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Once upon a time, when I was about eight years old, I decided I wanted to star in my own romance novel. I had been reading a lot and thought they were cool, and I could never find books where any of the characters, let along the main one, had my name. We had writing sessions every day at school, and I thought that this would clearly be a perfect opportunity. What our teacher didn't tell us about those writing sessions is that she would selecting and reading some out loud. I wasn't there the day she read mine but I certainly heard about it after the fact, and I still cringe when I think about it. I was mortified. It was years before I would share any of my stories ever again. I still don't like writing fiction and I put it all back to that moment. If only I had been aware that you could get books customized to star you and your friends.
I was totally unaware that these books existed when I was a kid. The peak of coolness was really getting pencils that had your full name stamped on them (which I never did and I'm still somewhat bitter about and should just order myself some already). I've been aware for many years now that you could get children's books customized with a child's name, and I've even seen kiosks for them in some malls. I've considered buying one for a friend of mine who can never find anything with her name on it, something that irritated her when we were kids. But the discovery that you can get novels customized -- novels! -- kind of blew my mind. I mean, sure, I can create my own blog, write my own stories and generally plaster my name across the internet if I want, but to have a novel with name in it? WOW!
While you can get several different kinds of novels customized, including romances (even a Nascar-inspired one) and mysteries, the new teen line of these customizable novels from Books By You that really caught my attention. The teen line offers three options; one that is Pride and Prejudice inspired but centers around the high school prom, another that would be a hit for fans of Twilight and a third option that delves into werewolf territory and I suspect is a bit of a play on the Jack the Ripper mystery.
When I first looked at these I started to giggle. Who wouldn't want to star in their own version of Pride and Prejudice? I read the book for the first time when I was 10 or 11, and I have very fond memories of watching the BBC mini-series with my mother when I was in high school. More than 15 years after it was released, Colin Firth as Fitwilliam Darcy still makes me swoon. If in my tweens or teens someone had offered me to customize a copy of the story for myself, like you can with Prom and Prejudice, I would have jumped at the chance. Heck, I'm seriously thinking about jumping at the chance now. It's been weeks since I've found this site and I've been pondering what characteristics I'd give the perfect Mr. Darcy, because yes, I can choose his physical characteristics. Well, most of them at least. Unfortunately you don't seem to be able to choose skin color or race. Also unfortunate is that you don't get to pick who plays the evil villain Wickham. I have a few ex-boyfriends that I'd like have star in that role. Oh, or Mr. Collins. Yes, immortalizing one of them as Mr. Collins would fill me with much glee.
I think the reason that this book service, and others like it, is so brilliant is that so many of us get a thrill out of seeing our names in print. While my name is not uncommon (I went to school with at least four other Karens), there never seemed to be be very many Karens in the books I read. So strong was my desire to see identify with someone with my name beyond my community, I once chose to a do biography project on someone in elementary school because their first name was Karen. It happened to be Karen Kain, then a principal dancer at the National Ballet of Canada. After reading it one of my
