SUSAN BREEN, FALLING IN LOVE - AUTHOR GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

One of the bestparts of being a novelist is you get to fall in love with anyone you want. Youhave to! It’s part of the job.
When I wasworking on my debut novel, THE FICTION CLASS, I knew a central element of theplot would be a love story. I had the protagonist pretty well worked out:Arabella was in her early 30s; attractive, but not preoccupied with her looks;hard-working; funny; caring. She taught a fiction class in Manhattan and likedher adult students, yet I sensed a wall up around Arabella that would make itimpossible for her to truly connect with anyone. She’d spent a large part ofher life caring for her difficult mother, and that had made her bitter. Why didthe people she love suffer so much? Why were other people having such a goodtime?
I wantedArabella to find love, but I had to test out a lot of men before I got there.Someone like Mr. Darcy would have been nice, but I thought he would be toopolished for Arabella. Maybe a doctor, who could help her navigate care-takingissues? But I didn’t want anyone too strong. I wanted Arabella to be able toflourish. But not anyone too weak either. I didn’t want her having to take careof someone else. I thought about it for a long time; thought about it so longthat the novel stalled. But I had to find just the right man.
When I’m stucklike that, all I can do is let my mind float. So I spent my days wanderingaround Manhattan, looking at various men on the street, trying to figure out ifArabella, or I, could fall in love with one of them. (Of course, someone likemy husband was another possibility, but I’d already fallen in love with himonce and wanted to find someone new.) One afternoon I saw a man who reminded meof a man I’d met briefly in Texas, a long time before. He bought me a drink. Itruly didn’t know him at all, except that he seemed both charming andvulnerable. I began to build on that in my mind. I imagined a good man, but onewho’s often chosen the easy way out. A man who wants to be something more thanwhat he is. Gradually I built up Chuck Jones, and Arabella and I both fell inlove with him.
Now I’m workingon another novel, but the character’s completely different. I need a wholeother love interest. So if you catch me looking at you in a speculative way, itdoesn’t mean anything; just that I’m trying to figure out if I could fall inlove with you.  Susan Breen
Susan Breen isthe author of THE FICTION CLASS, published by Plume, a division of Penguin. Hershort stories have been published widely; she’s also a frequent contributor toTHE WRITER magazine and she teaches at Gotham Writers’ Workshop in Manhattan.You can read more about her at www.susanjbreen.com. Follow Susan Breen on Twitterr: @SusanjBreenwww.thefictionclass.com
The book 
The Fiction Class - On paper, Arabella Hicks seems more than qualified to teach her fiction class on the Upper West Side: she’s a writer herself; she’s passionate about books; she’s even named after the heroine in a Georgette Heyer novel.
On the other hand, she’s thirty-eight, single, and has been writing the same book for the last seven years. And she has been distracted recently: on the same day that Arabella teaches her class she also visits her mother in a nursing home outside the city. And every time they argue. Arabella wants the fighting to stop, but, as her mother puts it, “Just because we’re family, doesn’t mean we have to like each other.” When her class takes a surprising turn and her lessons start to spill over into her weekly visits, she suddenly finds she might be holding the key to her mother’s love and, dare she say it, her own inspiration. After all, as a lifelong lover of books, she knows the power of a good story.
The giveaway To get a chance to win a signed paperback copy of The Fiction Class, leave your comment below the post and  add your e-mail address. It's as simple as that! This contest is open internationally and ends on September 30th.