Kick-butt author Michele Hauf spills the goods on classy dames, writing challenges, and the sexiest Bad Boy Brit since Bond. Read on ...

MB: What or who inspired your novel?

MH: My editor! This is actually book No. 2 of a six-author series. The idea for the stories was concocted by an editorial team, and then, they invited six authors to write about each of the six heroines who had been created. We were given very basic info about the heroine, as well as some continuing secondary characters who show up in each of the six books, and were allowed to create our own heroes and story lines. It was both challenging and exciting. It wasn't as though I had to write someone else's story, but yet, I had to take a character, standing there waiting for me, and fit her into an adventure of my own making.

MB: What do you like most about your novel?

MH: The relationship between the heroine and hero. I didn't think they'd get along, at first. Take an upper-crust heiress who is a classically trained musician, a licensed gemologist, and knows how to kick butt, and pair her with a sexy British MI-6 agent who keeps his secrets close and isn't big on the snooty rich folks. But Aston Dane (hero) has such a wonderful sense of humor, that he eventually got my heroine to relax and go with the flow. He really helped to make my heroine breathe, by allowing me to view her through his gorgeous blue eyes.

MB: Who is the most heroic person you know?

MH: Right now, it's not anyone I know, other than knowing them from what I see on TV. All those involved in the hurricane tragedies, be they survivors or rescuers, are certainly heroes in my book.

MB: Who's your romance hero: dark, brooding bad boy or white knight in shining armor?

MH: Gotta go for dark and semi-brooding. A tall, slender, dark-haired man with dark secrets just waiting to be discovered is my cup of tea!

MB: Answer the question you wish an interviewer would ask.

MH: Oh, him? Erm ... where did you hear that? Because Johnny--er, ahem, he would have never let our involvement leak to the press. He has a girlfriend! And children, for heaven's sake! No, I'm not going to say anything about our--