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Starting With A Click: A Memoir of an eBay Romance
Following some mixed reviews for this publication, Estelle Wilkinson made a bold decision to update the book using the more negative comments as pointers for where it needed improvement. She took out a large number of the original emails and put in a narration to supplement the story. The format was updated and the ending enhanced. The new version is now available for download: It Started With A Click: The Story of an eBay Romance.
As the reviews were so mixed, and some people may still want to read the whole transcript of emails, this version has been left on sale for the foreseeable future.
About the book:
It’s not unusual to find romance online through internet dating - but who would ever think of finding a partner on eBay?
That possibility never occurs to Catherine, happily single and playing the field. Until she goes on eBay in search of tickets to an England rugby match and gets rather more than she was bidding for...
After winning an auction for a pair of tickets, she strikes up a friendship with their seller, Damien. Fuelled by their common interest in rugby, their relationship moves forward very quickly. The more they find out about each other, the more they appear to have in common. But having never met, and with over 200 miles between them, can this really be the start of something special?
A true story, Starting With A Click is the collection of emails and messages sent between Catherine and Damien as they came to know each other very well.
As the reviews were so mixed, and some people may still want to read the whole transcript of emails, this version has been left on sale for the foreseeable future.
About the book:
It’s not unusual to find romance online through internet dating - but who would ever think of finding a partner on eBay?
That possibility never occurs to Catherine, happily single and playing the field. Until she goes on eBay in search of tickets to an England rugby match and gets rather more than she was bidding for...
After winning an auction for a pair of tickets, she strikes up a friendship with their seller, Damien. Fuelled by their common interest in rugby, their relationship moves forward very quickly. The more they find out about each other, the more they appear to have in common. But having never met, and with over 200 miles between them, can this really be the start of something special?
A true story, Starting With A Click is the collection of emails and messages sent between Catherine and Damien as they came to know each other very well.
544 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2013
1 person is currently reading
About the author
Estelle Wilkinson
2 books47 followersEstelle Wilkinson was born and raised in the north of England. She worked as an administrator from leaving school and enjoyed life to the full. One part of her life that she thoroughly enjoyed was reading. Since childhood, reading had always been an escape. While at school, she had thrived in English Literature and looked forward to creative writing tasks. She’d just never had the confidence to take that any further. Until now…
In 2003 she had a chance encounter with someone on eBay and their relationship blossomed. The story had been retold and people had suggested it would make a great book. It had never occurred to her to publish one though as, bar what she did at school, she had no history of creative writing and little knowledge of the publishing world. However, after hearing about self-publishing, she decided to take the plunge and released a memoir in February 2013. Following some very mixed reviews, she took a very brave and bold decision to rework the book and make changes suggested in the more negative reviews. The new version, It Started With A Click: The Story of an eBay Romance has been re-released in November 2013 and she is currently working on its sequel.
Now living with her husband and two children, she still works as a self-employed administrator for two very different clients: one a national charity and the other a local builder. Between that and her family, she is certainly kept on her toes. The love of creative writing she had as a child has come flooding back to the surface and she’s now looking to try her hand at a fictional novel once the Clicked series is complete.
In 2003 she had a chance encounter with someone on eBay and their relationship blossomed. The story had been retold and people had suggested it would make a great book. It had never occurred to her to publish one though as, bar what she did at school, she had no history of creative writing and little knowledge of the publishing world. However, after hearing about self-publishing, she decided to take the plunge and released a memoir in February 2013. Following some very mixed reviews, she took a very brave and bold decision to rework the book and make changes suggested in the more negative reviews. The new version, It Started With A Click: The Story of an eBay Romance has been re-released in November 2013 and she is currently working on its sequel.
Now living with her husband and two children, she still works as a self-employed administrator for two very different clients: one a national charity and the other a local builder. Between that and her family, she is certainly kept on her toes. The love of creative writing she had as a child has come flooding back to the surface and she’s now looking to try her hand at a fictional novel once the Clicked series is complete.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 18, 2013
Estelle Wilkinson's It Started With A Click: A Memoir of an eBay Romance is a story of our times for our times, about an online romance which springs out of nothing to become something.
Catherine 'meets' Damien when she buys some tickets on ebay for a rugby game. As you do! The two strike up a chatty relationship which has them swapping messages on cars, football teams, bosses, friends and exs. We learn about their characters as they become increasingly revelatory with each other. They are at ease from the start. They literally click, click, click, from the first click. And they don't stop .. clicking.
We learn about Damien's dodgy hips and Catherine's wardrobe full of black trousers. And we see our own lives in what they are watching on TV and how much boozing and partying they are doing.
There must be thousands of such relationships going on right now.
It Started With A Click: A Memoir of an eBay Romance is a mini social history of our times. We see how we are from it and maybe pick up a few tips on how to be from it. Art immitates life and life immitates art.
And we are curious because we are evesdroppers on the most private of exchanges which evolves as the two clickers gradually shed their inhibitions.
Will they hit it off? Yes. Will they do the ugly? What's stopping them? We will them to get on with it. But this is 2004, things have speeded up since then. D and C are polite, measured, respectful and gentle. And the story is a great tease, especially in the second half when they make plans for holidays in Spain and America, but have not actually met for their first weekend at home.
How will it be meeting a beautiful stranger about whom we know so much apart from whether the big click will happen .. in the real.
That said things do progress, in some ways astonishingly so. The notion of them discussing whih football teams their kids will support shows how vigorous their fantasy is.
But what about the ugly? Will they? Will they? We will them to.
They plan holidays, they discuss flights to Las Vagas and Spain. But how about meeting ..
Things progress. Their chit chat becomes increasingly passionate. Our eyes hoover it up. We know them well now, we want them to make it. We want to be there, with them. We want to know, to share their feelings and thrills. Phew.
Yes, the story becomes steamy.
But for this reader it was the struggle between fantasy and reality, which must feature in most online romances, which was the most fascinating angle. How far can fantasy take us?
Over to the two love birds:
DAMIEN: If there's a spark there, let's ignite it, there will be plenty of time for talking over the weekend!
CATHERINE: .. it seems a foregone conclusion that we will meet, melt and pounce, ignite that spark and fall in to bed probably at about the same time that we fall madly in love!
DAMIEN: I've never fancied someone I've never met before, I've never even had a crush on a celebrity or anything like that, which is what makes it all so strange. I really do think I fancy you already - how can a rational 31 year old bloke come out with something like that?
CATHERINE: I don't know! None of it makes sense but it feels really good so you just have to follow your heart! Which is what we're doing by meeting on Friday!!
DAMIEN: I think we're too romantic by half!!
CATHERINE: I think we must be! Is that good?
DAMIEN: It dependes whether we let romance get in the way of reality or reality get in the way of romance. .. I'm not that interested in reality at the moment, just the Catherine Lord fantasy.
CATHERINE: What about the Catherine Lord reality on Friday - will you be interested then?
DAMIEN: Yes, because I think it will be even better than the fantasy!
CATHERINE: It will be!
I thoroughly enjoyed this fly-on-the-wall read and recommend it to you. Estelle Wilkinson's story won my eye and keep me reading with increasing curiosity as the temperature rose steadily.
Catherine 'meets' Damien when she buys some tickets on ebay for a rugby game. As you do! The two strike up a chatty relationship which has them swapping messages on cars, football teams, bosses, friends and exs. We learn about their characters as they become increasingly revelatory with each other. They are at ease from the start. They literally click, click, click, from the first click. And they don't stop .. clicking.
We learn about Damien's dodgy hips and Catherine's wardrobe full of black trousers. And we see our own lives in what they are watching on TV and how much boozing and partying they are doing.
There must be thousands of such relationships going on right now.
It Started With A Click: A Memoir of an eBay Romance is a mini social history of our times. We see how we are from it and maybe pick up a few tips on how to be from it. Art immitates life and life immitates art.
And we are curious because we are evesdroppers on the most private of exchanges which evolves as the two clickers gradually shed their inhibitions.
Will they hit it off? Yes. Will they do the ugly? What's stopping them? We will them to get on with it. But this is 2004, things have speeded up since then. D and C are polite, measured, respectful and gentle. And the story is a great tease, especially in the second half when they make plans for holidays in Spain and America, but have not actually met for their first weekend at home.
How will it be meeting a beautiful stranger about whom we know so much apart from whether the big click will happen .. in the real.
That said things do progress, in some ways astonishingly so. The notion of them discussing whih football teams their kids will support shows how vigorous their fantasy is.
But what about the ugly? Will they? Will they? We will them to.
They plan holidays, they discuss flights to Las Vagas and Spain. But how about meeting ..
Things progress. Their chit chat becomes increasingly passionate. Our eyes hoover it up. We know them well now, we want them to make it. We want to be there, with them. We want to know, to share their feelings and thrills. Phew.
Yes, the story becomes steamy.
But for this reader it was the struggle between fantasy and reality, which must feature in most online romances, which was the most fascinating angle. How far can fantasy take us?
Over to the two love birds:
DAMIEN: If there's a spark there, let's ignite it, there will be plenty of time for talking over the weekend!
CATHERINE: .. it seems a foregone conclusion that we will meet, melt and pounce, ignite that spark and fall in to bed probably at about the same time that we fall madly in love!
DAMIEN: I've never fancied someone I've never met before, I've never even had a crush on a celebrity or anything like that, which is what makes it all so strange. I really do think I fancy you already - how can a rational 31 year old bloke come out with something like that?
CATHERINE: I don't know! None of it makes sense but it feels really good so you just have to follow your heart! Which is what we're doing by meeting on Friday!!
DAMIEN: I think we're too romantic by half!!
CATHERINE: I think we must be! Is that good?
DAMIEN: It dependes whether we let romance get in the way of reality or reality get in the way of romance. .. I'm not that interested in reality at the moment, just the Catherine Lord fantasy.
CATHERINE: What about the Catherine Lord reality on Friday - will you be interested then?
DAMIEN: Yes, because I think it will be even better than the fantasy!
CATHERINE: It will be!
I thoroughly enjoyed this fly-on-the-wall read and recommend it to you. Estelle Wilkinson's story won my eye and keep me reading with increasing curiosity as the temperature rose steadily.
April 1, 2013
I loved that this book is based on a true story. A true modern day internet romance. The hopeless romantic in me loves the whole idea that two people can meet and a romance can grow over something so simple as an eBay transaction.
This is a story of the romance that develops as two people first contact each other over a simple eBay transaction for a ticket to a rugby game. They first email back and forth as they are completing the transaction. Then they slowly start to chat back and forth through emails about their common love of rugby. They email each other on almost a daily basis as they get to know more and more about each other. As they find out about each other you get to see from the inside as the romance and attraction slowly develop. As the romance develops it moves on through stages. First emails, then instant messages, then phone calls, and eventual after spending months getting to know each other they finally meet.
This book is unique and different from anything I have ever read as the contents of the book is the actual emails, instant messages, descriptions of pictures sent to each other, and description of phone calls. It gives you a vantage point that as the read puts you on the inside. As if you where there because you are actually reading the emails and instant messages yourself. You get to see that this couple has a lot in common. And you see step by step as this romance develops.
That being said this book is very slow in the beginning the author even warns the reader of this. It also contains ton of talk about rugby but since the couple meet because of rugby and the romance builds because of the couples common love of the game I agree with the author that it is a very important element of the story. Although the book is very slow in the beginning as the romance develop it gets better. It contains a lot of flirting and even sexual fantasies in the later chapters. I would even venture to say you may think it gets a little steamy as the anticipation of these two finally meeting builds.
I gave this 4 stars with stands for "Really liked it" and I appreciate the author sharing the story of this sweet romance.
This review was written by a true romantic at heart.
Charles Johnson Author of
Love Poems and More From the Heart and Soul of Man
This is a story of the romance that develops as two people first contact each other over a simple eBay transaction for a ticket to a rugby game. They first email back and forth as they are completing the transaction. Then they slowly start to chat back and forth through emails about their common love of rugby. They email each other on almost a daily basis as they get to know more and more about each other. As they find out about each other you get to see from the inside as the romance and attraction slowly develop. As the romance develops it moves on through stages. First emails, then instant messages, then phone calls, and eventual after spending months getting to know each other they finally meet.
This book is unique and different from anything I have ever read as the contents of the book is the actual emails, instant messages, descriptions of pictures sent to each other, and description of phone calls. It gives you a vantage point that as the read puts you on the inside. As if you where there because you are actually reading the emails and instant messages yourself. You get to see that this couple has a lot in common. And you see step by step as this romance develops.
That being said this book is very slow in the beginning the author even warns the reader of this. It also contains ton of talk about rugby but since the couple meet because of rugby and the romance builds because of the couples common love of the game I agree with the author that it is a very important element of the story. Although the book is very slow in the beginning as the romance develop it gets better. It contains a lot of flirting and even sexual fantasies in the later chapters. I would even venture to say you may think it gets a little steamy as the anticipation of these two finally meeting builds.
I gave this 4 stars with stands for "Really liked it" and I appreciate the author sharing the story of this sweet romance.
This review was written by a true romantic at heart.
Charles Johnson Author of
Love Poems and More From the Heart and Soul of Man
April 5, 2013
I found this as a free ebook on Amazon and was intrigued about romance being found on eBay of all places! Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. This book is not a story, but rather a copy/paste transcript of the emails exchanged between the author and her new beau. To be honest, I didn't view this as a "romance" but rather the author herself comes off as a bit of a pest. She buys event tickets from an eBay seller and he seems to be polite about the following exchange, she seems to press on a bit and emails and text messages him after the event and he continues the correspondence. It seemed like she was more interested than he was in pursuing anything more and although it was pretty innocent, his responses read like maybe he was hoping to wrap up the conversation once and for all, but she continued to contact him.
I only got about 3/4 through the book before I put it away. The emails were pretty boring at times and although I'm sure it's fun for the author to recollect on these exchanges, it doesn't appeal to a broader audience. I think I would have preferred more formatting (it's literally a copy/paste, so you see the email addresses and time stamps, etc. for each exchange) and maybe a story version of this encounter, although I think it would boil down to only a few paragraphs: we exchanged emails, we met in person, etc.
I only got about 3/4 through the book before I put it away. The emails were pretty boring at times and although I'm sure it's fun for the author to recollect on these exchanges, it doesn't appeal to a broader audience. I think I would have preferred more formatting (it's literally a copy/paste, so you see the email addresses and time stamps, etc. for each exchange) and maybe a story version of this encounter, although I think it would boil down to only a few paragraphs: we exchanged emails, we met in person, etc.
May 18, 2013
DNF ... ugh I hate that.
I loved the premise, I loved the idea of the transcripts and following this story.
I like it to begin with, finding myself laughing out loud at parts, but it was just too long winded. I know at the start Estelle does warn us it's a slow starter but I personally couldn't get into it, it is a fairly long book. I skipped to 75% and it got a little better, the talk was a lot more what I was expecting but I got bored again by 77% and just read the end.
I tried but this wasn't for me, I really love e romances and I wanted to like this as the idea was fantastic.
The use of exclamation marks was a little tedious at times. I won't read book two. Such a shame, great concept.
I'm giving this two stars for the originality, just unfortunately wasn't for me, had great potential though.
I loved the premise, I loved the idea of the transcripts and following this story.
I like it to begin with, finding myself laughing out loud at parts, but it was just too long winded. I know at the start Estelle does warn us it's a slow starter but I personally couldn't get into it, it is a fairly long book. I skipped to 75% and it got a little better, the talk was a lot more what I was expecting but I got bored again by 77% and just read the end.
I tried but this wasn't for me, I really love e romances and I wanted to like this as the idea was fantastic.
The use of exclamation marks was a little tedious at times. I won't read book two. Such a shame, great concept.
I'm giving this two stars for the originality, just unfortunately wasn't for me, had great potential though.
May 4, 2013
I have read stories that include correspondence between characters before. It's usually written with a story as well, but not this novel. This author seems to have literally copy and pasted her entire correspondence with a potential lover. This lover seems humorous, but lacks much more of a personality, the author seems desperate. I tried to read it anyway, despite it's format. I thought, if she can risk this format, she must have a creative and original well written story. The novel seems to have had no revision, it comes complete with grammatical errors and all (how many times can you use an exclamation mark at the end of one sentence?). This is surely the most pretentious narcissistic literature I have read in a long time.
June 25, 2013
Damian and Catherine "meet" over an eBay purchase, and stay in contact after that first encounter- this is the story of their correspondence
This started off really well, a different take on the normal romance and you could see the friendship develop through their communication. It got very samey towards the end of the book and I think some of it became unnecessary as it built up towards their meeting.
Would I read the sequel - possibly but would be prepared to skip through chunks of it if it became like the last few chapters - it was OK
This started off really well, a different take on the normal romance and you could see the friendship develop through their communication. It got very samey towards the end of the book and I think some of it became unnecessary as it built up towards their meeting.
Would I read the sequel - possibly but would be prepared to skip through chunks of it if it became like the last few chapters - it was OK
May 26, 2013
As someone that used to do the whole "online dating" thing, I wanted to like this "book"...really I did.
1) I wouldn't even classify it as a book in the way that it is written. It's just copies of the emails from the author and a guy that she bought tickets off of on eBay and they struck up a friendship.
2) It was boring after a while.
I struggled to finish it, honestly.
1) I wouldn't even classify it as a book in the way that it is written. It's just copies of the emails from the author and a guy that she bought tickets off of on eBay and they struck up a friendship.
2) It was boring after a while.
I struggled to finish it, honestly.
Read
June 2, 2013I don't want to rate this as I only read about 17%. Idea is cute, meeting through an eBay sale, and it's a true story, which was even nicer. However, it is all copies of emails between the two. Have tried to read this format previously in other books, and I personally don't enjoy it.
I hope this book finds its audience, but unfortunately I am not it.
I hope this book finds its audience, but unfortunately I am not it.
February 20, 2013
Really enjoyed this insight into emails flying to & fro following an ebay transaction. The intensity increasing as their communication became more frequent, and they divulged more & more! Great read...& a freebie for me!
March 2, 2013
I was so excited when I got this book, the title and the blurb got me definitely intrigued and the cover is so chick lit, BUT I am disappointed. It's based on a true story, and that's another thing that got me really really interested. A modern internet fairy tale! I have to admit I did enjoy the first pages, but later on it felt like same things are repeating over and over again. I know these are actual e-mails, and yes I find the whole communication really romantic and sweet BUT this book just couldn't keep my attention. I was constantly checking my progress of pages wanting for things to speed up. It could be my taste in books, but this just didn't work for me. I did find the concept interesting in the beginning, but later on it felt dragging.
April 13, 2013
I read this book as I was curious about the subject matter. It all begins very innocently through an Ebay purchase, but very quickly turns from banter to very raunchy interactions - I was blushing in places!
It felt as though I was a voyeur watching a couple flirting and progressing to the next base.
It was a fun read that was easy to dip in and out of.
It felt as though I was a voyeur watching a couple flirting and progressing to the next base.
It was a fun read that was easy to dip in and out of.
Read
July 13, 2013I've probably bought this too quickly. The concept seemed interesting. But there are very mixed
reviews.. And over 500 pages mere correspondence? We'll see.
July 13th 2013:
No rating because I've only read the first 15% or so and then the end.
Not for me at all.
reviews.. And over 500 pages mere correspondence? We'll see.
July 13th 2013:
No rating because I've only read the first 15% or so and then the end.
Not for me at all.
April 8, 2013
A simple story of a romance started after an ebay purchase detailing the emails and IM's sent by the couple. A bit blah in places but an ok read.
May 12, 2013
CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE TO WAIT FOR READ THE NEXT ONE :(
Ace book!
Ace book!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews