INEVITABLY in romantic fiction, when a heroine finally meets her Mr Right he will be an exotic specimen swathed in glamour and mystery.
But in a newly published book based on a series of real- life dating mishaps, the knight in shining armour runs a humble art studio in Dunstable.
The recent publication of Girl Meets Boys has also left an extra-sweet taste on the tongue of Milton Keynes writer Louise Gibney as it comes after 12 months of tears, sweat and rejection.
Having finished her debut book, which recounts a year of dating fraught with illegal immigrants, cases of mistaken identity and indecent sexual proposals, Louise, 26, started out on the thorny road to publication by pursuing a slew of traditional publishing houses.
Although garnering a positive response, the book, only half the length of a typical novel at 109 pages, was deemed too short.
After six months of rejection, the author, who currently writes a column in MK Pulse magazine, began to delve into the world of self-publication.
She organised a short-story competition for the Royal Wedding in April and began to test the waters of self-publication as she went about publishing the resulting anthology.
After more research and colleague recommendations, Louise settled on Lulu.com, an open publishing company which uses the route of self-publication as the avenue to get her story to print.
“I had to take on the all the editing and marketing myself, which was a huge ordeal,” said Louise.
The author’s hard work soon began to pay off, however, as she began to promote her book on radio shows, galvanised support from a Facebook page and was praised warmly by a dating website in Leicester.
With an official book launch slated for next month and a request to host a Northampton book evening, Louise can finally put her struggle-laden year behind her. “It was hard work but worthwhile to see the book in print. It’s a story worth telling!” she said.
As for Dunstable’s Mr Right, Louise told the Gazette: ‘We’ve now moved in together, but he hasn’t read the book in its completed form yet. He’s been very supportive and under my insistence I hope he will eventually read it all.”
Although the events in the book would make even the most seasoned dater quake in their stilettos, Louise still reserves a fondness for her unlucky-in-love experiences.
“It wasn’t merely a succession of horrific encounters,” recalled Louise.
“I met some genuinely nice people along the way – people who I’ve kept in contact with and contacted about the publication of the book.”
Girl Meet Boys, which was published November 3, is available from Amazon at £5.99.
Having exhausted her dramatic dating foibles in this book, Louise told the Gazette her next story will be a decidedly more inventive affair – a pure fiction novel based on twins.
