever happened to me.