Dear Editor: With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, you must be looking for good content for your paper or your holiday insert. Alison James is a best-selling author with an expertise in the relationship and lifestyle issues that affect young women. Her first book debuted in April 2004 entitled “I Used to Miss Him…But My Aim is Improving: Not Your Ordinary Breakup Survival Guide.” Her second book is coming out in April 2005 and it is called “The 10 Women You’ll Be Before You’re 35.” Alison’s work has been in Maxim, The Wall Street Journal, Woman’s Own, The New York Post and 100 other newspapers and publications. She’s been on over 150 radio shows. If you are interested in reviewing her books or setting up a time to interview her, let me know. I’ve also attached an article below that Alison wrote and it would be great if you decided to print it in one of your issues. We just ask that you mention Alison’s books and website at the bottom. Sincerely,

Thomas Howe 212- 965-2388

Valentine’s Day is Here…for Better or for Worse by Alison James

Like all the holidays, Valentine’s Day has become a commercial event with stores pushing everything from heart-shaped chocolate to red and pink socks. But as annoying as it might be to walk into a mall the day after New Year’s only to find Cupid and his arrows pointing directly at you, all of the holidays give us a chance to do something a little different with our lives – they break up the monotony and allow us to reflect. Think about the routine nature of what we do every day. The weeks seem to blend together. At times, a day is more memorable when something bad happens: a difficult test, a bad breakup, an embarrassing moment. The holidays give us a chance to remember the people and events of our lives in a positive way and allow us to forget the negatives. If you dread February 14th because you don’t have that special someone in your life, remember this: It might seem as if everybody around you is in love, as if birds are flying overhead in twos and even the nerd in your lecture has a girlfriend, but the reality is that most people go it alone, with friends, on Valentine’s Day and you can too. Don’t lose sight of what this holiday is supposed to be about — love, celebration, and all those cheesy but important things we push aside because we’re so busy. Take time to enjoy the day in a unique way, and make it one to remember.

* Send everyone you care about a card – your mother, your father, your annoying sister, or a friend from high school you have lost touch with. * Take time to remember what you did on all the Valentine’s Days past, and take stock in how far you’ve come instead of thinking about how much further you have to go. * Plan a party with friends and leave the significant others behind for the day. They’ll probably be thankful you took the pressure off them. * Take the opportunity to show yourself a little affection. Sleep in, eat junk food, pretend you’re sick and skip the stuff you hate. * Have a little fun. Stick that ex’s photo on a pink pi