Doing research is my least favorite part of writing fiction. Maybe that dread is a throwback to my days in college where research was an integral part of my psychology major. My favorite part of writing is the freedom to blatantly make things up. But, I realize that a book isn't believable unless you have a grounding in reality. Hence, the need for research.

Whenever possible it's great to do research first hand. For my book, Lilah's List, coming out in January, I got to go to New York City, tour the sites as though I'd never seen them before, and dine in very nice restaurants.

Unfortunately, I won't have the benefit of first hand experience while writing my work-in-progress, Sex and the Single Braddock. My heroine will be flying around on a private jet (I don't know anyone to lend me one) staying in a luxury suite in Monte Carlo (I haven't been able to sell my husband on the expense for a trip like that) and driving around in a Bugatti Veyron worth over a million dollars (I'd never even heard of this car before).

So, unfortunately, this book will be largely constructed on information from the Internet and my imagination. But, now I've added Monte Carlo to one of the places I'd like to visit one day.