One Girl's Chronicle of Romance in the Cyber Era gives "YOU'VE GOT FE-MAIL!"(TM) a Zesty Twist

Online dating, email correspondence, text messaging and instant messaging take the place of phone in today's dating environment. Lesbian author Kristin Cranford tells what it's like from the gay woman's perspective.

(PRWEB) April 18, 2004

A cross between “Sex and The City” and “Bridget Jones Diary” - The quest for true love is now conducted in Internet half sentences and clever abbreviations.

Singles today have at hand a whole new array of instant communications presented by the Internet that can be used to pursue romantic prospects—email, instant messenging, text messenging. Blind dates and phone calls have gone the way of dinosaurs when you can look up your candidate, get a picture, email a few times and move on to the next.

Single men and women are learning the new vocabulary and etiquette of Internet instant dating all over the world. Kristin Cranford, a relatively shy 34-year-old lesbian looking for love in Los Angeles, has now penned the first chronicle on what it’s like to be beeped, instant messengered and text messengered at the same time, while trying to juggle your social calendar.

A humourous and lighted-hearted take on her adventures in gay online dating, “You’ve Got Fe-Mail!” ( Author House ) is a diary of Cranford’s experience over the course of several months. She blends the confessional elements of “Sex and The City” and “Bridget Jones Diary” to explore how one pursues love over the Internet. “You’ve Got Fe-Mail!” has a universal theme told through the specific lens of the gay experience.

As Cranford says,”It’s the tale of a lesbian who posted an online ad, then added her photo and then the courting began!” After having been in several long term relationships, upon embarking on the online dating adventure, the sudden bombardment of internet messages was a shock to her sensibilities. But perfectly attuned to the newest trends in electronic communications through her work, she takes to it with gusto, eschewing the phone.

We share with Cranford as she juggles ex-partners, new prospects and long distance romances, while she sorts through the messages to find a serious love interest.

“Most of us single people are encountering this brave new world of instant communication, creating a false urgency to respond, “ says Cranford. “We are compelled to act, which is sometimes revealing about us, but just a revealing about the other person. It’s still a new phenomenon that we are all just learning to navigate. Sharing the experience with the world is a fun way for others to see what’s in store for them.“

But “You’ve Got Fe-Mail!” is also universal in that it addresses the collective need to find a soul-mate, someone who understands, loves and appreciates. What better way to find that person than through extended, philosolphical discussions and explorations told in Internet-speak? “You’ve Got Fe-Mail!” finds the right balance between the Internet dating mania and tender probing of the heart through email.

The author describes herself in her online ad as: ” feminine, athletic, outgoing, animal lover and adverturous. I love to travel, workout or just hang out at home, cuddle and watch a movie. I am looking for someone who is independent, yet capable of sharing her life with me.” Cranford, who lives in Beverly Hills, CA with her cocker spaniel “Lady”, works as production manager for The World Poker Tour, the hit television show on The Travel Channel. A graduate of San Diego State University with a BA in English, Cranford has long desired to become an author and is now at work on her second book.

For more information on “You’ve Got Fe-Mail!”, go to the website: http://www.youvegotfemail.com. The book can be purchased through BarnesandNoble.com and/or Amazon.com for an average price of $11.50 for paperback and $ 19.50 for hardcover.

Editor’s Note: Review copies available upon request.

# # #