In addition to writing, Layton attended law school in New Orleans and was a practicing attorney for the better part of a decade (even though he still resents having cut his hair for that first interview).  He has also been an intern for the United Nations, an ESL teacher in Central America, a bartender in London, a seller of cheap knives on the streets of Brixton, a door to door phone book deliverer, and the list goes downhill from there.

Layton lives with his wife and son in Miami.

In addition to writing, Layton attended law school in New Orleans and was a practicing attorney for the better part of a decade (even though he still resents having cut his hair for that first interview).  He has also been an intern for the United Nations, an ESL teacher in Central America, a bartender in London, a seller of cheap knives on the streets of Brixton, a door to door phone book deliverer, and the list goes downhill from there.

Layton lives with his wife and son in Miami.

When I receive an email from an independent author asking me to review their novel, to me, it is such an honor, but there are just not enough hours in the day to read all these wonderful books.  But I can share them with you in hopes that you may have some time.  So please help me welcome Ms. Lisa Becker to the CMash blog!!

Lisa Becker had endured her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates, many of which inspired Click: An Online Love Story. She is now happily married to a wonderful man she met online and lives in Manhattan Beach with him and their two daughters. So, if it happened for her, there’s hope for you!
You can visit with Lisa on Facebook and post comments.

Since my novel, Click: An Online Love Story first published, I’ve been asked a myriad of times, “why did you write the book entirely in emails?” Well, many years ago, I read a book called e by Matthew Beaumont which tells the story of a fictitious ad agency vying for a big account, with the story all told in emails. I remember it distinctly, because I was on an airplane from Los Angeles to New York laughing out loud and getting wildly strange looks from my fellow passengers.

After my husband and I married (we met on a popular online dating site), I was recalling some of the hilarious experiences that I had with both traditional and online dating. I decided to capture some of them in writing and from there, a novel emerged. I remembered how much I had enjoyed e and thought that narrative style would work really well for the story I wanted to tell about the online dating world. It was a modern way of storytelling that fit the topic and the times.

Click: An Online Love Story is loosely based on my real-life dating experiences, as well as stories friends have shared with me. In some cases, things are written as they actually occurred. Honestly, how could I forget a date with Pete who started every story (no joke!) with “My buddies and I were out drinking one night”?

In some cases, I’ve drawn on characteristics of people in my personal life to add depth and humor. For example, Shelly’s hilarious habit of giving nicknames to her “man du jour” was inspired by a childhood friend of mine who had a nickname for a guy in college that she admired from across the dorm cafeteria. She called him Maverick because he looked like Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Much like Shelley, she is a self-confident, gorgeous, lovely gal and it wasn’t long before they met and dated for a spell.

And finally, other Click scenarios are exaggerated for comedic affect or are completely fictionalized.

But, the result is – I hope – a fun book for anyone who has ever been in love, been dumped, been on a bad date or is searching for the one. And, as I’ve said many times before, if it happened for me, there’s hope for you.
To download a sample of Click: An Online Love Story, visit here.
 

Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, dating, with a prospect or even a house full of cats, Renee Greene reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-retentive Mark, the overly-judgmental Gretchen and the sexed-up Shelly) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with “My buddies and I were out drinking one night,” to the egotistical B celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC’s, FWD’s and inadvertent Reply to All’s, readers will root for Renee to “click” with the right man.  

When I receive an email from an independent author asking me to review their novel, to me, it is such an honor, but there are just not enough hours in the day to read all these wonderful books.  But I can share them with you in hopes that you may have some time.  So please help me welcome Ms. Lisa Becker to the CMash blog!!

Lisa Becker had endured her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates, many of which inspired Click: An Online Love Story. She is now happily married to a wonderful man she met online and lives in Manhattan Beach with him and their two daughters. So, if it happened for her, there’s hope for you!
You can visit with Lisa on Facebook and post comments.

Since my novel, Click: An Online Love Story first published, I’ve been asked a myriad of times, “why did you write the book entirely in emails?” Well, many years ago, I read a book called e by Matthew Beaumont which tells the story of a fictitious ad agency vying for a big account, with the story all told in emails. I remember it distinctly, because I was on an airplane from Los Angeles to New York laughing out loud and getting wildly strange looks from my fellow passengers.

After my husband and I married (we met on a popular online dating site), I was recalling some of the hilarious experiences that I had with both traditional and online dating. I decided to capture some of them in writing and from there, a novel emerged. I remembered how much I had enjoyed e and thought that narrative style would work really well for the story I wanted to tell about the online dating world. It was a modern way of storytelling that fit the topic and the times.

Click: An Online Love Story is loosely based on my real-life dating experiences, as well as stories friends have shared with me. In some cases, things are written as they actually occurred. Honestly, how could I forget a date with Pete who started every story (no joke!) with “My buddies and I were out drinking one night”?

In some cases, I’ve drawn on characteristics of people in my personal life to add depth and humor. For example, Shelly’s hilarious habit of giving nicknames to her “man du jour” was inspired by a childhood friend of mine who had a nickname for a guy in college that she admired from across the dorm cafeteria. She called him Maverick because he looked like Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Much like Shelley, she is a self-confident, gorgeous, lovely gal and it wasn’t long before they met and dated for a spell.

And finally, other Click scenarios are exaggerated for comedic affect or are completely fictionalized.

But, the result is – I hope – a fun book for anyone who has ever been in love, been dumped, been on a bad date or is searching for the one. And, as I’ve said many times before, if it happened for me, there’s hope for you.
To download a sample of Click: An Online Love Story, visit here.
 

Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, dating, with a prospect or even a house full of cats, Renee Greene reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-retentive Mark, the overly-judgmental Gretchen and the sexed-up Shelly) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with “My buddies and I were out drinking one night,” to the egotistical B celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC’s, FWD’s and inadvertent Reply to All’s, readers will root for Renee to “click” with the right man.  

I am going to let you in on a little secret today.  I am always honored, and a bit nervous, when an author stops by my blog to visit and talk about their latest novel.  And what’s even more amazing is that two years ago, I didn’t even know what a blog was lol.  Today not only am I nervous because of today’s guest, but am star struck as well!!!

I received an email with a request to read an review this author’s book, however, being so behind, I had to say no, which is very hard for me, but offered her to come and visit so that she could tell us all about her book.  She accepted.  In her email were these words  “I’m a recovered soap star turned ghost writer,screenwriter, feral cat wrangler, and novelist.”  Me, being inquisitive, I visited her website, and couldn’t believe my eyes.  I had just booked an author, who was on a “soap” that I had watched on and off from when I was in High School, Days Of Our Lives.  So if I appear more anxious, you now know why.

So, please, help me give a warm welcome to multi talented, Staci Greason, to the CMash blog!!!

The Last Great American Housewife isn’t the first book she’s written, but it is the first one published under the name her parents gave her. Which has made them proud.
You can visit Staci at her website.
 

ABOUT THE BOOK
Kate Miller may be THE LAST GREAT AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE left in Van Nuys. But as she sails toward forty on the wave of a pretty good (albeit somewhat boring) life with a husband and two kids, the death of her dysfunctional mother sends Kate out on the ledge…and straight up a tree. Surveying her life from atop an endangered Ponderosa Pine near The Fashion Square Plaza Mall, Kate learns more than how to fight for a cause. She learns how one frightened woman can actually discover her true self, one branch at a time. And right down the street from her own backyard.

UPDATE:  THE PB EDITION WILL BE RELEASED MID SEPTEMBER!!

I am going to let you in on a little secret today.  I am always honored, and a bit nervous, when an author stops by my blog to visit and talk about their latest novel.  And what’s even more amazing is that two years ago, I didn’t even know what a blog was lol.  Today not only am I nervous because of today’s guest, but am star struck as well!!!

I received an email with a request to read an review this author’s book, however, being so behind, I had to say no, which is very hard for me, but offered her to come and visit so that she could tell us all about her book.  She accepted.  In her email were these words  “I’m a recovered soap star turned ghost writer,screenwriter, feral cat wrangler, and novelist.”  Me, being inquisitive, I visited her website, and couldn’t believe my eyes.  I had just booked an author, who was on a “soap” that I had watched on and off from when I was in High School, Days Of Our Lives.  So if I appear more anxious, you now know why.

So, please, help me give a warm welcome to multi talented, Staci Greason, to the CMash blog!!!

The Last Great American Housewife isn’t the first book she’s written, but it is the first one published under the name her parents gave her. Which has made them proud.
You can visit Staci at her website.
 

ABOUT THE BOOK
Kate Miller may be THE LAST GREAT AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE left in Van Nuys. But as she sails toward forty on the wave of a pretty good (albeit somewhat boring) life with a husband and two kids, the death of her dysfunctional mother sends Kate out on the ledge…and straight up a tree. Surveying her life from atop an endangered Ponderosa Pine near The Fashion Square Plaza Mall, Kate learns more than how to fight for a cause. She learns how one frightened woman can actually discover her true self, one branch at a time. And right down the street from her own backyard.

UPDATE:  THE PB EDITION WILL BE RELEASED MID SEPTEMBER!!

Melissa Foster has been a guest here for her books Megan’s Way and Chasing Amanda.  Working with her during both her tours, she has also become a friend.  She is the nicest, caring, kind, and genuine person, taking time out of her busy schedule, checking in with me to see how things are going in my personal life, sending words of encouragement.  Nothing makes her happier than to know that her books brings happiness to her readers, other than her family.

Megan’s Way hit #2 on Amazon’s Top Rated Fiction list today, just below The Help. I had been flying high since I found out, which was quite by accident. I was searching Amazon to see if Chasing Amanda had climbed the ranks of Top Rated Fiction (it’s #57), when lo and behold, on page one was Megan’s Way!
Fame…debunked
I didn’t think anything could put a damper on my day, until I read a review that noted poor editing in my book. What? Megan’s Way had been edited many times. I was taken aback–surely there was an error. The reader noted missing returns between character’s sentences, which sent up a vibrant red flag. I was certain there were none of those types errors in the document. My book had won several awards, wouldn’t those reviewers have noted the alleged errors?
A search of the hard copy of Megan’s Way proved no such errors existed. No missing line breaks. My heart sped up, and my hands began to shake. My son asked me a question and I could not answer. I was in panic mode. A memory came racing back to me. I had found two errors in the Kindle version of Megan’s Way a few weeks earlier, and I had wanted to fix them. The only copy of the full manuscript that I had with the publisher’s logo on it was a PDF. I knew a PDF could not be uploaded to Amazon Kindle, so I paid someone (who came highly recommended and shall remain anonymous) to convert the PDF to a Word document and insure that the file was formatted properly for the Kindle. She did so, and the file was uploaded. Shame on me for not thinking to re-edit the document.
Truth be known, I had no idea that converting from a PDF to a Word document could cause such errors. I have no idea what that person did, or how the errors occurred, but sure enough, there were missing line breaks. I could see how the reader would misconstrue the conversion issue as an editing issue. By now, I’ve abandoned panic and I’ve accepted that I must take responsibility for these errors. After all, the book is mine. I should have had the file re-edited after the conversion was done. Live and learn…the hard way.
My editor is going through the file with a fine tooth comb. In the meantime, we’ve reuploaded the original version (minus the two errors). This is quite the learning experience. Let me clue everyone in on another conversion error which we cannot seem to fix. The Word document is perfectly formatted–no hidden page or line breaks, proper indentations are in place. When the file is uploaded to Kindle, we are able to preview the ebook. We did this with the new file. There don’t seem to be missing returns or lost capitalizations, but there are other conversion issues. Where there is heavy dialogue, the second line of the dialogue is indented to match the first line. This is not consistent, and there is no hidden HTML that is causing the issue. In this exciting new technology-driven world of ours, I’m finding that there are a few things that are out of our control. My only hope is that readers will see past these slight conversion issues and review the stories we authors write for the value of the stories themselves.
I would like to thank my author friends who have reached out to me, having undergone the same types of conversion issues, and the same slamming in reviews. I would like to thank my readers who have been kind enough to review my books, and now that I know about these errors, for looking past them and seeing the beauty in the story. I would also like to thank the reviewers who noted these items that marred my reputations, because with out those reviews, I wouldn’t have known to fix them. Thank you.
Lastly, to the 40,000+ readers who have downloaded Megan’s Way over the past week, I hope you will redownload the corrected file after 8/17/11 and read Megan’s Way without the distraction of errors. I extend my heartfelt apologies for the conversion errors.
My thoughts on all of this? Being a writer is a scary process. I’ve always said it’s like standing on a street corner naked. One never knows if they’ll be whistled at or beaned with tomatoes. I prefer the whistles, but that’s not always the case. This is a learning process for all of us. eReaders are new, conversion processes are difficult. Why, just last night I was reading a traditionally published book on my Kindle, when it ran out of batteries. I clicked on my iPad to continue reading, and words that were not bold on the regular Kindle were bold on the Kindle for iPad. This tells me that the whole ebook world is also still being figured out by the “big guys”, whoever they may be. I hope my story helps other authors, and I hope it help readers and reviewers, too. Sometimes it’s worth taking a step back and trying to determine if it’s the story that is failing or the technology, or perhaps both.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and my books.
Melissa

Melissa Foster has been a guest here for her books Megan’s Way and Chasing Amanda.  Working with her during both her tours, she has also become a friend.  She is the nicest, caring, kind, and genuine person, taking time out of her busy schedule, checking in with me to see how things are going in my personal life, sending words of encouragement.  Nothing makes her happier than to know that her books brings happiness to her readers, other than her family.

Megan’s Way hit #2 on Amazon’s Top Rated Fiction list today, just below The Help. I had been flying high since I found out, which was quite by accident. I was searching Amazon to see if Chasing Amanda had climbed the ranks of Top Rated Fiction (it’s #57), when lo and behold, on page one was Megan’s Way!
Fame…debunked
I didn’t think anything could put a damper on my day, until I read a review that noted poor editing in my book. What? Megan’s Way had been edited many times. I was taken aback–surely there was an error. The reader noted missing returns between character’s sentences, which sent up a vibrant red flag. I was certain there were none of those types errors in the document. My book had won several awards, wouldn’t those reviewers have noted the alleged errors?
A search of the hard copy of Megan’s Way proved no such errors existed. No missing line breaks. My heart sped up, and my hands began to shake. My son asked me a question and I could not answer. I was in panic mode. A memory came racing back to me. I had found two errors in the Kindle version of Megan’s Way a few weeks earlier, and I had wanted to fix them. The only copy of the full manuscript that I had with the publisher’s logo on it was a PDF. I knew a PDF could not be uploaded to Amazon Kindle, so I paid someone (who came highly recommended and shall remain anonymous) to convert the PDF to a Word document and insure that the file was formatted properly for the Kindle. She did so, and the file was uploaded. Shame on me for not thinking to re-edit the document.
Truth be known, I had no idea that converting from a PDF to a Word document could cause such errors. I have no idea what that person did, or how the errors occurred, but sure enough, there were missing line breaks. I could see how the reader would misconstrue the conversion issue as an editing issue. By now, I’ve abandoned panic and I’ve accepted that I must take responsibility for these errors. After all, the book is mine. I should have had the file re-edited after the conversion was done. Live and learn…the hard way.
My editor is going through the file with a fine tooth comb. In the meantime, we’ve reuploaded the original version (minus the two errors). This is quite the learning experience. Let me clue everyone in on another conversion error which we cannot seem to fix. The Word document is perfectly formatted–no hidden page or line breaks, proper indentations are in place. When the file is uploaded to Kindle, we are able to preview the ebook. We did this with the new file. There don’t seem to be missing returns or lost capitalizations, but there are other conversion issues. Where there is heavy dialogue, the second line of the dialogue is indented to match the first line. This is not consistent, and there is no hidden HTML that is causing the issue. In this exciting new technology-driven world of ours, I’m finding that there are a few things that are out of our control. My only hope is that readers will see past these slight conversion issues and review the stories we authors write for the value of the stories themselves.
I would like to thank my author friends who have reached out to me, having undergone the same types of conversion issues, and the same slamming in reviews. I would like to thank my readers who have been kind enough to review my books, and now that I know about these errors, for looking past them and seeing the beauty in the story. I would also like to thank the reviewers who noted these items that marred my reputations, because with out those reviews, I wouldn’t have known to fix them. Thank you.
Lastly, to the 40,000+ readers who have downloaded Megan’s Way over the past week, I hope you will redownload the corrected file after 8/17/11 and read Megan’s Way without the distraction of errors. I extend my heartfelt apologies for the conversion errors.
My thoughts on all of this? Being a writer is a scary process. I’ve always said it’s like standing on a street corner naked. One never knows if they’ll be whistled at or beaned with tomatoes. I prefer the whistles, but that’s not always the case. This is a learning process for all of us. eReaders are new, conversion processes are difficult. Why, just last night I was reading a traditionally published book on my Kindle, when it ran out of batteries. I clicked on my iPad to continue reading, and words that were not bold on the regular Kindle were bold on the Kindle for iPad. This tells me that the whole ebook world is also still being figured out by the “big guys”, whoever they may be. I hope my story helps other authors, and I hope it help readers and reviewers, too. Sometimes it’s worth taking a step back and trying to determine if it’s the story that is failing or the technology, or perhaps both.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and my books.
Melissa