actually, Stacy, it's not cheating. You just list the wood as ebonized -----. This is subtilly different from "dying" it, although that's what you're essentially doing. Buyers will tend to react with more of a "cool, how do they do that" reaction than with an "aw, it's not real ebony" reaction.
It's actually environmentally better too, as ebony is an endangered wood and various African regimes fund themselves with illegal wood sales. Also, ebony is quite toxic in dust form so it's safer to use other woods.
You might want to try pecan and see how well it ebonizes. Nice dense wood. Just avoid the woods with highly visible grain such as oak or ash. In fact, cherry might work well. Check out the thread on aging it.
Dietrich