If you haven\u2019t finalized your Valentine\u2019s Day plans this close to the big day, chances are you\u2019re either very secure in your last-minute logistical skills … or you\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those still scrambling, Military Times went to the experts: A half-dozen veterans who\u2019ve transitioned into the world of romance writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get some intel from their tips below. Need further reading on romance? Click the links to find their latest works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MAKE \u2018MORE TIME FOR LOVE\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe best gifts are the ones that make life easier so there\u2019s more time for love, and when you serve in uniform, every second counts,\u201d writes M.L. Doyle<\/a>, a former Army Reservist who now works as a civilian at Maryland\u2019s Fort Meade when she\u2019s not writing romance novels, mysteries and memoirs<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTry a year\u2019s worth of boxed meals so dinner isn\u2019t a chore. Give gift certificates for Uber or Lyft so driving everyone here and there doesn\u2019t eat into an already tight schedule. And I don\u2019t know a single woman who wouldn\u2019t jump for joy if given a year\u2019s worth of maid service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cImagine the extra time you\u2019d both have if your hands weren\u2019t busy scrubbing and were free for other, more pleasant things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH DUTY<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHaving your sweetheart on duty on Feb. 14 is a blessing in disguise, as you\u2019ll be able to take a rain check for a romantic night on the town and instead take it on an evening that is not plagued with Valentine\u2019s Day crowds,\u201d writes Megan Westfield<\/a>, whose five-year stint as a naval surface warfare officer included a deployment to Iraq with an Army unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the meantime, consider delivering a special meal to your sweetheart\u2019s duty station and, if you are allowed, eat that meal together on-site,\u201d Westfield writes. \u201cOr, you could treat your sweetheart\u2019s entire duty section by bringing some homemade valentine goodies to share or some fun valentine touches for the break room, like a bouquet of red-and-white balloons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n Army officer Jessica Scott<\/a>, who published<\/a> her first book in 2011 while a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas, writes about a gift from her husband while he was deployed to Iraq in 2004:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe\u2019s never been the sentimental type,\u201d writes Scott, now a professor at the U.S. Military Academy. \u201cThe first Valentine\u2019s Day he was deployed, he sent me an email with the subject line: \u2018happy valentine\u2019s day.\u2019 It\u2019s the middle of the night but I was constantly checking my computer looking for emails from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI open it and it\u2019s the [\u2019Saturday Night Live\u2018] video for \u2018D*ck in a Box<\/a>.\u2019 It\u2019s two o\u2019clock in the morning and I am absolutely crying with laughter because I miss him so much and him making me laugh the absolutely perfect Valentine\u2019s Day gift. I\u2019ve always appreciated the fact that because we\u2019re two soldiers, we both have the same warped sense of humor. Laughter is the best gift he can give.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t