The Bachelor Chronicles was actually my second contemporary series effort. The first, a dark, edgy reunion story, made the rounds at Harlequin/Silhouette but never sold, mostly, I think, because it featured too many depressing elements. So when I began to think about writing another, I was determined to come up with a lighter, more upbeat concept, one more suitable for series.

One thought kept rolling around in my head, something I'd heard from one of my critique partners. That thought centered around a way to build conflict right from the start in my book. It was basically this: If your heroine is an arsonist, your hero had better be a fireman. (Photo: Lissa at her desk with writing consultants Angel, left, and Lexi, right.)

Okay, so they needed to be opposites, or at the very least have opposing goals. I wanted the heroine to be a struggling reporter working on a story about local bachelors--that good old, tried and true bachelor hook coming to life. So it made sense to make the hero one of the bachelors she has to interview, and, keeping the opposing goal idea in mind, I decided I had to make the hero hate the press for some reason. I didn't know why, just that he did. Of course, he had to be a millionaire bachelor in contrast to her working girl status, and wouldn't it be cool if he owned a chain of coffee houses, like Starbucks?

So I had the basic premise, the external conflict, and broad character ideas about my hero and heroine. What about the title? Some writers don't have the title to start out with, but I always do because my titles reflect some important component of the book. I knew the heroine was writing an article about bachelors, and I'd decided I wanted the title of the book to actually be the title of the article she was writing in the book. I had to include the word bachelor, since it was an integral part of my hook, but I needed more, some word that would get across that the book was a story about a bachelor, just as the article in the book was going to be. I had to tie the two together.

I struggled with this for a day or so, and I'll never forget when I figured it out. I was taking a shower in our apartment in Hong Kong, my mind spinning, trying to come up with a catchy word that meant a story about something. And all of the sudden it hit me. Chronicles. The heroine would be writing a story about wealthy bachelors entitled The Bachelor Chronicles and the title of my book would be the same. It was perfect, and interestingly enough, my editor told me that one of the reasons she read my initial submission so quickly (overnight!) was that the title intrigued her. I sat down to start that book that very day, and even though the book was revised a few times, the title and core premise have remained the same. The same 'chronicle' premise will come to life in September 2003 when The Bridal Chronicles is released, and some time in 2004 with The Baby Chronicles. Keep your eyes open for both.

>> October 2002: Living it up at the party of the year, RT's Convention in Reno, the party town! Very little work and a lot of play!