News Staff
Ferbuary 9, 2000

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and you're wondering what to get your honeylamb.

    Flowers? Yawn.
    Candy? Borrrring.
    Lingerie? Dicey.
    Then what, you ask?
    Hey, Hemmingway, put her in the novel. And not just any old novel -- a romance novel.

If you're worried you don't know how to write a novel, worry no more. Just use your phone or computer to access Love's Next Door, a  romance novel you can personalize by filling out a questionnaire that enables you to pick the names of the heroine, the hero, a friend and a villain as well as some of their physical characteristics, favorite drinks, etc.

The brainstorm of a Canadian Mike Pocock, Love's Next Door was ghost-written by two female authors in such a way that your personalized selections are seamlessly included in the text.

The paperback book arrives printed and bound, featuring what-ever name you want on the cover.

Since you can't judge a book by its cover, you should know the plot. Our heroine is a magazine editor who has moved to the Big City to start her own magazine. Eventually, she grows homesick and returns home. Of course, there's a hero - in this case, the boy next door who attended school with her.

Our hero already has a girlfriend, but don't worry about her. "She's a nasty bit of business," Pocock says. "She gets what's coming to her in the end."

The cost of adding your two cents to a dime novel is $29.95 (plus $2.95 shipping and handling).

Romance By You, the publishing company, offers you a chance to see what a few sample pages will look like through its Web site.  Just fill out the questionnaire and read the excerpts.

Although the time between ordering and delivery normally is two to three weeks, with expedited delivery there's a chance you could get it by Valentine's Day.

But you'd better hurry.  After all, how many chances do you have to send a present that are truly, well, novel?

You can reach Romance By You by phone toll-free at (877) 659-4844 or online at www.romancebyyou.com.

Reprint courtesy of the Denver Rocky Mountain News.