Welcome to our New Faces column, where we are pleased to introduce some of the newest authors in the romance genre. This time we're visiting with Lauren Bach, whose first release is Lone Rider, now available from Warner.

Lauren, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself.

I was born in Iowa, but raised in Florida, so some days it feels like I've got Mississippi mud in my veins; at other times, orange juice. I'm from a large family and am especially close with all six of my brothers and sisters. Their children - my nieces and nephews - feel like they are my own children, and vice versa. My pride and joy - my son - is in the U.S. Army. And I'm one of those rare, lucky, individuals who is married to her best friend! If I had to pick one person to be stranded on an island with...it would be my husband. Can you tell family means a lot to me?

Are you coming to romance writing from another job?

Prior to quitting work a year ago to write full time, I worked as an accountant at a CPA firm in downtown Chapel Hill, NC. (When you read LONE RIDER you'll see hints of my fondness for downtown Chapel Hill!) Working in accounting honed my business skills, which I think writers need every bit as much as they need creativity. I'm used to dealing with deadlines, used to working with a variety of people, used to working with complex issues like contracts and taxes. And anybody who thinks "bean counting" is boring needs to work with the people I worked with! They were dynamic, stimulating and outrageously funny. I still visit every chance I get.

What led you to write romance?

I've been an avid reader of anything I could get my hands on since mastering DICK AND JANE. And I've written stories since grade school. My first love was mystery. Second, was science fiction. Then, in my early twenties, I discovered romance, and flipped. I knew immediately "this" was what I wanted to write.

>From the beginning, I had a huge respect for the genre - the cleverness and skill of the writers. Kathleen Woodiwiss and Johanna Lindsey were two of my early favorites. Exceptional storytelling fascinates me. After I'd read a particularly good book, I'd go back and reread it and try to figure out how they swept me up. The hard part with trying to do that was the truly good reads are so seamless, so all-encompassing, I'd get swept right back up and forget what I was looking for.

Tell us about your road to publication.

The road has been long, with several dead-ends. Persistence has definitely been my strong point. I wrote my first romance over twenty years ago, with no real clue about how or where to submit, or what I was even doing. And I had no idea that writers REVISED. I'd write one story, set it aside and start another. I couldn't not write.

In the mid 80s I attended my first writer's conference where I met one of my long-time critique partners (and close friend!) We heard about RWA, joined, and eventually decided to do some joint writing. A manuscript we co-authored finaled in the Golden Heart in the late 80s, but then I moved out of state and the joint writing became too difficult. But we still critique. And brainstorm. I have another critique partner (and close friend!) that I met online over five years ago. We were both unpublished at the time, and she sold before I did. We swap stuff online and do a lot of email or online brainstorming. Both of my critique partners are WONDERFUL writers. And I'm a better writer for having worked with them. There's definitely a comfort level with them that comes from time. Both these ladies can usually finish a thought for me and I'm comfortable bouncing rough ideas off of them.

I submitted my first story to a publisher in the mid-80s. It got rejected. I kept writing and submitting, but in a rather hit and miss pattern over the next several years. About five years ago I decided to really give it my all, and sold about three and half years later. By giving it my all, I mean I wrote every spare moment I had. I started submitting more, and began entering contests. I still got rejected a lot, but my rejection letters were positive, with praise for my writing style, which helped keep me going. Then I started consistently finaling in contests. I won the Golden Heart in 1999 in single title. That same story sold a year later to Warner books and was retitled as LONE RIDER.

What kind of research was involved for your first book?

Most of my research centered around federal laws, since I have a criminal element in my book. I also made contact with a lawyer who works in the federal court system to make certain my legal scenarios were "logical" and that my interpretation of the laws I'd researched was accurate.

The old adage "write what you know" played heavily into this story. My locations were mostly areas I'd visited, or knew from living there. For example, some of the setting is in Montana. My father and brother live in Montana - a place I can't visit enough! Some of the book is set in North Carolina. I live in North Carolina. As for the biker element....well living in Florida, I've spent time in Daytona Beach, during Bike Week. Family and friends also contribute and help. I've got law enforcement people in my family, and for friends, so they're a help, too.

Who are your influences as a writer?

The "craft" masters. The people who've written some of the best how-to stuff on writing. I was always more concerned about finding my own voice, my own unique way. Some of the books I cut my teeth on - books that really helped things click for me - include: Robert Newton Peck's FICTION IS FOLKS and SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL FICTION, Lawrence Block's WRITING THE NOVEL and TELLING LIES FOR FUN & PROFIT, Dwight Swain's TECHNIQUES OF THE SELLING WRITER, Gabriele Lusser Rico's WRITING THE NATURAL WAY, William Zinsser's ON WRITING WELL, and, Betty Edwards's DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN.

What does your family think of having a romance author in their midst?

They are absolutely thrilled, though honestly, they don't make a distinction between my being a "romance" author versus just a plain old "author". My parents have forever been supportive, but probably the most intense, long-term support has come from my brothers and sisters, who've watched me chase this dream for years, and always, always, ALWAYS, encouraged me. They were the ones who listened to me whine and cry, through all the ups and downs; and who celebrated every small victory with me. My son grew up watching me write, and is a wonderful writer himself. He's thrilled that I've achieved this dream and was always the first to say "you'll do it, mom". And of course there is my husband. He's the one that pushed me to draw a line in the sand and quit my job to pursue writing full time - before I ever sold. Talk about blind faith!

Tell us about plans for future books.

I'm currently wrapping up revisions on SLOW HANDS, my second book, to be released in Summer 2002. Warner is including an excerpt of SLOW HANDS in the back of LONE RIDER. I'm polishing a proposal for book three, and working on another story as well. I've usually got at least two projects working at once, and tend to flip between them, switching from one to the other when I hit a wall. The distance I achieve by letting a project sit for a couple weeks is very helpful and I don't have a problem slipping from one story to the other.

How can readers get in touch with you?

I hope they'll visit my website: www.laurenbach.com and drop me an email!

Lauren, thanks for joining us and best of luck with your books! December 7, 2001