By Susan Mallery, New York Times bestselling author of the upcoming Fool’s Gold series from HQN books

It’s ironic that the heroine of the first Fool’s Gold book is a City Planner, because that’s what I became while creating this series. I built Fool’s Gold from the ground up. I set the town in one of the most beautiful regions in the world – the Sierra foothills, California wine country.
Fool’s Gold is a delightful tourist town known as The Land of Happy Endings. There are festivals and parades throughout the year, celebrating everything from Cabin Fever Days in January to a Day of Giving in December. Remember Gilmore Girls? Fool’s Gold looks a lot like Stars Hollow. The town is small enough that you often bump into people you know, and large enough to have quaint boutiques, a movie theater and a world-class ski resort.
In fact, Fool’s Gold has everything. Everything except enough men.
There’s a man shortage in Fool’s Gold and no one knows why. When boys grow up, they tend to leave town and not come back. The women didn’t realize how bad the man shortage had become until early 2010 census numbers trickled in. The news is about to hit the national press, and the ladies are quite crabby at the thought of being portrayed as lonely, desperate spinsters.
Enter Charity Jones. Charity has been recruited as the new City Planner. She’s excited about her new job because she’s always wanted to live in a small town. Her excitement fizzles when she learns about the man shortage…and that it’s her problem to fix.
Josh Golden is just the man to distract her—er, to help her. Josh is one of the few men who returned to Fool’s Gold after making his fortune in the world (as a champion cyclist with beaucoup endorsement contracts). He was abandoned in Fool’s Gold when he was young and adopted by the town, so who better to help spread the word about everything that Fool’s Gold has to offer? But Josh is hiding a few secrets of his own…
The Fool’s Gold series will launch with the release of Chasing Perfect on April 27, 2010.

Happy April Fool’s Gold Day!
On April 1, I’ll host a party on Facebook to launch the new Fool’s Gold website. It will be April Fool’s Gold Day! I hope you’ll join us. The more, the merrier! On the website, you can read about the history of Fool’s Gold, explore the town, meet the characters, even go on a virtual tour. You’ll also find free Fool’s Gold Family Recipes, as well as a free pattern to knit an adorable puppet. (My dog Nikki, the official mascot of Fool’s Gold!)
Be sure to sign up for the Members Only area at SusanMallery.com to receive an email when the Fool’s Gold website launches.
I’ve been inspired by other authors who have created ongoing series, such as Robyn Carr and Debbie Macomber. What fictional towns do you love best and why? If you were going to create a town, how would you name the streets? Where would your town be?